Thursday, January 21, 2021

Wartime Recipe - Potato Floddies

 

I think it's about time I started sharing some recipes and some more photos of the food that I've been eating.  Life has been a bit hectic these last couple of weeks and I really don't feel I'm doing this Challenge the justice it deserves.  So the first recipe I'm sharing with you was on the menu on Tuesday of this week and was  Potato Floddies.

How brilliant I thought to make something that sounds filling and vaguely nourishing out of such limited ingredients, so I thought I'd give it a go.


I used the two small potatoes you can see in the bowl in the first photo and I added a pinch of garlic granules for a bit more flavour.  I have read that garlic was occasionally available during the war years,  although I guess this would have been seen as quite an exotic ingredient back then and it was usually considered more as a medicinal item than a foodstuff.  So with this in mind I will just be using up the dried powder, granules and frozen cloves that I had already in my store cupboard at the start of the Challenge and then just not buy anymore as though my 'rations' had dried up.

One example of my research into garlic in the UK during the 1940's is HERE.  And indeed I must have a copy of the leaflet mentioned somewhere in my replica leaflet stash.


I think I added a touch too much flour, in total I added three desert spoonfuls ... two would have been sufficient and although they smelt garlicky as they cooked I could barely taste it.

So what's my opinion of Potato Floddies?

Very filling, quite tasty ... especially when very hot ... but very stodgy.  Perhaps though that was due to me adding a bit too much flour, so if you have a go be a bit lighter with the flour to potato ratio.  What would make them so much better would be the addition of some grated real garlic cloves or perhaps a quarter of a grated or finely sliced onion.  They just needed something else added for more flavour, but I guess these days we are just used to our foods being a lot more flavourful and my taste-buds need to adapt a little bit more.

I would give them a 5/10.



The recipe pictured above came from this book.  

I have put links to Amazon on my sidebar for the books and DVDs that I have been watching, just so you can go and have a look and get other peoples opinions of them and not just go off mine or maybe get yourself a copy.   Some of my books are only available in the Used off Amazon, but then that's to be expected as that's where I got mine from 😀


Sue xx


18 comments:

  1. In a few weeks you could maybe forage for wild garlic?

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    1. Yes, that's a good idea and living near the river I should be able to find some. I know where it grows at the caravan park but that is closed due to Covid, I will have to try and find a new source here :-)

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  2. I love potato pancakes. If the only flour available was wholemeal would that have changed the texture?

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    1. It would possibly have made them tastier, but I would still put less in, I think it was me adding too much flour that made them so stodgy. I will make them with less flour next time and not compress them so much to keep them airier.

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  3. I guess that's the thing - if you want to be really strict that is - wartime food was probably a lot blander as the range of spices, or even extra flavouring ingredients like onion, may not have been available. We're so lucky nowadays. I bet they'd be lovely with onion as you say, or some smoked paprika.

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    1. Definintely, I do want to be true to the original wartime recipes that I have at least for the first time of making them, but with this being a year of modern rationing I can and will use the spices I have in my drawer once I have worked out what a recipe needs.

      It's nice to taste the original and then see what I can do to it to make it more to modern tastes, as you say I bet Smoked Paprika would be lovely.

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  4. That recipe confirms it - just couldn't do this challenge - much too much potato! I can go weeks without eating a single spud nowadays after 40 years of potatoes boiled and mashed! ( Still like chips!)

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    1. Yup ... there are a LOT of potatoes involved!!

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  5. They sound quite nice. It's always have alternative ways of cooking spuds.

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    1. Definitely, and I need to find LOTS of ways for this year 😄

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  6. I was thinking the same as Sooze and that they would be lovely with a selection of Indian spices, making a sort of Bhaji?

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  7. My Nan who lived through the end of the war years used to make this for us and we had it with jam spread on top. I remember that I quite liked it. Haven't had it since childhood and my lovely Nan is long gone. Maybe I should give it a go again and see how it stands up to my memory now.

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    1. Yes, it says in the recipe to spread jam on for a sweet version. After having my slightly garlicky version I can't imagine them being sweet ... I'll have to give it a go 😃

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  8. Here is a link for vegan potato latkes which sound quite similar: https://www.ilovevegan.com/vegan-latkes-potato-pancakes/

    I love latkes - never tried the vegan version - and they are usually served with apple sauce or sour cream.

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    1. Gosh the Latkes on that link look better than my stodgy version don't they :-)

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  9. They sound a bit like either hash browns or tattie scones, don't they. You can make so many things with potatoes.
    xx

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    1. More like Hash Browns really, but because I added too much flour mine were much too dense, I'll try again with half as much flour. Oh gosh yes, potatoes are so versatile aren't they.

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