Something on a shingle
One of my “guilty pleasures” is watching food videos. More specifically, food from the past. War foods. OK, I am curious about items such as the C-ration and K-ration. I have no military background, nor did my family, but we’ve all learned that an army marches on its stomach. What did that mean, exactly?
If you ask my children about travel menus, and remove the obvious references to fast foods, you are left with what I might have prepared on a picnic table. I offer a suspicion that my sons do not turn to canned corn beef on a slice of white, very often. And if I recall dishes from my home, that might have been inspired by “the war”, only one comes to mind. Creamed peas on toast. Thanks, Mom.
There is actually a mean served in army field ktchens that was similar, albeit based on meats. The infamous “shi? On a shingle”. And so, with the resources of the Internet, I sought (and found) some authentic recipes. Let’s be fair. When the base ingredients include fat and evaoprated milk, the bar is low. Toast is a way of using stale bread, and the military had access to tons of dried beef. Turn that over to the maticians in your standard field kitchen and everyone suffered, equally. No wonder peace seemed like a goal.
I will continue my research. Without attemps to recreate the past. This is purely because I wonder, not because I want. And kids, don’t knock those Big Macs. There are worse ways to satiate, when out of the house.
