Mushroom Stroganoff (Wartime Recipe)
Created | Updated Aug 23, 2002
A brief history of the wartime Mushroom Stroganoff, as eaten for tea every Wednesday by countless numbers of Englishmen and women, from the winter of 1939 till around-a-bout the autumn of 1944.
Because of a lack of both mushrooms and stroganoff (which were only really available on the sea bed of the Atlantic Ocean until the Autumn of 1944), people were forced to improvise, and this delicious
alternative was soon being served to young and old alike.
The Stroganoff was cooked in the traditional way, but using the following ingredients:
8 oz plain flower
8 oz butter
2 Eggs
4 oz Caster Sugar
Half a teaspoon of baking powder
3 tablespoons strawberry jam
Icing sugar
It was cooked by Muhma's and other qualified people. Some variations were developed. For example, some Mums' prefered to use green icing.
A conversation at a teatime where this dish was served, would probably have gone something like this:
-Huhllo Muhma.
-Huhllo dahling.
-I say old girl, what's for tea? I need some scram.
-It's Mushroom Stroganoff dahling. It is Wensdee after all.
-Oh chipper stuff, really.
-Mind you dahling, you shan't get any till all the animals have been fed.
-Righto Mums. I'll run along shall I?
-Best do dahling.
-Righto..........
-All done Muhma.
-Who's my good boy eh?
-Thanks Mums.
-Rightee. Well sit down and we'll eat.
-Chipper stuff. But won't we wait for Puhpa?
-Oh dahling. Must I tell you again? You know Puhpsa was drowned after a U-Boat attack on his convoy last March.
-Oh yes. May I have another slice of Stroganoff?
-Of course dahling. Here, have my icing too.
-Thanks Muhma.
-Dahling...
Because of a lack of both mushrooms and stroganoff (which were only really available on the sea bed of the Atlantic Ocean until the Autumn of 1944), people were forced to improvise, and this delicious
alternative was soon being served to young and old alike.
The Stroganoff was cooked in the traditional way, but using the following ingredients:
8 oz plain flower
8 oz butter
2 Eggs
4 oz Caster Sugar
Half a teaspoon of baking powder
3 tablespoons strawberry jam
Icing sugar
It was cooked by Muhma's and other qualified people. Some variations were developed. For example, some Mums' prefered to use green icing.
A conversation at a teatime where this dish was served, would probably have gone something like this:
-Huhllo Muhma.
-Huhllo dahling.
-I say old girl, what's for tea? I need some scram.
-It's Mushroom Stroganoff dahling. It is Wensdee after all.
-Oh chipper stuff, really.
-Mind you dahling, you shan't get any till all the animals have been fed.
-Righto Mums. I'll run along shall I?
-Best do dahling.
-Righto..........
-All done Muhma.
-Who's my good boy eh?
-Thanks Mums.
-Rightee. Well sit down and we'll eat.
-Chipper stuff. But won't we wait for Puhpa?
-Oh dahling. Must I tell you again? You know Puhpsa was drowned after a U-Boat attack on his convoy last March.
-Oh yes. May I have another slice of Stroganoff?
-Of course dahling. Here, have my icing too.
-Thanks Muhma.
-Dahling...
