Eating In

Revisiting the times of food rationing was a logical step for Valentine Warner.

He has preached the benefits of eating with the seasons in his cookery show What To Eat Now.

So he was at ease with recreating dishes from 1940s recipe books to mark 70 years since the start of rationing in Britain.

Even the notorious dried eggs were palatable. He said: “We had to do dried eggs which smell disgusting when you mix them, but they're okay once they go in the mouth, and the famous Woolton Pie, which was a well known vegetable pie, was seriously helped out by a bit of Bisto.”

Woolton Pie (Serves four) Ingredients: 450g King Edward potatoes 900g carrots 225g mushrooms 1 small leek 60g chicken fat 2 spring onions Salt and pepper Nutmeg Chopped parsley Bunch of herbs made of 1 small bay leaf, 1 small sprig of thyme, parsley and celery Method: Peel the potatoes and carrots, cut them into slices. Wash well and dry. Fry separately with chicken fat or margarine.

Do the same for the mushrooms, adding the finely chopped onions and leek. Mix and season with salt, pepper, a little nutmeg and roughly chopped fresh parsley.

Fill a pie dish with this mixture, placing the bundle of herbs in the middle. Moisten with stock or water. Allow to cool then cover with a pastry crust made from half beef-suet or chicken fat and half margarine. Bake in a moderate oven for 90 minutes.