Toggle sidebar

Most Iconic Ration Food

santaman2000

santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
16,909
1,120
67
Florida
Over on BCUSA there's a thread running about Spam. It's been ruuning for a coulpe of months now. It's been long forgotten in the US that Spam was originally a military ration food item; it certainly isn't in any of the current rations and hasn't been for decades.

Nonetheless it has become an iconic food item among campers/backpackers/canoeists/etc.

So my question is twofold:
1st - What, if any, UK ration from the WWII era would be considered "the" ration food that defines the concept from the era?
2nd - Is that (or any other ration food) so widespread among the civilian market today as Spam

And let me add that if indeed the answer there is also Spam, that in itself would be very interesting.
 
Retired Member southey

Retired Member southey

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jun 4, 2006
11,098
13
your house!
Bully Beef baby!:D

shamelessly stolen from wiki!

"In the United Kingdom, corned beef refers to the variety made from finely minced corned beef in a small amount of gelatin (bully beef; from the French bouilli "boiled"), and is sold in distinctive oblong-shaped cans, just as in the U.S. and Canada, or in slices from supermarkets. It is mainly imported from Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay.[SUP][15][/SUP] Bully beef and biscuits were the main field rations of the British Army from the Boer War to World War II.[SUP][16][/SUP] It is commonly served sliced in a corned beef sandwich. Hash and hotpot, in which potatoes and corned beef are stewed together, are also made. Tinned corned beef is also used in mainland Europe.[SUP][17][/SUP]
The U.S. version of corned beef is known in the U.K. as salt beef, and is available in cities with large Jewish communities"
 
rik_uk3

rik_uk3

Banned
Jun 10, 2006
13,320
27
69
south wales
Without a shadow of a doubt its corned beef for the UK, does not have even a close competitor and still used weekly in millions of homes in the UK. It was the core of rations from WW1 through WW2.
 
Limaed

Limaed

Full Member
Apr 11, 2006
1,298
80
48
Perth
I think Princess still make and sell Bacon Grill which was pretty standard but maybe a bit later (70's / 80's?). That and 'Cheese Possessed'. Pretty grim stuff.
 
C

Chasing Rainbows

Tenderfoot
Oct 13, 2011
86
0
Central Scotland
rik_uk3 said:
Without a shadow of a doubt its corned beef for the UK, does not have even a close competitor and still used weekly in millions of homes in the UK. It was the core of rations from WW1 through WW2.
Click to expand...

Yup! :) Corned beef all the way! It remains popular and (IMO) unlike spam, it's really quite delicious!

A traditional one for Scotland would be porridge left to set and cut into slices.

That said, my favorite ration is good old Scottish tablet. Absolutely jam-packed with easily absorbed energy and requires no preperation. That stuff will propel weary legs up mountains within minutes of being eaten. Beats kendal mint cake hands down! ;)
 
santaman2000

santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
16,909
1,120
67
Florida
southey said:
Bully Beef baby!:D

shamelessly stolen from wiki!

"In the United Kingdom, corned beef refers to the variety made from finely minced corned beef in a small amount of gelatin (bully beef; from the French bouilli "boiled"), and is sold in distinctive oblong-shaped cans, just as in the U.S. and Canada, or in slices from supermarkets. It is mainly imported from Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay.[SUP][15][/SUP] Bully beef and biscuits were the main field rations of the British Army from the Boer War to World War II.[SUP][16][/SUP] It is commonly served sliced in a corned beef sandwich. Hash and hotpot, in which potatoes and corned beef are stewed together, are also made. Tinned corned beef is also used in mainland Europe.[SUP][17][/SUP]
The U.S. version of corned beef is known in the U.K. as salt beef, and is available in cities with large Jewish communities"
Click to expand...

Yeah, you're right. The tinned version is widely available here too. My Mom and aunts used to make hash frequently with it (ironicly a rather nasty version of hash was in the original MREs) When you say "the American version", are you referring to the whole corned beef briskets that need to be cooked and sliced? If so. it's popularity here was also through introduction from the Jewish communities.
 
rik_uk3

rik_uk3

Banned
Jun 10, 2006
13,320
27
69
south wales
Chasing Rainbows said:
sugar, butter and condensed milk made into easy to carry blocks. Here's the recipe: http://www.scruss.com/tablet.html

I'd say my mum makes it better than an internet recipe but I strongly reccomend it as travel food.
Click to expand...

ICONIC BRITISH ARMED FORCES WW2 rations please.......... don't drift off topic lads. UK rations did change over the course of the war and if lucky our lads traded stuff for K rations from the Americans but corned beer was used long after the war too and inclusive.
 
Ichneumon

Ichneumon

Nomad
Jul 4, 2011
358
0
73
Lancashire (previously Dartmoor)
Whilst Corned beef was undoubtly a WW2 staple it was not uniquely a WW2 phenomenon.

My candidate is Soya Links. A soya sausage shipped over from the USA in VAST quantities and issued as rations to British service personnel everywhere. Ask any old WW2 vet about them and you'll get a powerful reaction - a mixture of nostalia and hatred! :)

Apparantly they tasted bland and of nothing much - like chewing cardboard. Not surprisingly they never made it on to shop shelves and went extinct straight after the war.

BTW: It is not easy to search for this info on the Internet as the search engines prefer to throw up references to 'Soya linked to cancer' etc. But references are there if you look.

ATB

Paul
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

bambodoggy
When does Bushcraft stop being Bushcraft?
Replies
31
Views
3K
Bushcraft Chatter
woodrat
W

BCUK Shop

We have a a number of knives, T-Shirts and other items for sale.

SHOP HERE
Top Bottom