The Wartime Kitchen and Garden, episode 5

I am making transcripts for The Wartime Kitchen and Garden, a fascinating series starring Ruth Mott and Peter Dodson, with a voiceover by Peter Thoday. This is episode five (of eight). [You’ll find the other transcripts, and other relevant posts, under the Home Front tag.]

Episode 5 transcript

00:55 [Peter Thoday] 1942 was a drab year. People needed any lift to the spirit that colour and flowers could give. The worst of the Blitz was over, but the war dragged on with no apparent end in sight. At Chilton, Harry Dodson has assured the survival of the herbaceous border by planting vegetables among the flowers.

01:24 [Peter Thoday] Producers at the BBC used comedy sketches to make wartime recipes more palatable. The Buggins family, popular from pre-war radio, were enlisted.

01:35 [Radio voices] “I know, I’ll make a Connaught Pie.” “Another disguise for parsnips?”

01:40 [Peter Thoday] Ruth Mott and her evacuee Joyce tune in to The Kitchen Front.

01:47 [Radio voices] “5 ounces flaked oats, a pint of water” “Well, that’s one thing they ain’t rationed yet!” “Oh, grandma, you’ll make me lose me thread. Where was I?” “5 ounces flaked oats and a pint of water” “Then there’s ‘alf a leek, one teaspoonful of mixed ‘erbs, and one teaspoonful of salt. Two ounces of leftover meat, cut in slices. Two ounces of cheese and one pint of sauce.” “What kind of sauce?” “Well, you make it with three ounces of national flour and a pint of vegetable stock or water, and the two ounces of cheese.” “Sounds alright. What are you going to do with that lot?” “Well, you put your flaked oats, and the leek, and the seasonings and the mixed herbs and the water in a pan, and bring it to the boil. Boil it ‘til it’s thick – 20 to 30 minutes. Then you turn it