British Brains in the Kitchen

It is far from economical, but there are soy bits simulating meat or bacon and soy cheese. Soy is not something I would recommend, but it's used to make a pretty fair imitation of certain cheeses and even soy bacon. Some of the religious sects have done an unbelievable job with simulated cheeses and meats. If it doesn't taste the same (and tha

t is subjective), it has the same texture. Check some of the health food shops for some innovative products. It won't be cheap, but it will fill the void.

 

Which 'sects' exactly did you have in mind?

 

No doubt there are more than listed, but some of the Buddhists and Seventh-Day Adventists have come up with some tremendous imitations of food one could easily fool one into thinking you are eating meat. I hope nobody is going to be offended for bringing up sects who have done a good job of offering up some delicious cruelty-free grub.

 

Beans, rice, pasta, canned and/or frozen vegetables (include tomatoes), salt, pepper, cumin, curry powder, cayenne, rosemary and thyme. Stock up on all of that, and you can make a lot of different dishes for very cheaply.

 

Thanks for the good advice, YouFreeMe, but I was hoping that people would go a little deeper like the old days when people had to stretch it like the pre-industrial age through the Great War. Some use hot dogs as a cheap food but that is not cheap. Spam, the meat made famous by Monty Python, is not cheap now.

 

I second beans and canned vegetables. You're basically an idiot if you're on a budget and not going for this stuff imo. Unless one really can't stomach it for some reason but i don't see how or why. Btw: properly canned vegs are often just as healthy as freshly bought vegetables!

 

Not offended at all - I just wondered who you meant.

Personally, I think if you want to be vegetarian, better to forget stuff made to seem like meat and stick to traditional veggie stuff.
There are some sects like the Hare Krishnas who do incredibly good veggie food - and mostly the basic stuff is cheap to make, although it requires time and effort.

 

This seems like a bit of an overreaction to a question based on historical context. There's no need to resort to name calling over searching for the cheapest recipes available. It doesn't mean that one is on the verge of starvation because one asks about historic or cheapest ways to get by. Properly canned vegetables were not always available but people had other ways of getting what they needed. We might look at museum relics, but that doesn't mean we are Luddites.

 

Thank you for your reply. I was not speaking for myself regarding going vegan, although it is a great idea. This was in response to an earlier poster who said he was trying to go that way. I simply replied that vegan food items are available that might make a total vegan transition easier. Hopefully that poster will see this and add Hare Krishna to the mix. Have a nice day!

 

Bulgar wheat or buckwheat with frozen mixed vegetables.

Boil the above (separately) and stir in a bit of Marmite or yeast extract to give flavour.

You can add some tofu pieces for texture.

I'm having this tonight actually.

 

Be sure to check out the thread from when you first posted here. Stay tuned for (hopefully) more ideas to help make that transition if that is what you might be looking for.

 

Okay

 

Tinned tomatoes on toast is good for lunch.

 

I ment every word. Agree to disagree! No need to take offense. Unless of course you're on a tight budget and insist on avoiding canned vegetables.

 

It might make the transition easier - I can't disagree. But in the longer term it's a bit like substituting vaping for smoking - a halfway house maybe. But there's always the danger you don't change the habits deeply enough and later on go back to meat 'cause it seems quick, easy and yes, nutritious.

BTW - the Krishnas are not vegan but lacto-vegetarian.

 

Can you give me an example of what you mean by a "little deeper into the old days"? Do you mean which ingredients would you need to purchase in order to prepare your own foods? Do you want to grow and process your own wheat or corn? Cultivate and then preserve your own vegetables?

 

What did the peasants eat in the old days? What did the British eat in the old days or the sailors from England who were pressganged into service eat? It might have been better than what ordinary people ate back then. If better, what did the ordinary people who were not pressganged into service eat? In either case, they managed to get by I do not know how well, but they managed an empire. Simply recipes is okay to know. It doesn't have to be about sailors or landlubbers, but that is an example. There was plenty of privation during the World Wars. What did they eat then, for instance? Lots of carrots and potatoes, they say, but what else did they do? What about the Scots? What did the East Enders in London eat during the Victorian years? That was not a good time for the majority, yet they still managed. It is of little interest how to cultivate wheat and corn. That info is easy to find elsewhere. Maybe nobody knows what they did back then.

 

I see what you are saying. You might want to clarify that in your original posts. I think your answers would be easy to find. In fact, I have seen whole cook books dedicated to recipes from certain historical time periods. A bit of research on the internet or checking out a library might yield the results you are looking for.

I think it is safe to say that people through history have mainly subsisted in foods that were abundant, easily available, local, and which stored and preserved well. Salted meats, flours, corn and corn meal, potatoes, etc. I think it would vary somewhat depending on your location.

 

Probably the diet of British sailors in 18th and 19th c was not very good, and somewhat bland, but I don't know. I think in general British cuisine, if you can call it that, has never been that exciting. Maybe that's why you see so many Chinese, Indian, Thai, Italian (my fave) etc eating places in ther UK today.

I know a bit nore about privations between the world wars, during the depression, as my old grandmother (born 1908) used to tell me about things. They used to eat a certain amount of offal - stuff like tripe and pig's trotters. She actually used to go and buy this kind of rubbish as late as the 1970's when she was actually financially quite comfortable, and would stink out the house cooking it up. Mainly fat and gristle, but old habits die hard I guess. She was also a great eater of tinned food of all kinds. Tinned condensed milk on a tin of fruit was her idea of a nice, cheap desert. In the 30's it was probably about all they could get of afford.

During WWII my dad told me they used to get horse meat and even whale meat. (whale meat again was evidently a well known parody of 'we'll meet again' the famous wartime song).

In effect, people in the darker phases of the last century and before ate lots of very unappetizing if cheap foods. Since you mentioned East Enders, I can't resist mentioning about the most unpleasant dish I ever tried - traditional East End pie and mash. Sounds quite innocent, but the disgusting thing is that it's all covered with a vile gravy made from baby eels. Utterly disgusting muck. At least to my sensibilities.

 

My grandmother made tripe too. Stunk the kitchen upnto high heaven.