Comment bien manger pendant la guerre ?

Concluding episode of a series on historical recipes from Antiquity to the present day, focusing specifically on cooking in 1945 under conditions of rationing, occupation, and war.

Even during wartime, there persists a pursuit of flavor and a desire to eat well despite limited resources and difficult conditions.

• Cooks have always adapted to historical circumstances. • War forces creative solutions to emerge. • Resourcefulness becomes essential to eat well with scarce resources.

• Rare and precious meat. • Rationing tickets limiting quantities. • Home gardens, aromatic herbs, laying hens. • Dairy products rare and expensive but partially accessible.

Soft and creamy meat patties flavored with salt, pepper, parsley, and chives, still existing in various forms today.

• About 300 g of meat. • One yogurt. • 30 to 40 g of cheese. • About 100 g of bread (fresh or dried and made into breadcrumbs). • Aromatic herbs (parsley and chives).

Use of olive oil or oil substitute made with melted horse fat mixed with water to create a replacement emulsion.

The patties are flattened to form thin cakes, creating a psychological effect: with few ingredients, the volume and visual appearance give the impression of having more.

• Fresh bread cut into small pieces with a knife. • Stale bread grated to make breadcrumbs. • Alternative: use store-bought breadcrumbs directly.

Simple and quick mixing of meat, yogurt, cheese, bread, and herbs in a bowl, requiring about 5 minutes of total preparation.

• Heat oil in the pan. • Mix salt and ground pepper in a mortar and pestle. • Cook on high heat to keep the meat pink and tender inside. • Yield: about a dozen Bitoks, three per person for four servings.

A recipe ten times more flavorful than a simple store-bought patty, lighter and more delicate on the palate, enriched by the addition of all the complementary small ingredients.

• Potatoes. • Green beans with garlic and chopped parsley. • The combination of potatoes and green beans was very appropriate for the era.

Today's Cooking, With or Without Ration Tickets by Jacqueline Hardy, Tallandier editions. A period work providing authentic Second World War recipes and practical advice on using scraps and zero waste.

This series favors historical interpretation over strict reconstruction, drawing inspiration from history to create contemporary culinary recipes.

• Fabian: food historian, teaches at the University of Tours in the Master's program Food Culture and Heritage and experimental archaeology. • Directs the Historical Cooking collections at La Muse editions and My Best Recipes at Heimdal editions. • Ben published Cooking History with Gastronogeek at Hachette editions.