Woolton Pie

Here is some information about an old dish first created during the first year of World War II in Great Britain. I learned about this dish, while watching the "Wartime" segment of the BBC series, "THE SUPERSIZERS GO", hosted by Giles Coren and Sue Perkins. 


WOOLTON PIE

First known as (Lord) Woolton Pie, this savory vegetable pie dish was first created during the early years of the Second World War at the Savoy Hotel in London by its then Maitre Chef de Cuisine, Francis Latry. The dish was one of a handful recommended to the British public by the Ministry of Food during the war to support a nutritional diet, despite shortages and rationing of many types of food - especially meat. The pie was named after Frederick Marquis, 1st Earl of Woolton, who became Minister of Food in 1940.

Woolton Pie consisted of diced and cooked potatoes (or parsnips), cauliflower, rutabaga, carrots and turnips. Rolled oats and chopped spring onions were added to the thickened vegetable water, which was poured over the vegetables themselves. The dish was topped with potato pastry and grated cheese and served with vegetable gravy. The recipe could be adapted to reflect the availability and seasonality of ingredients.
Lacking in any meat, Woolton Pie was not well received by the British public. In fact, it was among several wartime austerity dishes that were quickly forgotten by the end of the war. 


Below is a recipe for Woolton Pie:


WOOLTON PIE 


INGREDIENTS

1 lb Potatoes 
2 lbs Carrots 
½ lb Mushrooms 
1 Small leek 
2oz Margarine or Chicken Fat 
2 Spring onions 
Salt, Pepper, Nutmeg, Chopped Parsley. 
Bunch of herbs made of 1 small Bay Leaf, 1 small sprig of Thyme, Parsley and Celery 


PREPARATION

Peel the potatoes and carrots, cut them into slices of the thickness of a penny. Wash them well and dry in a tea-cloth. Fry them separately in a frying pan with a little chicken fat. 

Do the same for the mushrooms, adding the finely chopped onions and leek. Mix them together and season with salt, pepper and 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 a little rolled oats, chopped onions, a little giblet stock or water. Allow to cool. Cover with a pastry crust made from half beef-suet or chicken fat and half margarine. Bake in a moderate oven for 1½ hours. 

This recipe has been translated from an original flimsy Savoy Restaurant kitchen copy.

Coronation Chicken

Below is a small article about a dish that was created in the early 1950s called Coronation Chicken. I first learned about the recipe while watching a "SUPERSIZERS" episode about the 1950s: 


CORONATION CHICKEN

Sixty years ago last June, the citizens of the United Kingdom and the remaining British Empire celebrated the coronation of their new monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. She had ascended the British throne upon the death of her father, King George VI on February 6, 1952. A year and four months later on June 2, 1953; the Queen was crowned in a ceremony called a coronation.

Among the events scheduled in celebration of the event was a coronation luncheon hosted by the Queen. A chef named Rosemary Hume and a food writer/flower arranger named Constance Spry, who were both associated with the Cordon Bleu Cookery School in London, were commissioned to prepare the food for the luncheon. When the two women set about preparing the food, Spry suggested the idea of a recipe that featured cold chicken, curry cream sauce and dressing that would later become known as coronation chicken.

Many believe that the Coronation Chicken recipe may have been inspired by another recipe called Jubilee Chicken, which had been specifically created for Silver Jubilee of the present Queen's grandfather, King George V, in 1935. And for Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee celebration in 2012, guests at the Royal Garden Party were served "Diamond Jubilee Chicken", a variation of Coronation Chicken created by Heston Blumenthal. 

Below is the recipe for "Coronation Chicken", from "The Constance Spry Cookery Book", written by Rosemary Hume and Constance Spry:


Coronation Chicken

Ingredients for Chicken
2 Young chickens
Wwater and a little wine to cover
1 Carrot
1 Bouquet garni
Salt
3-4 Peppercorns
Cream of Curry Sauce

Ingredients for Cream of Curry Sauce
1 Tablespoon oil
2 oz. Onion, finely chopped
1 
1 dessert spoon Curry Powder
1 Good Teaspoon Tomato Purée
1 Wineglass red wine
¾ Wineglass water
1 Bay-leaf
Salt, sugar, a touch of pepper
1 Slice or 2 of lemon 
1 Squeeze of lemon juice, possibly more
1-2 Tablespoons Apricot Purée
¾ Pint mayonnaise
2-3 Tablespoons lightly whipped cream
A little extra whipped cream


Preparation

Poach the chickens, with carrot, bouquet, salt and peppercorns, in water and a little wine, enough barely to cover, for about 40 minutes or until tender. Allow to cool in the liquid. Joint the birds, remove the bones with care. Prepare the sauce given below. Mix the chicken and the sauce together, arrange on a dish, coat with the extra sauce. For convenience, in serving on the occasion mentioned, the chicken was arranged at one end of an oblong dish, and a rice salad as given below was arranged at the other.

Cream of curry sauce: Heat the oil, add the onion, cook gently 3-4 minutes, add curry-powder. Cook again 1-2 minutes. Add purée, wine, water, and bay-leaf. Bring to boil, add salt, sugar to taste, pepper, and the lemon and lemon juice. Simmer with the pan uncovered 5-10 minutes. Strain and cool. Add by degrees to the mayonnaise with the apricot purée to taste. Adjust seasoning, adding a little more lemon juice if necessary. Finish with the whipped cream. Take a small amount of sauce (enough to coat the chicken) and mix with a little extra cream and seasoning. This is an admirable sauce to serve with iced lobster. 

Rice Salad: The rice salad which accompanied the chicken was carefully cooked rice, cooked peas, diced raw cucumber, and finely chopped mixed herbs, all mixed in a well-seasoned French dressing.