The Food of WWII

Interesting fact that almost all westerners have an over-bite of some size…Due to us cutting our meet and vegetables with a knife instead of putting it in our mouths and pulling the food apart…

 

What about chopsticks?

 

Yeah what about them? They obviously do the job...But these cultures didn't go through the evolution that Europe went through. Not dirtying clothes, hygiene (few poeple washed their hands before eating) and appearances to others of high or higher standing. Cooking food so that its hot and the use of sauces mean that hands became less than useful.
Despite Asia becoming highly civilised (higher standards of living than Europe back in the day) - They never took up forks and knives and used spoons sparingly, preferring to slurp from the bowl...The biggest difference is the "preparation" - Asian cooks need a good strong sharp knife to "pre-cut" the meat and vegetables into bite sizes so they can be simply placed into the mouth.
My opinion is that it is inferior to western cutlery, but useful enough to not need an update.

 

Forgot I had this site bookmarked-
The Home Front in WW2, Growing and Cooking Rationed Food | Dig For Victory (dig-for-victory.org.uk)
And the idea didn't start in WW2, of course-
Brief history of allotments – The National Allotment Society – National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners Ltd (nsalg.org.uk)

 

Was reading a book about an 17 year old SS man (18 when captured) and how he was fed knackebrot (hard tack or German hard cracker). It's pronounced nick-ker-brot. As a prisoner he ate OK when in American or British custody, but in Belgium they were starved. Finally he was sent to England where he became a batman to some officers.

Here's a German ad featuring knackerbrot.