Latest News

College catering students cook up WW1 recipes

Tuesday, 11 November, 2014

Tags:

Hospitality & Catering

College student Aimee Willis with Debbie Harding, Royal British legion Area Manager and Mick Woosnam, Veteran of the Grenadier Guards.

Hospitality and catering students from Wakefield College recently cooked up a historic feast in conjunction with West Yorkshire Archive Services. 

Level 3 Advanced Professional Cookery students from the College’s award-winning Gaskell’s restaurant discovered vintage recipes from the Archive Services’ World War One records earlier in the year. The students then used their culinary skills to serve up the meals during special lunch services to mark the 100 year beginning of the Great War. 

Wakefield College Curriculum Development Manager, Darren Sharpe said: “This is a great way to bring the past back to life and gain an understanding of what the typical diet was like and how it was prepared over 100 years ago.”

Some of the treats on offer included:

Eggs Benedict - This dish was inspired by the tour diary of Halifax ‘Wheelers’ Cycling Club, who travelled 398 miles through five counties including Yorkshire during the war. In the diary there is constant reference to ‘ham and eggs for breakfast’. 

Rabbit pie served with braised red cabbage - This dish was inspired by a letter to Lady St Oswald asking for rabbits to make pies for wounded soldiers at Clayton VAD hospital, and from Rowland Winn 2nd Baron St Oswald of Nostell Priory asking G R Croft to supply the rabbits.

Pan-fried Haddock, game chips and minted peas - This dish was taken from the Shaw Family of Stainland. 

Meat roly poly served with braised red cabbage - This recipe was taken from a series of reader-tested wartime recipes in the Daily Telegraph. 

Cheese and lentil savoury - Taken from ‘wartime circular to teachers of evening classes in cookery’ dated 10.11.14 from the city council education department.

The College welcomed representatives from the Royal British Legion and a local war veteran to Gaskell’s Restaurant on Wednesday 12th November to try out the recipes. 

The project forms part of WYAS Explore your archive campaign – a two-week long series of events aimed at encouraging people to take time to visit their archive.