Just thought I’d reblog a video recipe I did a couple of years ago for ‘Mock Banana’.
Mock Banana really was a much used ration book recipe using parsnips and banana essence….it wasn’t as bad as it sounds!
C xxx
This is the legendary and authentic wartime recipe for ‘Mock Banana’.
Before the war the Brits imported 70% of their food which equated to around 20 million tons per year!
Imports dropped significantly to about 1/3rd and consequently many foods such as bananas were impossible to get hold of. Prior to the bar the Brits went crazy for bananas so it was one of the foods that were truly missed.
Somewhere, some strange culinary mind obviously decided that a substitute was needed. This was when the good old parsnip was brought into play…
My lunch today consisted of 4 mock banana sandwiches and actually, despite the rather bizarre experience, they tasted pretty good! (but then again I do love parsnips)
Mock Banana
1 medium parsnip per round of sandwiches
2-3 teaspoon of caster sugar per parsnip
2-3 squirts of banana essence per parsnip (you can buy on eBay)
Method
Peel…
View original post 33 more words
The 1940's Experiment 
I have parsnips in my pantry. No banana essence though. But I am definitely going to have to try this!
LikeLike
Its weird! xxxx
LikeLike
I think a purchase of banana essence is called for 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is a very strange experience!! Xxx
LikeLike
I used to work with a lady who was put off parsnips for life because her mum had fed her ‘mock banana’ sandwiches as a child! 😆
LikeLike
When I hear about England and bananas, I always remember the very pleasant library clerk in Stillwater, Oklahoma. She was a child during WWII and said that the bananas were rare even after the war during the extended food rationing. About 1950, a ship came in with a load of bananas and she said they all ran down to the pier celebrating.
Lovely video. I found you from a link on the FB page Save Money on Groceries (Living on a Dime).
LikeLiked by 1 person
My nan was a child during the war and had never tasted a banana.
Shortly after the war ended, each child in her school was given a banana to take home to try. She was so excited that she ran home, tripping on a cobblestone, badly scraping her knees and squishing her banana. She said that she had never cried so much in her life, not through the pain, but because she was grieving for her banana!
Luckily her big brother scooped her up, carried her home and shared his banana with her. She wasn’t keen on it in the end.
LikeLike