"Canned soups are a boon to any housekeeper. If there are women who fail to keep them on hand they are working to their own disadvantage. It would be a mistake, and false economy, to eliminate homemade soup from our menus and to choose only the modern, easier way of preparing soups, gravies, and creamed dishes, but it would be equally unfortunate to deny the usefulness of the canned product. As a timesaver canned soups stand supreme. They may be combined in many interesting ways.
Homemade stock and vegetable juices (the water in which vegetables have been cooked) may be added to them. This includes the liquor from canned vegetables and from canned seafood--the latter must be used sparingly because it is apt to be salty. Waste nothing that can possibly be used. Store all juices suitable for soups and gravies (the water in which sweetbreads, fish, etc. have been cooked) and stock--see Soup Stock, page 51--in glass containers in the refrigerator ready for use. See also Stock Substitutes page 52 and Stock for Sauces, page 377.
Unusual seasoning provides variety. Some examples follow, but it is impossible to list all the good results that may be achieved. Experiment freely in order to determine what you like."
--The Joy of Cooking, 1943 edition
"The revision of this book was begun at a time when rationing in our country was unheard of. Since then, we have seen step by step the depletion of the grocer's shelves and the butcher's counter.
Chapters have been added to meet the changes caused by our national emergency, but the recipe writer and menu builder is on an economic teeter totter and may be let down at any moment with a dull thud. Your help is needed to balance the board and keep it in play.
It is inevitable that since the book is designed for long use, you will find in it recipes at present impracticable. Substitute others to the best of your ability. A general cookbook must be written to cover all types of dishes on the premise that our larders soon will be well filled with their erstwhile abundance and that shortages and ration cards will become legendary."
Some of these suggestions sound extremely good indeed, like this honey spice cake intended to use less rationed sugar (flour, "tartrate or phosphate baking powder," salt, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, butter, 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup honey, vanilla, eggs, and milk). Others, well... for "sugarless tea cakes," the kind of thing you'd serve if a friend came over for a cup of whatever you were drinking instead of your heavily-rationed coffee, we have "crushed graham crackers, condensed milk, sorghum or molasses, and chopped nut meats or raisins." The last ingredient is optional. I think we're lucky to live in a world where this whole recipe is optional.
Something of significance I found in looking through this book is that spices are almost entirely absent outside of baking. There are a lot of herbs, there's parsley and tarragon and rosemary galore, but stuff like cumin, turmeric, and chili powder just isn't there. You know what is? Paprika. It's all over the fucking place, including in dishes I make today but have never once added paprika to. Wanna know the difference? Do you think it might be which continent paprika grows on? CONGRATULATIONS! You're right. It's from South America, can be grown in Mexico, and in the 1930s we had a very good trade agreement with Mexico called the "Good Neighbors policy."
It's all about availability.
