Two Cooks and a Cabbage (1941)

This intriguing title is essential viewing for cooks everywhere, especially in times of austerity. The two cooks, Sally and Jane, are called upon to assist their forthright, no-nonsense northern Grandmother (Mrs Ingleton) in cooking dinner. The girls are sent to find a large cabbage from the wartime garden and cut it in half: a whole cabbage would be frivolous; there is a war on!

Sally and Jane choose different cooking techniques but the message is simple: never boil green vegetables in vast quantities of water. I wish my mother had seen this film. (Sharon Messenger)

'Two Cooks and a Cabbage' is part of the BFI Mediatheque touring programme 'Bombs at Teatime' - http://www.independentcinemaoffice.org.uk/mediatheque_bombsatteatime.htm

You can watch over 1300 other complete films and TV programmes from the BFI National Archive free of charge in the Mediatheque at BFI Southbank, London and at the new QUAD centre for art and film in Derby - http://www.bfi.org.uk/mediatheque http://www.derbyquad.co.uk/bfi-mediatheque

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• BFI
• Food
• cooking
• rationing
• children
• world
• war
• two
• ww2
• wartime
• home
• front
• 1940s
• 40s
• forties
• Jamie
• Oliver

[9Fabian]

I love these BFI films.

:-)

The way the economy is going - and with the "energy gap" coming up - this could be our future as well as our past!

[reluctantpaladin]

Ahh.... the good old days. When the men could goof around outside and play with paper airplanes while the women cooked ;)

[hitlermugabetashtwin]

Good to see the boys were up to something useful. 

[bear4cubs]

This was great!!

[PiPxTc]

'I want it to cook for ever such a long time' -- hahaha!

[goinghomesomeday1]

@Buffalobigboy69 - I AGREE. My wife and I went out for a meal recently to a 5* restaurant. On the plate was """a creation""" which cost a fortune and it wasn’t that nice. I can tell you that I would have preferred a plate of my Mum's or Grandmothers special stew. If you want the recipe let me know.

[Buffalobigboy69]

I like this film. A nice grandma with the girls making lunch. Boiled cabbage with some boiled potatoes on the side sounds like a pretty good lunch to me. With a little butter and salt & pepper you can't go wrong. And with food prices going up each week here in the USA. I think simple foods like this are going to make a big come back on peoples tables. I think i'll pick up a nice big cabbage today!

[lozza649]

MR CAVENDISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[demipanko]

This film is effing golden

[teenelizabeth]

Yum, this makes me want to eat boiled cabbage...one of my favorite vegetable dishes, actually. I didn't like it at all until it was practically the only thing my husband and I could afford to eat. I can't even begin to count the number of times we ate boiled cabbage and red potatoes out of sheer necessity; now, we eat it simply because we love it. :) This video was adorable - thanks for posting!

[paulj0557]

Cabbage can be prepared in dozens of ways plus it's growing season extends almost year round. Sour kraut is an easy dish that requires little hands on preparation. Cabbage rolls can be filled with ground lamb, beef, turkey, etc. and can even be mixed with TVP, or rice to stretch it out into more rolls. There is no reason we need to panic about food rationing, even if it is in our future. Our parents and grand parents survived and so can we. The key is to share and share alike, not hoard.