Corned beef fritters with lobscouse - a wartime recipe from The Knightstone Tearooms

By the Knightstone Tearooms

The Knightstone Tearooms is closely associated with the wartime airbase, RAF Harrowbeer. The building was the original control tower/watch office and is now also the home of the RAF Harrowbeer archives.

Every August, Harrowbeer 1940s weekend takes place on our doorstep, so the last time the event took place, we decided to enter into the spirit by dressing up in period clothes and adding a few authentic wartime meals to our usual menu.

Whilst researching recipes and trying a few of the dishes we realised that, with lots of food being either rationed or in very short supply, the meals of the day evolved to either reproduce the flavour of something using slightly different ingredients or to make the ingredients go a long way. One such dish is the corned beef fritters below, which allows a relatively small amount of corned beef go a very long way. The lobscouse is very quick and easy to make, was very popular with sailors, and goes very well with the fritters.

Hope you enjoy them!

Corned beef fritters

Ingredients

2oz self-raising flour

1 egg yolk

120ml milk

Pinch dried mixed herbs

1 tsp grated onion

1 tsp chopped parsley

6oz corned beef, finely flaked

1oz cooking fat

Method

Blend the flour with the salt, egg and milk and beat the mixture until it forms a smooth batter.

Add the other ingredients and mix well.

Heat the cooking fat in a pan and then drop spoonfuls of the batter into it

Fry them quickly on both sides until crisp and brown

Lobscouse

Melt a nob of butter or margarine in a small saucepan, then add 3oz grated cheese and about 2 tablespoons milk. Stir over a low heat until the cheese starts to melt, then add 2 or 3 tablespoons of chopped, tinned tomatoes. Cook until all the ingredients are blended, season with salt and pepper and pour over a bed of piping hot mashed potato.