Canned salmon: bones and skin

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My parents were war babies, and they regularly ate canned salmon during the rationing of the war years.

They still regularly ate canned salmon when I was a child in the 1970's.
Canned salmon (skin and bones and all) with iceburg lettuce, sliced tomatoes, and bottled "Salad Cream."
(The "crunch, crunch" of the lettuce blended in with the "crunch, crunch" of the salmon bones.)

Guess what? I can't stand canned salmon. I'll have a salmon steak once in awhile, but will not touch the canned stuff.

I do like Heinz beans on toast, something they ate during the war years as well (especially in the bomb shelters.)
My parents will not touch beans on toast at all (perhaps reminds them to much of the blitz)
But funnily enough, I quite like beans on toast.

(Except that the post-pandemic Heinz baked beans has way more sauce and fewer beans in the can, so the toast goes soggy way to quickly.)
 
GO3838 said:
My parents were war babies, and they regularly ate canned salmon during the rationing of the war years.

They still regularly ate canned salmon when I was a child in the 1970's.
Canned salmon (skin and bones and all) with iceburg lettuce, sliced tomatoes, and bottled "Salad Cream."
(The "crunch, crunch" of the lettuce blended in with the "crunch, crunch" of the salmon bones.)
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What is salad cream? Ranch dressing?
 
No, it's made by Heinz, and it's a rather unique thing. Like mayo, but more vinegary but not liquid-y, more seasoned, perhaps, but in a way I can't describe, very solid-ish. You'd really have to try it to appreciate its unique-ness.
 
Yes, BetteTheRed is right - I meant the commercially bottled product known as "Salad Cream".
Although it's so thick, it's quite a job to toss a salad with it. In fact, I can't recall ever seeing it used as a tossed salad dressing.

I've only ever seen people pour a little bit on the plate, and then use at as a dip - you dip your fork in it and then spear some lettuce, or a tomato wedge, or a piece of hard boiled egg. I've also seen people spread it on bread, and then add tomato wedges, egg slices, and then fold up to eat as a "salad sandwich."
 
@GO3838
The crunch of the salmon bones??? LoL

The bones are so easy to break down with a fork. Was the skin intact as well?
 
We generally went for Clark beans rather than Heinz. And we ate them with boiled hot dogs. "Beans & weiners" we called this lunch.

I have never tried beans on toast. I have used them as a side with pork chops though.

My mother-in-law used to make baked beans from scratch. They were very sweet thanks to a lot of brown sugar. I never liked them. Leftovers were sometimes eaten for breakfast with bacon & eggs.
 
I make marvellous baked beans from scratch from an old New England recipe - super-sweet with brown sugar, maple syrup AND molasses. Lots of salt pork. They're very good if you like sweet beans; they were a hit at my house, particularly when combined with a traditional tourtiere for Christmas Eve supper.
 
I do like homemade baked beans - the kind with brown sugar, molasses, a bit of mustard and tomatoes, and ham or bacon bits.
The kind that goes in the oven for 6 hours although the crock pot does a good job.) Wonderful side dish with ham and scalloped potatoes in winter
(or with sausages and pancakes for Shrove Tuesday,) or along with 20 other items at a church potluck.
 
BetteTheRed said:
super-sweet with brown sugar, maple syrup AND molasses
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Listens as glucometer dies in agony. :ROFLMAO:

Actually, though, my A1C continues to be in the controlled range so I could probably handle this once in a while. And baked beans with a tourtiere sounds delish.
 
I too make baked beans - but absolutelyl NO molasses. I really like molasses but not in beans.

I've done a fair bit in the kitchen recently (other than baking that seems to disappear to the younger generation and neighbours. We splurged on a goat and splurged even more by paying the goatherd to cut and wrap it. What luxury! I made broth with the bones and scraps and it was delicious. The freezer now holds roasts, stewing meat, ribs etc..

I also stewed up an old hen (we bought a few as they were only $3 each). Some of it I cut up and moulded with gelatine, as one would for headcheese. It made wonderful sandwiches for lunch. The rest become a base for soups and stews and went in the freezer for another day.

Friday I baked a ham and sliced up what we didn't eat and put it in the freezer - future sandwiches, ham and eggs, ham and potato casserole etc.. . Then, of course, there was the bone and scraps to turn into ham and pea soup. We had that for supper last night with toasted home made bagels and the put the rest in the freezer.
 
KayTheCurler said:
I also stewed up an old hen (we bought a few as they were only $3 each). Some of it I cut up and moulded with gelatine, as one would for headcheese. It made wonderful sandwiches for lunch. The rest become a base for soups and stews and went in the freezer for another day.
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Sounds like what my wife does with pork bones she gets from the Chinese butchers (all the local Asian/Chinese groceries have a butcher). Boils them for broth, then freezes the bits of meat to add to stir fries for flavour and a bit of extra protein.
 
Interesting that this thread has become about nostalgia foods and economy cooking.

I've been watching youtube videos by 90-year-olds, demonstrating how they cooked during the Great Depression.

Lots of hot dog recipes, and lots of cooking with potatoes and beans, as well as canned tuna and salmon.
 
My mom used to bake a spice cake she called "war cake". I seem to remember it had no eggs & it used raisins for sweetness. The same recipe is sometimes known as "pogey cake".

I always thought it was delicious.
 
We always ate both salmon and tuna sandwiches. My mom made tuna casserole once in a while but she never cooked with canned salmon.

Canned salmon made its appearance as part of a "cold supper" which included potato salad. The bones and skin were always carefully broken down. There was nothing added to it but there might be a few lemon wedges on the side.

This meal also included sliced tomatoes and cucumbers. And cold ham leftovers, too. My mom was a great one for using leftovers. To this day I am shocked by people who throw them away.
 
paradox3 said:
My mom was a great one for using leftovers.
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So was mine. She had a meat grinder so the remains of a roast might end up in a beef shepherd's pie or something. All kinds of interesting variants on using what you already had.
 
My mother made soup cake. It used a can of Campbell's tomato soup, raisins, and spices similar to spice cake. It was moist and not as crumbly as most cakes.
 
A lot of people cringe at the idea of tomato soup cake, but when you look at the label and see the amount of sugar and
condensed dairy in a can of Campbell's tomato soup, you see that it fits very well in a cake. The tomato can be a hard idea to wrap our heads around,
but after all, rhubarb and lemons are more tart than tomatoes, and we put rhubarb and lemons in cake all the time. Why not tomato?

It speaks to the ingenuity of the cooks during the Depression and the War, trying to feed their families on whatever was at hand.
Making birthday cakes when they couldn't get sugar, or vanilla, or lemon. And yet, there were no medals for these women for their ingenuity and creativity.
 
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