Gruel, glorious Gruel.

I realise it looks like I only do one recipe a year....you'd be right. I've been doing me a lot of reading mind you, there's plenty to be read about Victorian poorhouses, which ironically unlike the picture painted in Oliver Twist actually used to provide some of the best food for the poor. Sometimes. Although Gruel was a bit of a mainstay, but if you've ever done the cabbage soup diet you'll have experienced something probably a little less nutritious anyway.

According to one historical document, in a particular workhouse on 3 days of the week each person was served a pint and a half of gruel, a pint and a half of broth, five ounces of cooked meat, twelve ounces of bread and eight ounces of potatoes. On the three alternate days, the men were fed twelve ounces of bread, a pint and a half of gruel, a pint and a half of soup, and two ounces of cheese. On Fridays, they were served twelve ounces of bread, a pint and a half of gruel, fourteen ounces of suet or rice pudding, and two ounces of cheese. The meagre menu was divided into three meals daily. Women and children were given slightly less. And there was no opportunity to sneak off for a mid afternoon biscuit, you got what you were given and if you didn't eat it...well, someone else would.

So this gruel then. What do you imagine? I thought a weak soup with a hint of turnip and greens, perhaps the greasy top layer of fat skimmed off some more well to do person's lunch? Nope. A recipe for Victorian Workhouse gruel is as simple as this;

•3 dessert spoonfuls of oatmeal
•1 pint of water
•a little salt


Yum.