Visitors of all ages are invited to get stuck into history this summer as Imperial War Museums (IWM) reopens its doors and announces a schedule of digital and in-person activities, jam-packed with homemade puddings and fun family learning.
From today, visitors to IWM’s social media channels will have access to a brand-new series of videos, made in collaboration with award-winning food writer and celebrity chef Dan Lepard, celebrating the ingenuity and creativity behind wartime dishes.
Inspired by the IWM publication Victory in the Kitchen: Wartime Recipes, Dan has delved into IWM’s rich archives to offer modern twists on classic recipes that were concocted out of meagre rations during the Second World War.
Using simple ingredients, viewers can try their hand at dishes including a 1940s curry, baked jam and carrot sponge pudding, and potato-wrapped sardines in a series of quick cook-along tutorials led by Dan. Featuring insight from historians and footage from IWM’s film archive, these videos will explore themes such as wartime rationing and the introduction of cooking spices to post-war Britain.
They will also shed light on the experiences of those who lived through the Second World War. Accounts from 92-year-old Muriel Morris-Jones who was a child when the war started, and John White, a former Second World War RAF Flight Navigator, illustrate how communities came together in times of hardship to enjoy everyday activities such as cooking and dining with ingenuity and spark.
Dan Lepard, award-winning baker and food writer, says: “Recent months have seen many of us turn to cooking, baking and getting creative in the kitchen for some much-needed comfort and entertainment.
IWM’s extensive archives contain a stack of fantastic and easy recipes as well as first-hand accounts of the challenges – from vegetable growing to rationing – that wartime cooking presented. Drawing inspiration from these, I am excited to have teamed up with the museum to release a series of short videos that celebrate simple ingredients delivering unexpected flavour and a side of history”.
From creations in the kitchen to adventures on the gallery floor, IWM is also excited to be welcoming back visitors with a revised programme of family-favourite activities at IWM London, IWM North and IWM Duxford, whose doors will reopen to the public from 1 August:
Story Seekers at IWM London and IWM North Monday 3 August – Friday 31 August 2020 Daily, drop in*, 10am – 4pm (times and availability may vary) Families returning to IWM London and IWM North are invited to learn about the global impact of conflict, from the First World War to the present day, through Story Seekers. Visitors can get up close with real life artefacts and explore some of the most interesting and unusual stories of conflict, from people who braved shark-infested waters to ingenious nurses and those who built new machines fit for warfare.
