Wartime Shortages, High Beef Prices, and Betty Crocker
Several years ago, my sister asked me to recall how I used to make “Emergency Steaks,” the easy, oven-broiled, meatloaf-like hamburger steaks that were a family favorite I cooked as a kid. She thought her grandson, Michael, then a picky eater, might like them. He certainly did.
With beef prices seriously rising, I recently reconsidered this bit of economical nostalgia. Then I researched the Steaks’ origins and why I made them as a kid. The 1950s enjoyed peace and growing prosperity. What was the “emergency”?
Getting ahead, it turns out I had combined elements of two historic ground-meat dishes, Emergency Steaks and Salisbury Steaks. My recipe, which I still call “Emergency Steaks,” reflects the hybrid style I used to make.
“Emergency Steak” first appeared in print in 1943, when World War II food shortages and rationing prevailed. Betty Crocker, from the General Mills Corporation, authored a booklet, “Your Share,” with helpful recipes for housekeepers to stretch limited foods. Her Emergency Steak, serving six, used 1 pound “ground beef” (they avoided the German word “hamburger” during the war), 1/2 cup milk, 1 cup of the breakfast cereal Wheaties (I mentioned that General Mills sponsored this, didn’t I?), salt, pepper and minced onion. She shaped the meat mixture like a T-bone steak and broiled it.
After the war, as food became plentiful again, Emergency Steaks and other wartime expedients faded away. In 1950, Betty Crocker put out her first bound cookbook, illustrated and modern. My aunt, who lived next door and at whose house I often cooked, gave me that book on my 12th birthday. I treasured my very own cookbook and explored and cooked and baked from it extensively. Betty Crocker’s wartime Emergency Steak recipe reappeared in that book.
As for incorporating elements of the earlier Salisbury Steak (the round shape and the onion soup mix seasoning), it probably resulted from my prior familiarity with Salisbury steaks and because Lipton’s Instant Onion Soup Mix was then in vogue as both soup and seasoning (mixed into sour cream, for example, for a popular onion dip).
Salisbury steak, too, was invented in wartime — the Civil War. Dr. James Salisbury, a New York State physician and researcher, promoted seasoned cakes of ground beef to combat the frequent digestive illnesses that troops suffered in the war. The steak, with its gravy, evolved over time, having become variously a lunch-counter staple and a frozen TV dinner standard.
What about Betty Crocker, who created Emergency Steak during wartime then later reprinted it in my beloved first cookbook? (That book became popular and went through multiple editions.) Her name, face, signature and iconic red spoon still adorn cake mixes, cookie and dessert mixes, frostings, flour, even potato dishes.
She’s fiction! Her name goes back to 1921, created by the Washburn-Crosby Company, which milled flour in Minneapolis (think Gold Medal) and subsequently became General Mills, Inc. (The original founder, Cadwallader Washburn, by the way, had been a Civil War general.) Betty Crocker was the name used by Washburn-Crosby to communicate with their mostly female customers. The name continued under General Mills to advise housewives on managing wartime food shortages and later titled what became a major cookbook and a food product brand. In short, “Betty Crocker” has always been a front for General Mills.
Finally, here is my recipe for Emergency Steaks as I’ve reconstructed and updated it from recall. Like during my childhood, the “steaks” go well with mashed potatoes (seasoned grits work, too) and a green vegetable. Salad completes a nice, nostalgic, supper. Nowadays, I’d have a glass of red wine with it.
Emergency Steaks, Tim’s Version (serves four)
- 1 cup Wheaties cereal
- 1/4 cup yogurt plus 1/4 cup milk
- Half of a pack (4 1/2 teaspoons) Lipton’s Instant Onion Soup mix
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 pound ground beef chuck (85% lean)
Place Wheaties in mixing bowl. Lightly crush them (for example with the bottom of the measuring cup). Add remaining ingredients and mix well with your fingers.
Apply bakers’ spray or oil to a flat pan with edges. Shape meat mixture into 4 round patties (or one T-bone steak shape for historic interest). Make the meat evenly 3/4-inch thick.
Heat broiler.
Place pan about 4 inches below the broiler. Broil for 3 to 4 minutes on top side, depending on level of doneness desired. Turn steaks with metal spatula. Broil for another 3-4 minutes. Turn broiler off and leave steaks in oven for one more minute.
Serve hot.
Tim Dondero, co-owner and Executive Chef of Donderos’ Kitchen is a culinary enthusiast who has taught international cooking in Atlanta and Athens for years. His redesigned blog is at timsspecialrecipes.com
