The week that was: 12 January

In a new series for 2016, we look back at events that took place around the same week over the JC’s 175-year history.

January 12, 1940:
In the grips of the Second World War, food rationing was introduced into Britain. To help readers adapt to the restrictions, the JC published the first in a series of “War-time fare” recipes, alongside the welcome proviso: “Bearing in mind that most housewives have a really full-time job at the moment, the menus will be as simple and labour-saving as possible.” Stuffed herrings and date pudding were on the first menu, and advice included substituting margarine for butter, and replacing meat with fish, eggs and cheese to make up any loss of protein.

January 13, 1984:
Writer Maurice Sendak’s children’s book Where the Wild Things Are opened as an opera. The JC reported that, according to the writer, the wild things — the monsters that young Max encounters on his adventures — were originally supposed to represent the writer’s aunts and consequently spoke Yiddish in the opera.

January 12, 1996:
Iconic kosher restaurant Blooms in Whitechapel got into hot water with the London Beth Din for an “attempted breach of kashrut”. As a result, the kashrut licence was withdrawn from managing director Michael Bloom and a new one for 1996 issued to his father, Sydney Bloom. The much-loved establishment was the oldest kosher restaurant in Britain, opening in 1920. But it closed down later in 1996. The Golders Green branch shut in 2010.