Erken's advice for a well-kept and economical kitchen

When Henriette Schønberg Erken published her Little Cookbook in 1943, everything had to be stretched far. Before a single recipe, she wrote several pages of advice on how a kitchen should be kept – practically, hygienically and economically. The advice is nearly a hundred years old, yet much of it still holds. Here is the essence, in her own words.

Make a plan – and start early

Erken begins with order. "Make a plan for the day's work first," she writes, adding a simple command: "Be precise." Everything should be tidied and in place before the cooking starts, and she wants "a clock in the kitchen" so cooking and baking times can be followed.

She also recommends a slate and pencil on the wall: note the day's expenses at once, and write down the moment the last of the sugar, flour or soap is used up. Goods belong in drawers or labelled jars – not in a heap of paper bags.

A sanitary kitchen

"A sanitary kitchen is the goal."

Good light, good ventilation and thorough cleaning are the starting point. "Be clean yourself and keep everything around you clean," she writes, and she will have no dusty work – such as shoe-polishing – in the kitchen. A small but telling rule: never blow on a pot about to boil over – it is unhygienic; calm it with a little cold water instead.

The washing-up has its rules

"The washing-up must first of all be sorted."

Glasses on their own, and each kind of plate on its own – not deep and flat mixed together. All earthenware goes into cold water the moment it is used, so the residue loosens. The rule for the basin itself is blunt: "Put nothing but water in the sink!" Dirty, foul-smelling cloths "must not be tolerated" – they are washed, rinsed and hung to dry. Pots get lukewarm water as soon as they are emptied, and are loosened with a pot brush or steel wool – never with a knife.

Pots and pans

Cast-iron pots are "the strongest and cheapest to use," Erken holds; grease them with unsalted fat so they do not rust. Enamelware with cracked enamel, on the other hand, is "dangerous to use." Copper vessels should always be "shining bright," and aluminium "does not tolerate soda" – it is washed with soapy water and powdered pumice.

Fire with sense

Here the seriousness of the war years shows. "The ordinary stoves are very uneconomical contraptions," she writes – and points out that with careful sealing of the joints and good cleaning, fuel consumption can be cut by 30–40 percent. The main rule for cooking is as simple as it is economical:

"The main rule for all good cooking is: cook slowly."

Cook on a low flame, and turn off the gas once the water has boiled instead of letting it keep boiling. And a clear safety rule: never use paraffin to light a fire, and never fill a paraffin burner while it is lit.

Always weigh, never guess

"Always weigh, do not guess."

Measures and scales belong in cooking. As a guide she gives the hand-measures: 1 dl of wheat flour weighs about 50 g, 1 dl of sugar around 90 g, and 1 tablespoon of butter roughly 35 g.

Milk first

For Erken, milk came first in the diet: "1 litre of milk per day stands as no. 1 on our dietary plans." It must be handled "with the greatest cleanliness," kept cool and set away from strongly smelling things – for "nothing takes on the taste and smell of its surroundings as quickly as milk." Cheese should neither dry out nor mould, and butter is stored dark and cool so it does not go rancid.

Economical – without being stingy

The heart of the whole chapter is an attitude:

"Be economical without being stingy."

Save and sort leftovers instead of throwing them away. Be careful with the fuel – here "much is squandered." This is the spirit of Erken's thrift kitchen: not miserly, but wise.

Try the advice in practice

Erken's housekeeping belongs together with her frugal cooking. Cook slow porridge such as breakfast porridge, oatmeal porridge or potato porridge; make filling soups such as potato soup and milk soup with vegetables; or try the war years' blood bread. Explore all of Good, cheap daily fare (1941) and Little Cookbook (1943) for food that lives up to the advice here.