– From the Saga of Tanya the Evil’s Mess Hall and the Historical “Turnip Winter”
In The Saga of Tanya the Evil, an elite Japanese salaryman is reincarnated as a little girl in a magical version of Europe and gets caught up in a world war. In this story, a substitute food called “Dede Meat” is mentioned. I decided to recreate it and see what it actually tastes like. It’s said to be quite awful, but is it really?
What Is Dede Meat?
Dede Meat is a fictional substitute food featured in The Saga of Tanya the Evil. In the original series, it’s described as pork mixed with dried cod to bulk it up. This bizarre concoction also makes an appearance in the spin-off Saga of Tanya the Evil: The Mess Hall.

Although introduced as a notoriously bad-tasting dish in the anime, it’s actually based on real history.
The Real History Behind Dede Meat
Dede Meat likely originates from a historical period known as the “Turnip Winter,” which is also the title of a book. The Turnip Winter refers to a severe food crisis that occurred in Germany during World War I. During this time, people had to eat rutabagas—normally reserved as livestock feed—just to survive.
The food shortage was caused by Germany’s failure to plan for a long war and the British naval blockade. The result? Around 700,000 Germans—about 10% of the population—died of starvation.
In retaliation for the hunger caused by the blockade, Germany launched unrestricted submarine warfare, targeting British ships. However, this escalated tensions when a passenger ship carrying many Americans was sunk, leading to U.S. intervention in the war (the Lusitania incident).

According to the book Turnip Winter, the trauma of starvation deeply influenced the German people and ultimately helped fuel the rise of Nazi Germany.
When I was in school, history textbooks emphasized Britain’s economic sanctions, colonial competition, the Versailles Treaty’s heavy reparations, and the Great Depression as key factors behind German nationalism and the rise of the Nazis. So the idea that mass starvation caused by the British was a trigger was honestly quite shocking.
And it was during this time of starvation that substitute foods like Dede Meat were born.
How to Make Dede Meat
Inspired by descriptions in the Saga of Tanya the Evil and its spin-off, I tried recreating Dede Meat.
Ingredients
Since this is a substitute food meant for extreme scarcity, the ingredients are very simple:
- Dried cod (50g)
- Ground pork (150g)
The books describe Dede Meat as “pork mixed with dried cod and cooked with spices to mask the smell.” But when I tried mixing regular pork chunks with dried cod, the two didn’t bind together at all.
In The Mess Hall spin-off, Dede Meat is hamburger-shaped and made with ground pork. The accompanying commentary also confirms the use of ground meat, so I went with that version.
The dried cod needs to be soaked in water for a full day. Without soaking, it’s too hard to chew.

After soaking, I mashed the cod with a pestle and mixed it with the ground pork.

Thanks to the pork fat, the mixture formed into a patty. I could imagine Tanya eating it without even realizing what it was.

Next, I pan-fried it. Since the cod and pork cook differently, the patty started to fall apart a bit, but I managed to get it nicely browned.

So… How Does Dede Meat Taste?
Time for the taste test. The moment I took a bite, I was hit with an overwhelming cod smell—and the gritty texture of the dried fish, especially the skin. Even after soaking for a whole day, the skin stayed tough and unpleasantly chewy.

That said, I had to chew a lot more than with a regular pork hamburger, which made me feel fuller. In a strange way, this makes sense for a substitute food—it forces you to eat slowly and feel satisfied.
Despite the strong cod presence, the taste wasn’t as bad as expected. If the pork had been spoiled like in the historical version, it probably would have been inedible.
An Alternative Dede Meat?
During my research, I found a blog that questioned the authenticity of the pork + cod combination. According to the author, Dede Meat might have actually been cod mixed with potatoes instead of pork—a theory that sounds quite plausible.
So I tried another version using leftover cod and mashed potatoes.
How Did Cod + Potato Dede Meat Taste?
Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures. But the taste? Think of it as mashed potatoes with chunks of tough dried cod. Again, the texture required a lot of chewing, which made it surprisingly filling.
Even after soaking, the cod becomes firm again when cooked. Honestly, cod is better off as a hot pot ingredient than dried and rehydrated.
Final Thoughts
Dede Meat has a bad reputation, but if the ingredients are fresh, it’s not that bad. It’s also easy to make.
That said, if you have access to pork, there’s no reason to add chewy, hard-to-eat cod—especially when dried cod is far more expensive than ground pork.
In modern Japan, eating dried cod is probably more luxurious than eating pork.
And while making the dish with spoiled meat might have made it more historically accurate, I’d rather not end up in the hospital, so I passed on that experiment.
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