Victorian cuisine

Last updated

Victorian cuisine is the cuisine that was widespread in Britain during the Victorian era (20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901).

Contents

Background

There were two seemingly incompatible ideas about the role of women in Victorian society: the "New Women" who clamored for greater participation in public life seemed at odds with the traditional ideal of femininity, the "Angel of the House", that limited women's role in society to matters concerning the household. Despite the restrictiveness of traditional conceptions of femininity, not all women welcomed the "New Women" philosophies, some seeing the pursuit of political causes as vulgar, and preferring instead to pave other paths for women to seek their own agency. Guiding women writers like Elizabeth Robins Pennell was a belief that women ought not to abandon their traditional role in the kitchen, which society should regard, not as a mere frivolity, but as an inherently valuable pursuit worthy of respect. [1]

Pennell strove to recast the cult of domestic femininity, duly elevating cooking from the drudgery of bodily labor by encouraging women to become creative in the kitchen. She saw cooking as "the ultimate form of art,” worthy of genius, admiration and respect. [1] [2] With the new, positive view that “cooking was a high art practised by geniuses", middle and upper class Victorian women in began to express their culinary creativity for the first time, much as male artists had always been able to do. [2]

Dining at home

Victorian kitchen display at Lulworth Castle Victorian Kitchen display at Lulworth Castle - geograph.org.uk - 4195998.jpg
Victorian kitchen display at Lulworth Castle
Victorian Dining Room, Waddesdon Manor Waddesdon Manor's Dining Room.jpg
Victorian Dining Room, Waddesdon Manor

Many Victorian meals were served at home as a family, prepared by cooks and servants who had studied French and Italian cookbooks. Middle and upper class breakfasts typically consisted of porridge, eggs, fish and bacon. They were eaten together as a family. Sunday lunches included meat, potatoes, vegetables and gravy. [3]

In wealthy British homes, the dining customs dictated proper attire that got fancier as the day progressed with separate outfits for breakfast and lunch, then a tea gown, with the most splendid attire reserved for dinner. [4] Family meals became common events that linked the comforts of home with this newly recognized art form. Victorian cuisine did not appeal to everyone. British cooks like Mrs. A. B. Marshall encouraged boiling and mutating food until it no longer tasted or resembled its original form. [2] Victorian England became known throughout Europe for its bland and unappetizing food but many housewives cooked in this fashion since it was the safest way to prepare food before refrigeration. [2]

The Victorian breakfast was usually a heavy meal: sausages, preserves, bacon and eggs, served with bread rolls. The custom of afternoon tea served before dinner, with milk and sugar, became well-established in Britain in the early 19th century. A selection of tea sandwiches and biscuits, petit fours, nuts and glazed fruits would be served on the most beautiful china with the tea, and sometimes alcohol. [5]

Dining became an elaborate event that took planning and skill. Hosting elaborate dinner parties was a new way to elevate social class in Victorian England. Instead of cooks and servants, middle and upper-class women began to make complicated dishes themselves to impress family members and guests. This ultimately transformed the once mundane tasks of cooking and eating into artful experiences. [6]

Dinner was the most elaborate meal with multiple courses: soup, roast meats or fish, vegetables, puddings and sweets. Cheese was served at the end of the meal, after dessert. Tea and biscuits were usually offered to guests after the meal. [5] A bill of fare and a guideline to plan menus became popular. [7] A three course meal, for example, might begin with soups with fish, followed by meats, roasts or stews, then game and pastry, and ending with salads, cheese and liquor. [8] Setting the table was an important part of the dining aesthetic, involving expensive silverware and china, with table decorations of “glass, linen, fruits, foliage, flowers, colours, [and] lights". [8]

Royal household

The Parisian Alphonse Gouffe (b. 1813 - d. 1907) became Head Pastry Chef to Queen Victoria. His brother Jules Gouffé wrote the Livre de Cuisine which Alphonse translated into English. [9] According to census records, Gouffe was a married pastry cook living at Buckingham Palace in 1851. 1861 census records show Alphonse as a "cook of the kitchen" at Osborne Palace on the Isle of Wight. In 1871 Alphonse is 57 years old, a pastry cook at Windsor Castle. [9]

Holidays

The custom of Victorian England was to eat pancakes and fritters on Shrove Tuesday in preparation for Lent. (In Norwich small scallop-shaped buns substituted for pancakes.) The traditional bread for Good Friday was hot cross buns. In Penzance people would gather at the local pubs for May Eye playing music and drinking. Later in the evening they would gather at farmhouses to eat fruit cake and drink junket—a mixture of raw milk, rennet and sugar. Soul cakes were made around Halloween, coinciding with the end of the wheat-seeding season. In Scotland and parts of North England black pudding and sausages were prepared for Martinmas Day. Yorkshire Christmas pie was considered a classic Christmas dish by Charles Elmé Francatelli. [10]

In literature

The foodways of different social classes in Victorian England feature in literary works by Charles Dickens, Anthony Trollope and Jane Austen. In Great Expectations , Dickens recounts the custom of the wedding breakfast. (Because all weddings in England were, until the 1880s, legally required to be held in the mornings, such "wedding breakfasts" became customary.) [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinese cuisine</span> Culinary traditions of China

Chinese cuisine comprises cuisines originating from China, as well as from Chinese people from other parts of the world. Because of the Chinese diaspora and the historical power of the country, Chinese cuisine has profoundly influenced many other cuisines in Asia and beyond, with modifications made to cater to local palates. Chinese food staples such as rice, soy sauce, noodles, tea, chili oil, and tofu, and utensils such as chopsticks and the wok, can now be found worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moroccan cuisine</span> Culinary traditions of Morocco

Moroccan cuisine is the cuisine of Morocco, fueled by interactions and exchanges with many cultures and nations over the centuries. Moroccan cuisine is usually a mix of Arab, Berber, Andalusi, and Mediterranean cuisines, with minimal European and sub-Saharan influences. Like the rest of the Maghrebi cuisine, Moroccan cuisine has more in common with Middle Eastern cuisine than with the rest of Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soul food</span> American style of cooking

Soul food is the ethnic cuisine of African Americans. It originated in the American South from the cuisines of enslaved Africans trafficked to the North American colonies through the Atlantic slave trade during the Antebellum period and is closely associated the cuisine of the American South. The expression "soul food" originated in the mid-1960s when "soul" was a common word used to describe African-American culture. Soul food uses cooking techniques and ingredients from West African, Central African, Western European, and Indigenous cuisine of the Americas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuisine of the Southern United States</span> Regional cuisine of the United States

The cuisine of the Southern United States encompasses diverse food traditions of several subregions, including cuisine of Southeastern Native American tribes, Tidewater, Appalachian, Ozarks, Lowcountry, Cajun, Creole, African American cuisine and Floribbean, Spanish, French, British, and German cuisine. In recent history, elements of Southern cuisine have spread to other parts of the United States, influencing other types of American cuisine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breakfast</span> Meal eaten in the morning

Breakfast is the first meal of the day usually eaten in the morning. The word in English refers to breaking the fasting period of the previous night. Various "typical" or "traditional" breakfast menus exist, with food choices varying by regions and traditions worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">English cuisine</span> Culinary tradition

English cuisine encompasses the cooking styles, traditions and recipes associated with England. It has distinctive attributes of its own, but is also very similar to wider British cuisine, partly historically and partly due to the import of ingredients and ideas from the Americas, China, and India during the time of the British Empire and as a result of post-war immigration.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to meals:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pakistani cuisine</span> Culinary traditions of Pakistan

Pakistani cuisine can be characterized as a blend of regional cooking styles and flavours from across South, Central and Western Asia. Pakistani cuisine is influenced by Persian, Indian, and Arab cuisine. The cuisine of Pakistan also maintains certain Mughal influences within its recipes and cooking techniques. Pakistan's ethnic and cultural diversity, diverse climates, geographical environments, and availability of different produce lead to diverse regional cuisines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lithuanian cuisine</span>

Lithuanian cuisine features products suited to the cool and moist northern climate of Lithuania: barley, potatoes, rye, beets, greens, berries, and mushrooms are locally grown, and dairy products are one of its specialties. Various ways of pickling were used to preserve food for winter. Soups are extremely popular, and are widely regarded as the key to good health. Since it shares its climate and agricultural practices with Northern Europe, Lithuanian cuisine has much in common with its Baltic neighbors and, in general, northern countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arab cuisine</span> Culinary traditions of Arab people

Arab cuisine collectively refers to the regional culinary traditions of the Arab world, consisting of the Maghreb and the Mashriq. These cuisines are centuries old and reflect the culture of trading in ingredients, spices, herbs, and commodities among the Arabs. The regions have many similarities, but also unique traditions. They have also been influenced by climate, cultivation, and mutual commerce.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yemeni cuisine</span> Culinary traditions of Yemen

Yemeni cuisine is distinct from the wider Middle Eastern cuisines with regional variation. Although some foreign influences are evident in some regions of the country, the Yemeni kitchen is based on similar foundations across the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ottoman cuisine</span> Cuisine of the Ottoman Empire and its region

Ottoman cuisine is the cuisine of the Ottoman Empire and its continuation in the cuisines of Greece, Turkey, the Balkans, Caucasus, Middle East and Northern Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British cuisine</span> Culinary traditions of the United Kingdom

British cuisine is the specific set of cooking traditions and practices associated with the United Kingdom, including the cuisines of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. According to food writer Colin Spencer, historically, British cuisine meant "unfussy dishes made with quality local ingredients, matched with simple sauces to accentuate flavour, rather than disguise it".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sephardic Jewish cuisine</span> Assortment of cooking traditions of Sephardic Jews

Sephardic Jewish cuisine, belonging to the Sephardic Jews—descendants of the Jewish population of the Iberian Peninsula until their expulsion in 1492—encompassing traditional dishes developed as they resettled in the Ottoman Empire, North Africa, and the Mediterranean, including Jewish communities in Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, and Syria, as well as the Sephardic community in the Land of Israel. It may also refer to the culinary traditions of the Western Sephardim, who settled in Holland, England, and from these places elsewhere. The cuisine of Jerusalem, in particular, is considered predominantly Sephardic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Early modern European cuisine</span> Cuisine of early modern Europe (c. 1500–1800)

The cuisine of early modern Europe was a mix of dishes inherited from medieval cuisine combined with innovations that would persist in the modern era.

Azerbaijani cuisine is the cooking styles and dishes of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The cuisine is influenced by the country's diversity of agriculture, from abundant grasslands which historically allowed for a culture of pastoralism to develop, as well as to the unique geographical location of the country, which is situated on the crossroads of Europe and Asia with access to the Caspian Sea. The location has enabled the people to develop a varied diet rich in produce, milk products, and meat, including beef, mutton, fish and game. The location, which was contested by many historical kingdoms, khanates, and empires, also meant that Azerbaijani cuisine was influenced by the culinary traditions of multiple different cultures, including Turkic, Iranian, and Eastern European.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to cuisines:

<i>A History of English Food</i> 2011 non-fiction book by Clarissa Dickson Wright

A History of English Food is a 2011 non-fiction book, a history of English cuisine arranged by period from the Middle Ages to the end of the twentieth century, written by the celebrity cook Clarissa Dickson Wright and published in London by Random House. Each period is treated in turn with a chapter. The text combines history, recipes, and anecdotes, and is illustrated with 32 pages of colour plates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meal</span> Eating that takes place at a specific time

A meal is an eating occasion that takes place at a certain time and includes consumption of food. The names used for specific meals in English vary, depending on the speaker's culture, the time of day, or the size of the meal.

<i>The Virginia House-Wife</i> 1824 cookbook by Mary Randolph

The Virginia House-Wife is an 1824 housekeeping manual and cookbook by Mary Randolph. In addition to recipes it gave instructions for making soap, starch, blacking and cologne.

References

  1. 1 2 Floyd, Janet. (2003). The Recipe Reader: Narratives - Contexts - Traditions. Forster, Laurel, 1962-. Aldershot, Hants, England: Ashgate. ISBN   1351883194. OCLC   619863875.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Floyd, Janet. (2010). The recipe reader : narratives, contexts, traditions. Forster, Laurel, 1962-. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN   9780803233614. OCLC   457150789.
  3. ""How to eat like a Victorian". 2016-10-16. Retrieved 2019-04-14".
  4. 1 2 Thursby, Jacqueline S. (2008). Foodways and Folklore. Greenwood Press. pp. 25–26.
  5. 1 2 Thursby, Jacqueline S. (2008). Foodways and Folklore. Greenwood Press. p. 30.
  6. The recipe reader : narratives, contexts, traditions. Forster, Laurel., Floyd, Janet,, Forster, Laurel, 1962-. London. ISBN   9781351883191. OCLC   974642023.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  7. ""How to eat like a Victorian"".
  8. 1 2 DODS, Margaret, pseud. (1862). [The Cook and Housewife's Manual ... The fifth edition, revised and enlarged, etc.]. OCLC 559095562.
  9. 1 2 "Alphonse Gouffe".
  10. Kay, Emma (2015). Dining with the Victorians.