A History of English Food facts for kids
 |
|
| Author | Clarissa Dickson Wright |
|---|---|
| Country | England |
| Subject | Cookery |
| Publisher | Random House |
|
Publication date
|
2011 |
| Pages | 492 |
A History of English Food is a history of English cuisine from the Middle Ages to the end of the twentieth century written by the celebrity cook Clarissa Dickson Wright. Each era is treated in turn with a chapter. The text combines history, recipes, and anecdotes, and is illustrated with 32 pages of colour plates.
The book was marked as a future classic by The Independent; it was welcomed by critics from The Telegraph and The Spectator, but disliked by the critic in The Guardian.
Book
Approach
The book is divided into 15 chapters, forming a strict chronological sequence of periods such as "the Georgian age". The chapters freely combine outlines of the historical context, descriptions of recipes, stories about significant figures, and personal anecdotes. For example, "The Medieval Larder" has an extensive section on the "medieval pig" (page 22ff), leading into a description of Dickson Wright's own childhood memories of helping to kill her father's pigs and making black pudding, chitterlings and sausages, as well as having hams and bacon smoked. To this is added her personal opinion; thus, the medieval chapter ends "The battles of Crécy and Agincourt would scarcely have been won had they been fought by soldiers from a destitute nation." (page 41)
Each chapter is opened with a monochrome illustration from its period, with a detailed caption.
There are 32 pages of colour plates illustrating famous cookery writers such as Robert May and stages of English cuisine such as "The 1950s kitchen".
Contents
.jpg)
Page numbers refer to the first English edition.
- 1 Bacon and new-laid eggs: the medieval larder 1
- 2 Eastern spices and baked venison: the high middle ages 43
- 3 Marzipan and new world turkeys: the Tudor kitchen 77
- 4 Orange carrots and white bread: England in the age of Gloriana 117
- 5 Preserved quince and my Lord of Devonshire's pudding: the Elizabethan year 149
- 6 Double cream and pastry galleons: the early Stuarts 171
- 7 Coffee and my Lord Lumley's pease-porage: war and peace in the Seventeenth century 201
- 8 Roast beef and sweet oranges: the late Stuarts 231
- 9 Turtle soup and plum pudding: the Georgian age 255
- 10 Roast hare and Indian curry: the era of Hannah Glasse 293
- 11 Pheasant consommé and forced peas: rich eating in the nineteenth century 315
- 12 Brown Windsor soup and high tea: The world of the Victorians 343
- 13 Omelette Arnold Bennett and bully beef: From the Edwardians to the eve of war 381
- 14 Spam and coronation chicken: The Second World War and the years of austerity 417
- 15 Prawn cocktail and pizza: Modern English food 445
- Appendix of historical recipes 466
Editions
