Before Mrs. Beeton

Hi, Jo here, with Charlie at Versailles, talking about a Beeton style publication, but from 1756 not 1861. By the way, you can read Mrs. Beeton's book on line here.

The 18th century domestic expert was Mrs. Martha Bradley, and her work is The British Housewife, which I have in a six volume facsimile edition from Prospect Books. The book is organized by months and each volume contains two months. 

I was accused in the last blog of tempting you all with time-eating sites, but Prospect's catalogue is well worth a browse. Alas I can't find my edition there.That makes it an even more treasured part of my book collection.

As my Malloren books are set in the 1760s, I often refer to Bradley for foods and activities suitable to the season. The peculiar use of stonecrop mentioned in The Scandalous Countess came from Bradley, as did the proper way of treating quince, which Georgia demonstrated at Danae House.

A side comment about the interpretation of novels.

A belated review of A Scandalous Countess quibbled with the Danae House scene as being there to show that Georgia wasn't totally self-centered. I don't think her totally self-centered, but the scene was there to illustrate the complex life of a high-born lady of the time. She was expected to be a patron of the arts and charities, as were the gentlemen. Not to be involved at all would have been seen as crass.

(The image of a quince is from this blog, and there's a page about quince.)

I thought it was clear that Georgia wasn't an enthusiastic do-gooder, but merely doing her symbolic duty and giving money until a minor crisis obliges her to inspect the water supply. The character aspect revealed was that a) she answered the call to of duty, and b) she had been trained in household management and so had some competence, but little true interest. Thus later in the book, when she faces managing Dracy's property, it is a real challenge.

I know that every reader brings themselves to the book, but it's a bit frustrating when information in the text is overlooked, and it makes me wonder if sometimes it would be better to be bluntly didactic. Any opinion on that? If you've read Scandalous Countess, how did you see that scene? 

Back to Martha Bradley

There's very little on line about her, which is a shame. Like Eliza Beeton, Mrs. Bradley wrote a weekly piece which was then compiled into a book. The weekly pieces seem to have been published entire, not in any magazine. The "January edition of The Gentleman's Magazine has an advertizement for The British Housewife No 1. To be continued weekly. 3d." (This information from the excellent introduction to the six volume facsimile written by the compiler, Gilly Lehman.)

It is a fascinating book in many ways, but I don't have space for its history or organization. I'll probably share bits in future blogs. Today I'll provide one item from April that raises a question.

A Wedding Supper

This is the illustration at the beginning of the volume (click to enlarge), showing the table lay-out. As was the norm at the time, the dishes are all laid out, which meant a great deal of serving of oneself and others at the meal. Though chaotic, this must have been very sociable and even fun, if the company was good. As it was a supper, however, it's possible this was a buffet.

My question is "wedding supper?" Except by special licence a wedding had to take place in the morning, so "wedding breakfast" would seem more suitable. However, in The History of Sir Charles Grandison, by Richardson, we have an account of a wedding which progresses through dinner in the afternoon with music and dancing to supper at midnight and guests leaving at 2 am. There is something similar in The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, by Smollett.

If anyone knows more about this, I'm eager to know!

The Dishes

Down the center of the table are the dessert dishes: two pyramid of sweetmeats, with jellies of all sorts between them, doubtless prettily arranged.

The main dishes down the left side are: 6 turkey chickens larded, hasht patties, tarts, sturgeon, oyster loaves, and pheasants larded. A set of smaller dishes in the middle are french beans, tongue, asparagus, petit patties, and probably coxcombs.

On the right the large dishes are: Partridges larded, oyster loaves, souced salmon, cheesecakes and custards, chickens a la creme with lettice (sic), 5 wild rabbits half grown larded. The small dishes on this side are identical to those on the other.

There are two other sets of small dishes each containing mushrooms, fat livers, peas, sweetbread, and a pupton oy quinces.

Though a bit short on veggies, there was something for everyone. What three dishes would you make a grab for, given the chance? Which would you avoid?

I couldn't find a recipe in the books for a pupton of quinces, but if you have time and ambition, here's the modified instructions for

A pupton of apples.

Pare 18 good apples, peel and core.Simmer them with a little water and 5 ounces of sugar until they're tender, then add half a teaspoon of sugar. (Apple sauce, I thought. But that's only the beginning.)

Cook them a little longer until thick, then put in a bowl to cool.

Grate some bread very fine and beat six egg yolks. Mix the eggs with 4 ounces of butter and some of the crumbs.Mix into the cold apples and put into a baking dish and put into a slow oven (ie low, but you'll have to guess) for about half an hour. You should then be able to turn it out onto a dish and should serve it hot with extra butter in a dish and fresh parsley.

Bon appetite!

There's no particular connection, but I'll give a copy of The Secret Duke to one commenter on this blog. Have at it!

Happy spring,

Jo

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Angie]

I think when I read the scene at Danae House (it was some time ago so I'm struggling to recall), I took it to be Georgia doing as required, almost absentmindedly as she was the one who happened to be there rather than by any real desire. I also took it that she felt not exactly pressurised, but resigned to the fact that it was her job, which she stepped up to as part of her duty, and also to show herself in a good light to others. I didn't see any evidence of her acting to ingratiate herself, but more to prove herself to them (subtly differnt). The fact that she stepped in to assist while there (with the quinces) demonstrated she was not purely there under sufferance to deal with the emergency but was taking an interest in the whole.

(PS: the "great" in the method for the recipe is making me twitch - I need help.)

[Dianna Brown]

The recipe sound something along the lines of a good old fashioned cobbler. I have as yet to read the book, but I'm looking forward to adding it to my collection of Jo Beverly books!

[Dianna Brown]

Darn autocorrect Jo Beverley books is what I meant to type.

[Jo Beverley]

Angie, the great is entirely my fault. Thanks for pointing it out!

[Betty Hamilton]

I have often been in AWE of the way that the aristocrats had their meals. I am all for a quick burger or salad! But they seemed to take hours to eat all their courses. How did they find the room for all that food?

[Kit Bennett]

It was clear to me that Georgina was doing her duty as one of the patronesses. It was also clear that she had gotten involved as a patroness because the other patronesses were "interesting" to her AND to fulfill her obligation to be seen as being involved in charitable works.

[Liz]

Some aristocrats clearly suffered weight related illnesses, but it astounds me that any survived. Maybe walking is all it's touted to be.

[Donna Maloy]

Why do you never hear of the Victorians going on diets? The women had corsets to restrict the appetite, but how did the men cope with all that rich food?

[A Facebook User]

They certainly werewn't vry interested in vegetables, were they? And what does it mean "larded" with the meats. I have the feeling none of us would really enjoy a mean like this.

[jennifer redlarczyk]

The recipe sounds a little like something I made today. Here is the recipe which I doubled and added fresh cranberries and pecans plus a little vanilla. I guess that makes mine a little more exotic than one from the Victorian time.
4 apples, cut up (I added nuts and cranberries)
1 Tbs lemon juice (sprinkled on top)
Add powder mixture of
3/4 cup passover cake meal
1 tea. salt(I use less)
3/4 c. sugar
4 eggs separated
yolks mixed with 1 1/2 c. water and
1/4 c. oil ( I used olive to get those mufas)
Whip the egg whites till stiff ( I added vanilla)
Mix it all together and bake it for an hour at 350. Let it cool 10 min. before digging in. It was yummy! ~jen red~

[Louis]

No wonder illustrations from that time show the men with plumpish paunches.

"Larded" maybe means cooked in hot lard???
As some do turkeys in hot oil for Thanksgiving.

[LilMissMolly]

I always appreciate a little history with my books. Thanks for sharing!

[Jo Beverley]

Betty, re the big meals, they generally only ate one large meal a day, but also no one was supposed to eat everything, even when dining at a table.

In the Georgian age they would usually breakfast on coffee or chocolate with some bread, then have a meal -- dinner -- in the early afternoon, then a fairly late supper, which often would be soup with bread or such, as the name implies.

Jo

[Jo Beverley]

Donna, we do hear of people on diets in the Georgian age,and they were very active, but they didn't generally admire thin/slender, which was seen as a sign of ill health as people with diseases such as consumption -- TB -- would be thin. People are often admired for being robust, fleshy etc.

The Victorians went over the top, as with most things, and were by then eating three meals a day. All the same, a lot of the food related illness today is not from the amount of food, but the type, as with overprocessed fats, high fructose corn syrup and the rest. The Georgians and Victorians were eating closer to nature -- local meat (without added hormones and antibiotics in it), more fish that we do, butter, eggs, cream, cheese, fruits and vegetables in season and such.

[Jo Beverley]

Larded means threaded with fat, usually bacon fat, uncooked, which does hold together. A large sort of bodkin is used to thread it through meat so the fat will melt into it during cooking.

There's more detail here.
http://www.recipetips.com/glossary-term/t--33375/larding.asp

Jo

[Jo Beverley]

Jennifer, so that's a kind of apple souffle. It does sound yummy. I'll give it a try sometime.

Thanks,

Jo

[Maureen]

I definitely didn't see Georgia as a do-gooder. I really appreciated that she did her duty without complaint but her focus is on herself and her problems which made her character seem very real to me.
I would go for the salmon and the cheesecake if I would at that wedding celebration and I think the buffet style does sound like a more informal and fun set-up.

[Pageturner]

I'm not sure about Parsley being served with baked apples - it wouldn't be my first choice of herb. Maybe...mint? or even lavendar? Jennifer's recipe above sounds a bit nicer.

[Cate S]

So interesting to learn more about the food of that period... We're so used to dining on the go... It was the big shock of being on a cruise ship... the dinner taking over an hour.. you're served the appitizer, it's removed, then the salad, then it's removed... by the time coffee comes -- it's been well into the 2nd hour... Not quite like zapped in the micro & eaten over the sink!!!

[Robin Greene]

Charlie at Versailles? Great picture.

[Jenny]

I have a sweet tooth so jellies would be good, but I absolutely love sweetbreads. Then I might have a go at oyster loaves, or pheasants, or tongue. However I would definitely give the fat livers a miss, thats if I could identify them, and I don't know about coxcombs. Thanks for the recipe for pupton of apples. We have stacks of apples at the moment and I will try it out. Might give the parsley a miss though. And I would love to change places with Charlie at Versailles!

[JessS]

Wow that wedding supper looks intense! I can see it being very sociable, but it also seems like it might be a waste of food unless you invite hundreds and hundreds of people. And that recipe sounds delicious! Even though I've never heard of a pupton before. I'd love to win a copy of The Secret Duke if it's open internationally.

[Artemisia]

1. I don't believe they ate the full portions we eat today. I think they took only a small bite or two. 2. The leftovers went to feed the servants, and the last leavings probably went to the poor. 3. Does anybody know WHY weddings had to be in the morning? This was a plot point in A Scandal in Bohemia, too.

[Wynne]

I would have the asparagus, mushrooms, quince pupton (love quinces!), and custard, but I would try very hard not even to see the coxcombs, let alone eat them. Eek. And I'm not a vegetarian. Thanks for the interesting post.

[marlon]

I think when I read the scene at Danae House (it was some time ago so I'm struggling to recall)