For a bit of education, some hilarious moments, and a jolly
good entertaining look at English food of the Regency period
watch these videos:
_________________________
_________________________
There’s a whole series of these, covering numerous time periods
in British foodways, from the Reformation to the groovy 1970s.
This one is my favorite, probably because it correlates so well
with the years I interpret during my own cooking workshops
and demonstrations. Well, that, and the fact that I just adore
the locations (the English countryside and the city of Bath!),
the houses (OH! OH! Trafalgar House!), and the clothing
(particularly the mens’ look…yowza!).
In addition, I’m very familiar with all of the cookbooks, their
receipts and ingredients, the equipment and all, that’re used.
What really amazed me, though, was that I know well such
cookbook authors as Hannah Glasse and Robert May and
others, I’ve used their works, know what syllabub means
and what issinglass is, I’ve cooked and eaten many of the
very dishes prepared and served throughout each group
of videos. I know it all so well. I feel right at home. That is,
until the wild ’70s clips. Good golly! I had no clue WHAT
they were talking about or WHAT they were cooking or
eating. Squeaks, bangers and mash…it’s all a bloomin’
foreign language!
In any case, I hope you enjoy this series with the lovely
Giles Coren and Sue Perkins. Go to YouTube, type in
“Supersizers (don’t get why they use that word) Go
Regency” or “Go Elizabethan” or whatever time period
you’d like to see. Although each is about an hour long,
they’re shown in short episodes of roughly 10 minutes,
so you may need to keep clicking to the next one.
Incidentally, don’t miss food historian extraordinaire
Ivan Day’s appearance in the “Victorian” segment.
There’s always a period-appropriate meal with various
invited guests, and he’s one of them.
Enjoy!
Historic Cookery 