Traditional English Cookery

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The late 19th and early 20th centuries were periods of major upheaval in British cookery and food which saw the demise of the excesses of Victorian dining (where even breakfast could consist of 10 or more dishes) as the frugality of the First World War bit home. Admittedly, many of the recipes we have come from the bigger houses, but they show an interesting trend. That towards more use of ingredients from the kitchen garden and the bulking-out of exotic ingredients with home-grown ones to give dishes more bulk.

The Victorians were in love with taking European (particularly Italian) dishes and giving them an English twist (which is where Macaroni and Cheese comes from). The same also applied to various spices and dishes from the Empire, particularly from India though Victorian cooks tended to have no idea of how to use the spices properly (as a result curry spices and curry pastes were added raw to a dish rather than being cooked in oil before being added). Partly this was due to the rise of a middle class with no pre-conceived idea about the preparation of food and partly it was due to ex-patriots returning from far-flung corners of the Empire and bringing new tastes and cuisines back with them.

A lot of this culinary adventurousness was lost during the privations of the First and Second world wars and the great depression of the 1920s and it's here that English cuisine's reputation for bland stodginess appeared. But even during the early 20th Century, despite the lack of many ingredients food wasn't all bland!

Here, an exuberant Victorian dish is compared to a more homely Edwardian one.

Kedgeree

This is a classic Victorian breakfast recipe, incorporating British and Indian ingredients.

Ingredients:
350g smoked haddock (or smoked mackerel)
900ml milk
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
5 tbsp olive oil, plus a little extra
1 tsp curry powder
½ tsp turmeric
225g basmati rice, washed
4 large eggs
1 pack flat-leaf parsley, leaves only, washed and chopped
pinch each of salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:
Lay the haddock in a large pan and cover three-quarters of the way up with milk. Bring to the boil and poach for 5-6 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a frying pan, gently cook the onion and garlic for 10 minutes in half the oil. Add the spices and fry for 5 minutes then remove the fish from the milk, add the fried onions and spices and stir in the rice. Cover the pan, lower the heat and cook, stirring, until the liquid is absorbed.

Put the eggs in a pan with a lid and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 4 minutes. Rinse under cold water, peel, then halve. Flake the haddock into good-sized pieces, removing skin and bones, then stir into the rice.

Remove the pan from the heat, stir in cream, add parsley and salt and pepper to taste, then serve.

Kitchen Garden Cake

This is a traditional Edwardian cake, making he most of the late autumn surplus.

Ingredients:
225g self-raising flour
180g softened butter
180g caster sugar
1/2 tsp freshly-grated nutmeg
120g grated parsnip
120g grated carrot
120g grated eating apple
finely-grated zest of 1 orange
juice of 1 orange

For the Orange Water Icing:
50g unsalted butter
80g icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp orange flower water

Method:
Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy then beat together the eggs in a bowl. Add them a little at a time to the creamed butter mix, combining well after each addition. Beat to combine thoroughly then sift the flour and nutmeg into the mixture. Fold into the cake then add the grated ingredients and fold in.

Turn the batter into a well-greased 20cm round cake tin and place in an oven pre-heated to 180°C. Bake for about 50 minutes, or until the top of the cake is nicely browned and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake emerges cleanly.

Allow to cool in the tin for a little while then turn onto a wire rack to cool. When the cake is cold cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the orange flower water and mix into the icing. Use this to cover the top of the cake. Allow the icing to set then serve in wedges.

I hope that these recipes have piqued your interest both for traditional British and English cookery and the history of cooking.