This blog post was written based on research during the ‘Interpreting Kiplin for 400’ project, a National Lottery Heritage Fund project with thanks to National Lottery players. This post is part of a collection of posts on various themes being published during December 2024.
Prior to the 18th century, venison and other game were more important for the upper classes – beef was left to farmers and freeholders. While dairy cows were prized for their milk and cream, beef cattle were small and tough and susceptible to winter famine. Most were slaughtered on the traditional slaughter day – 11th November, St Martin’s Day. Some beef was cured to preserve it over the winter months with the addition of spices to counteract the saltiness – cloves, mace, cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper and juniper. This formed the basis for 18th century favourites – beef a la mode or beef carbonadoed. Thanks to the work of Charles, Viscount Townsend, farmers began to rotate crops of clover, grasses and turnips to provide winter fodder for animals. The average weight of cattle and sheep sold at market doubled between 1710-1795.
The French writer Henri Misson was a commentator on English eating habits. According to him, “Beef is the dish of choice among all those who can afford it. It is common to have a huge piece of roast beef, of which they stuff till they can swallow no more and eat the rest cold the other six days of the week”. But what would the beef have been like? It would have been slaughtered recently and bled properly by the butcher. It may have been stored in brine until it was time to cook it. In hot weather it would not keep well – large quantities of tainted meat would have been thrown away. Most recipe books had sections on curing with salt and spices to enable some form of protein to be available in the winter months – fish, bacon or cheese as well as meat. It was realised that exposure to the air played a part in food decay and cooks used melted and clarified butter to help seal pots or jars of fish, shellfish and some kinds of meat.
For landowners and agricultural workers, the great meal of the year was the Harvest Supper – which despites its name was definitely a dinner. Food was provided by the landowner or farmer – joints of roast beef, hams, vegetables, plum pudding and home-brewed beer. Wives and children may have joined in the dinner (until the heavy drinking began) or may have been invited into the ‘Big House’ for Harvest cake, tea and lemonade.
If not beef, then what? Maybe a leg of roast or boiled mutton, fowls, pigs, ox-tripe, tongues, rabbits, pigeons – all well moistened with butter.
With what has been called ‘the feminisation of the kitchen’ – namely the practice of employing female cooks – the former huge pots of mixed meats and giant roasts prepared by male cooks began to disappear. It was not feasible to continue the tradition of roasting whole animals on a spit in front of the fire. However, a suckling pig (piglet) remained popular although spit roasting in front of an open fire was an unpredictable art – particularly judging when the meat was cooked through. It was known by then that uncooked pork was unwholesome. The main advice available at the time (from cookery writer Hannah Glasse) was that it was done “when the eyes drop out and the skin is very hard”. Rabbits were boiled whole and the boar’s head – boiled and deboned – was then roasted with an apple in its mouth to allow the heat to penetrate. The fricassee – essentially a dish of fried meat – was elegant and easier to prepare in smaller quantities and appropriate for a genteel 18th century household. Fricassee recipes included tripe, tongue, lamb and artichokes. Cookery book writer Hannah Glasse used the terms ‘fricassee’, ‘ragoo’ and ‘stew’ more or less interchangeably. Vegetables, oysters or chopped meat went into a stew with butter, herbs and gravy to produce dishes ‘fit for a supper’.
The strictures of the Catholic church regarding regular abstinence from meat were somewhat relaxed after the Reformation and had become largely a matter of choice rather than obligation. Improvements in agricultural practices meant that more meat was available in winter months and that many country houses could supply their own eggs and butter. However, 18th-century cookbooks still offered recipes for meat-free days – Hannah Glasse has a whole chapter of fish, vegetable and dairy recipes for a ‘Fast Dinner’. The growing fashion for growing fruit and vegetables in a country house kitchen garden (perhaps to impress visitors!) led to an increase in the variety of vegetables grown. Those which were considered difficult to grow were most prized, for example asparagus. Tomatoes, though introduced into England in 1550, were slow to catch on. John Hill, in his gardening manual of 1756, says ‘Few eat this, but it is agreeable in soups’.
(789 words)
(Published Dec 2024)
Find out more about the ‘Interpreting Kiplin 400’ Project during our Open Days on 13th, 14th and 15th December 2024. BOOK HERE
Source Material:
Volger, P. 2021. Scoff: A History of Food and Class in Britain. Atlantic Books, UK.
Glasse, H. 1747. The Art of Cookery made Plain and Easy by A Lady. Published by Hannah Glasse, England
Woodforde, J. 1978. The Diary of a Country Parson 1758 – 1802. Ed. J. Beresford. Oxford University Press, Oxford, England.
Raffald, E. 1769. The Experienced English Housekeeper. Published by Elizabeth Raffald, England
Wikipedia – Service a la Francais: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_%C3%A0_la_fran%C3%A7aise
