Supersizers go....

One of my current favourite television shows is "Supersizers go..."

It is a satirical food/history show in the vein of Supersize Me. Sound confused? Don't be - it's awesome.

Giles, a food critic, and Sue, a comedienne, spend a week eating, dressing and living the lifestyle of different time periods and then have medical tests, pre and post said week, to assess the impact said historical diets have on their health. 

It's both fascinating and hysterical.

Here's the link to Youtube where you can find all the exciting adventures of eating your way through Wartime, 20s, 50s, 70s, 80s, Restoration, Regency, Victorian, Medieval, Elizabethan, Edwardian Britain, Revolutionary France and Ancient Rome.

Supersizers go...!

Lest we forget

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

Photo from here

Today is Remembrance Day, or Armistice Day, so buy a poppy to support our veterans, and  the families of the men and women who give their lives and service in defence of our country.

Having recently cycled through the Somme I have a new respect of those men who charged through the hills of the somme with a full pack under heavy fire.

Here's a photo from my cycling trip showing the beautiful hilly nothingness that is the Somme countryside.

Artists reflect the course of obesity with expanding portions in the Last Supper

From The Times
March 24, 2010

Chris Smyth


Jesus Christ and Ronald McDonald may seem to have little in common. But both are presiding over the supersizing of their followers’ eating habits, according to researchers who found that the portion sizes in paintings of the Last Supper have piled up over the past 1,000 years.

American academics analysed 52 of the most famous depictions of the Last Supper and found that the appetites of the Apostles have become increasingly prodigious. The size of the main dish grew 69.2 per cent and bread portions by 23.1 per cent over the millennium, while the plates grew by 65.6 per cent, they found.

The findings suggest that today’s obesity crisis may have deep historical roots, according to the researchers. “I think people assume that increased serving sizes, or ‘portion distortion’, is a recent phenomenon,” said Brian Wansink, director of the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University, New York, who led the study. “But this research indicates that it’s a general trend for at least the last millennium.”

From the austere repast laid on by the early 14th-century Tuscan artist Duccio, through Leonardo’s lively party of 1495, the supper became a feast in Titian’s depiction of 1544. When Tintoretto painted the Last Supper in 1592-94 the table was groaning with dishes.

Professor Wansink, with his brother Craig, a Presbyterian minister and Professor of Religious Studies at Virginia Wesleyan College, examined dozens of artworks including modern depictions by Stanley Spencer and Salvador Dalí.

Using computer design software, they scanned the meals and calculated the portion size relative to the head size of the average apostle. They found a big upwards trend, in research published in the International Journal of Obesity.

The Bible, being more concerned with its religious import, does not dwell on the amount of food consumed at the Last Supper, and it was a “tertiary matter” for most artists, Professor Wansink said. “The ampleness of the food is coming from the mind of the artist, showing what he thought was reasonable and appropriate in the time and place he was living,” he told The Times.

Professor Wansink, whose book Mindless Eating studies how social and environmental forces affect how much we eat, argues that the increasingly meaty Christianity on display is an indication of improvements in agriculture.

“The last thousand years have witnessed dramatic increases in the production, availability, safety, abundance and affordability of food,” he said. “We think that as art imitates life, these changes have been reflected in paintings of history’s most famous dinner.”

The New Testament mentions only bread and wine, but Professor Wansink discovered that fish was the most commonly depicted main course, featuring in 18 per cent of canvases. Considering the symbolism of the fish and Jesus’s injunction to his disciples to become “fishers of men”, this is perhaps unsurprising. Lamb was the main course in 14 per cent of the pictures and, more puzzling for a gathering of Jews on the eve of Passover, 7 per cent of the paintings featured pork.

Jeff Brunstrom, Reader in Behavioural Nutrition at the University of Bristol, described the research as “very interesting”. But he said: “The obesity epidemic is a relatively modern phenomenon and it’s really only in the past 40 to 50 years that you’ve seen big changes in body mass index (BMI).”

The researchers needed to show whether the larger portions had been making people fatter, he said. “If people were really eating 70 per cent more calories than they used to we would be rolling around,” said Dr Brunstrom. “Whether we have seen an increase in BMI historically is unclear.”

That will have to remain among the divine mysteries: the Wansink brothers did not assess whether Christ and his disciples themselves were getting bigger.

How much of human life is lost in waiting.

HOW TO WAIT AT TABLE

ORDER AND ROUTINE.

The waiting commences from the head of the table, and there must be assistants, outside the door, to bring the dishes and remove them entirely from the room. When the dinner is served on the table the attendant must stand at the left-hand side of the carver, and remove the covers. As the soup comes first, a plateful is carried to each person, unless they signify they do not wish for any, and commences from the one on the right of the host. The sherry or claret is then handed round. At a large gathering the moment a person's plate is empty, or finished with, it must be quietly taken away, spoon and all, but when the party is only a small one, the plates are usually left until all have finished the course. In any case, the plates of the host and hostess are always left till last. At informal parties guests should be asked if they wish for a second helping, but not at formal gatherings. Never remove a dish which is being served until all have finished that course. The fish is carried round in the same manner as the soup, the attendant having in the left hand the sauce-boat, or being followed by another servant carrying it. All plates are placed by the attendant at the left-hand side of the person being served, and when used removed from the left or right. Entrées are invariably handed even when the joints are carved upon the table. When the joint comes on, and the meat has been taken to the guests as before, the vegetables (which are usually placed upon the sideboard, and not on the table) are handed about, together with a sauce-boat of gravy for fowls or birds. As soon as all have been served with the meat course the wines are again handed round. The meat course finished, the soiled plates are removed, and the sweet course, followed by the savoury, is brought in. Dinner over, the unused cutlery, the glass, cruets and carving cloth are brushed away from the guests' left-hand side; the dessert-plates, finger bowls and port glasses are arranged upon the table; and after everything is in proper order, the port and a few dishes are handed round by the attendants. who then leave the room. In handing aerated waters, lemonade, etc., the attendant takes the small tray or salver in the left hand and, standing on the left side of the guest who places his or her glass upon it, pours out the required liquid with the right hand. When clean knives and forks are required, they must be placed on the table and not handed on the salver.

At hospitality school we learnt to serve from the right and clear from the left... I wonder which is the more "correct" way or if it has changed over the years?

Dishes should be handed at a convenient level: they are usually served too high and not far enough forward. They should be served with the left hand, the body turned a little to the right. If the right hand be free do not rest it on the back of the chair.

Heaven forbid your wait staff should get overly familiar with your guests and dare to touch their chair.

Hope is a good breakfast, but it is a bad supper.

FAMILY SUPPERS.

At these, food of a light description should be served, and to make these meals enjoyable the dishes should be as varied as possible. Fish re-dressed in the form of mayonnaises, croquettes, or pies, can easily be made into a good supper dish; the remains of poultry or game hashed make a tempting and savoury one where hot dishes are liked, and all kinds of odds and ends can, with a little ingenuity, be utilized to form more appetising food at supper time than perpetual cold meat. Salad or cucumber should not be wanting at the family meal in summer, when such things are plentiful and cheap, while in winter a few cold potatoes friend make a nice addition, or a well-made potato salad. As with breakfast dishes, those for supper are more a question of trouble and time than cost.

You can't fake quality any more than you can fake a good meal.

TO LAY THE CLOTH FOR DINNER.

The cloth itself must first be put on straight and evenly, and if at all creased should be pressed with a clean iron over a damp cloth. The cloth should not be laid upon the bare table, but the table should be first covered by some asbestos-felt or an old cloth. Should the housewife wish to display her highly-polished table, she may dispense with a table-cloth and use dainty lace mats for each plate or dish, taking care to protect the polish of the table by using small asbestos mats under the fancy mats.

Here we go with the asbestos again. I believe all of my place mats are cork backed, so I hope that suffices.

Everything necessary for laying the cloth, including the napkins, should first be brought into the room, and it is a good plan to put the latter round the table first, so that the same amount of space can be allowed to each person.

Remember we're giving each person AT LEAST 24 inches. Except at a lot of restaurants where they really don't seem to care if you keep nudging the person next to you when cutting your steak.

These occupy the space between the knives and forks, and in each, if folded, should be put either a dinner roll or a piece of bread cut rather thick.

Remembering of course that side plates are a definite no-no at dinner.

Table-napkins are often merely folded over and laid flat on the plate ready for the hors d'œuvre, between the knives and forks; a small knife is then laid on the napkin.

Next place the menu cards, if these are used, either one to each person, or one between three or four, if only a few are provided.

The water jugs, cruets and salt cellars may next be laid. There should be a cruet at each corner of the table, while a salt cellar should be between every two persons. We now come to the knives and forks, and of these it is usual to lay a large one of each, the knife flanked to the right by a fish knife, a soup spoon, and an hors d'œuvre fork, and on the left of the fork should be the fish fork; other knives and forks are supplied with the plates for different courses.

A cruet set is a collection of little bottles of vinegar and oil and pepper... sometimes salt as well.

The question of what wine is to be drunk at dinner will determine what glasses are wanted, as the glasses used for dessert are put on afterwards.

Supposing, as is so often the case, sherry, champagne and claret are to be served, put the proper glasses for each to the right side of each person, setting them in a triangle, with the sherry glass (the first used) at the top, just reaching to the point of the knife, but at a convenient distance from it.

Exactly the same way we were taught to put glasses on the table at hospitality school. Some things never change.

The sideboard requires to be laid as carefully as the dinner-table itself, and everything that can be put there ready for placing on the table afterwards, such as finger-bowls, glasses for dessert wine, dessert plates, decanters, and knives, forks and spoons of every kind should be there ready and carefully arranged. The decanters, salvers, glasses, etc., should be put well at the back of the sideboard, and the plates, knives, forks, etc., neatly laid in front.

When the dinner is not carved on the table, one specially intended for the carver should be prepared with carving knives and forks (the former carefully sharpened beforehand) of various kinds, soup ladle, fish-carvers, etc., in the order of serving the dinner, that nothing may delay him when he commences his duties.

I always, always, always carve in the kitchen. I don't know why, but it seems easier somehow, and I always make a big mess which would probably ruin my table cloth.

Champagne, hock, or other sparkling wines that are only uncorked when wanted, may find a place under the sideboard of side tables where the ice pails are to be found; decanted wines are put on the sideboard.

After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one's own relations.

DINNER.

When dinner is placed upon the table, if there is only on chief dish place it at the head of the table. If two, one to the host and one to the hostess. If three, one (the principle) at the head and the other two together near the bottom. If four, the two principle at top and bottom, the others at the sides. Six dishes can be arranged as for four. Seven will require three dishes down the middle of the tale and two on either side.

To be honest, I think I just plonk 'em down wherever they will fit. My bad...

Courses. - The order of the courses of a modern dinner should be as follows: the soup is usually preceded by an Hors 'dœvre, such as caviare, croûtons, sardines, oysters, or other little appétissants.

The First Course is usually soup, the second fish, then comes the entrées (made dishes). The next Course, joints, then poultry and game, and after these sweets, then savory dishes, then cheese and celery. When there are two roast meats they should be opposite colours, i.e., not two whites or two browns. Entrées require care in handling; there is nearly always gravy with them, and this must not be upset upon the cloth. The last arrangement of dishes - which cannot be called a course, seeing that the dinner is virtually over - the dessert comprises tastefull arranged fruits that are most in season.

Following is a specimen menu:-

SPECIMEN MENU FOR A DINNER

FRENCH

Potage.

Consommé a la Colbert

Poisson.

Turbot bouilli

Sauce aux Huîtres.

Entrée.

Filet de Bœuf à la Brillat

Tomate farcies à l'Italienne

Rôti.

Faisan bardé au Cresson.

Salase de Saison. Pommes frites.

Entremets.

Omelette à la Célestine.

Gelée aux Bananes.

Bonne Bouche.

Buissone d'Ecrevisse.

Dessert.

ENGLISH

Soup.

Clear Soup with Poached Eggs.

Fish.

Boiled Turbot. Oyster Sauce

Entrée.

Braised Fillet of Beef.

Stuffed Tomates.

Roast.

Roast Pheasant with Cress.

Chipped Potatoes. Salad.

Sweets.

Omelet with Preserved Fruit.

Banana Jelly.

Savoury.

Dressed Prawns.

Dessert.

I always just assumed sweets and dessert were meant to be the same thing and people were just being pretentious. However, it is evident in this context that they are completely different things. It also makes my 6 course meal into only 4 courses, because Hors d'œurves don't count as a course... and I would imagine neither does cake.

In giving a dinner it is far better to have a simple meal, which one knows will be properly cooked and serves, than to risk anything elaborate, for it is difficult to appear utterly unconcerned when one is harassed by petty cares, and a thoroughly good hostess is one who is able herself to enjoy, without anxiety, the dinner she is giving.

This is by far and away the most important point I think in the whole chapter. Emily Post also agrees that it is better to have a good simple meal than a bad elaborate one. Also on this note, it is hard to enjoy oneself with a giant burn on ones' hand as happened at a recent dinner of mine and put a pretty big dampner on the whole evening.

The temperature of the room is a very important subject that is often overlooked. It is not possible thoroughly to enjoy a good dinner in a room either too hot or too cold.

Particularly a hot cooked Christmas dinner on a 44oC day in Australia.

Game on, Elizabeth David...

I recently had a birthday, and for said birthday a lovely family friend gave me a cookery book (everyone seems to have picked up on my exciting new-ish obsession for cookery books...).

I got Elizabeth David's French Provincial Cooking, first published in 1960.

Elizabeth David is considered responsible for bringing French and Italian cooking into the British home (along with now ubiquitous items such as olive oil and the courgette). In a Britain worn down by post-war rationing and dull food, she celebrated the regional and rural dishes of the Mediterranean rather than the fussier food of the gourmands and aristocrats. David's style is characterised by terse descriptions of the recipes themselves, accompanied by detailed descriptions of their context and historical background, and often laced with anecdotal asides. She was often scathing of bad food, including much of the food of England that she and her readers had grown up with.

I used her book in conjunction with Mrs Beeton for one dish of my latest and greatest dinner party, so I was most distressed to read this quote from her.

"If I had been given a standard Mrs Beeton instead of Mrs Leyel's wonderful recipes," she said, "I would probably never have learned to cook."

I find it endlessly interesting that a woman who was born in 1913 and was given her first cook book age 19 (The Gentle Art of Cookery by Hilda Leyel) saw Mrs Beeton as the epitome of boring and bland British Cookery, whereas I, born 70 years later, find Mrs Beeton inhabiting a fascinating world of interesting ingredients and ideas. Things that were common place for Mrs Beeton and for Ms David are strange and unusual for me. And no doubt things that are ordinary for me would be bewildering for Mrs Beeton or anyone else of that era.

Anyway, I'll not hold Ms David's poor opinion of Mrs Beeton against her, as really... she didn't know any better.

It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn't use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like "What about lunch?" - Winnie the Pooh

LUNCHEONS.

Luncheon Dishes. - Ordinary luncheons, as a rule, have fewer courses than dinner, but in other respects they are almost identical, and may comprise hors d'oeurves, soup, fish, meat, poultry or game, sweets and savouries. Hors d'ourves are almost invariably served as a preliminary; either soup or fish is frequently omitted, and the sweets provided are of a comparatively simple characters, such as soufflés, milk puddings, fruit tarts, compôte of fruit, etc. A joint of meat, a fruit tart or stewed fruit, or a suet or milk pudding, constitute the luncheon of many who dine late, more especially when the household includes children who share the midday meal. Or the luncheon may consist of the cold remains of the previous night's dinner, in which case parts of birds, tarts, creams, jellies, etc., are usually made more presentable by being cut into portions suitable for serving, and neatly arranged on a dish.

The Service of Luncheon varies considerably, for while luncheon à la Russe may be said to predominate in fashionable circles, yet a very large number of people still follow the older custom of having all the hot dishes placed upon the table.

The table arrangements for luncheons served à la Russe are the same as for dinner, the centre of the table being occupied by nothing but fruit, flowers, cruets, and other articles used in the service. Under any circumstances, each cover should comprise one large and one small knife, a fork, and a small fork for the hors d'oeuvre, but the old custom of placing a small fork and dessertspoon is no longer followed, except at informal meals. When fish is included in the menu, the knife and fork provided for its service must be laid to the right and left, on the outside of those already on the table, and if soup is to be served, a soup spoon or a tablespoon must be placed to the right, outside the fish knife. According to present fashion, the maximum alllowed to each cover is two knives and two forks, one fish knife and fork, and one soup spoon, all of which should be placed a quarter inch from each other and one inch from the edge of the table. When the dishes are placed upon the table, instead of being served à la Russe, each dish to be carved must be accompanied by appropriate carving-knives and forks, and each entrée, or sweet, by a tablespoon and fork. The wine to be served will determine the number of glasses to be used. If, say, claret, hock and minerals are selected, then tumblers, hock and claret glasses should be provided; but glasses should never appear on the table unless the wine to which they are appropriate is to be served.

Table-napkins should be placed in the space between the knives and forks.

A good meal ought to begin with hunger

As I am preparing for the dinner party of the season for my up coming birthday, I thought I should explore the importance of meals.

MEALS

REGULARITY.
One important consideration with regard to meals is their regularity, and, speaking from the health point of view, it is most essential. A meal that we have waited for an hour too long is often one that we fail to appreciate; and while to the healthy irregularity is dangerous, to the delicate it is injurious. It is not difficult to determine what are the best and most convenient times to take our meals, and when once these hours are fixed, the next thing is to insist on punctuality, not only for those who serve them, but for those for whom they are prepared.

Whoops. Here we get a big F. Our breakfast and lunch are usually around the same time but due to the variety of different things going on at night time, dinner is anywhere from 6.30 to 9.30.


TABLE ARRANGEMENTS
There are few general rules which apply equally to mansion and cottage. However simple may be the meal, and however coarse in texture the cloth, it should be clean, free from creases, and arranged smoothly with the centre fold forming a true line the whole length of the table. The knives should be clean, bright and sharp, and the silver clean and well polished. When properly trained servants are kept, contrary conditions seldom exist; neither would they in small households, where the work devolves upon an inexperienced housemaid, if a few simple rules were strictly enforced, such as removing the crumbs and folding the cloth on the table, instead of allowing it to be shaken and folded outside the room; that after each meal all knives should be cleaned and made ready for use; and, what is still more important, that such articles as silver-plated dishes, spoons, etc., should be washed separately with soap and hot water, and well polished with a leather. Apart from the fact that silver thus treated always presents a bright and well-preserved appearance, there is the further consideration of the silver being kept in good condition without a frequent application of plate powder, which, however fine it may be, ultimately destroys the plated surface.

My silver is a little less than shiny, but it's going to get a good going over before Saturday.

An asbestos-felt or baize under-cloth for dining-tables cannot be too strongly recommended, for it enables the table-cloth to lie better, and the latter is more pleasant to the touch with some soft, thick substance beneath it. Sometimes the baize is drawn under the edges of the table by means of a string run through the hem, but it may be stretched more tightly when fastened underneath with small tacks, and this without the least injury to the table. Grey felt is preferred by many, because it is less likely to stain the cloth than a coloured substance, and is also less expensive.

Some of you may know baize as the stuff on pool tables. I wouldn't recommend asbestos cloth for my dining table, but it is still available for purchase - mostly from China. I believe it is illegal in Australia however.

Tablecloths and table-napkins should be of as good a quality as means will afford, and alike in design.

I just bought new napkins, however they are in a complementary colour as my table cloth is a bed sheet.

Table-linen whould be very lightly starched, for, if made too stiff, the corners of the tablecloths, instead of falling in natural folds, stand out in an awkward fashion, and the table-napkins are unpleasant to use.

A good rule is to allow 24 inches for each person's accommodation. Where the table is necessarily a little too large, a little more room does not matter, but on no account give less, for there is no greater misery than a crowded table.

Right-o, off home to measure my table and to do some calculations.

Tea for two and two for tea...

I think "Tea" is on of the most misunderstood and misinterpreted concepts out there. Afternoon tea, High tea, Tea, Dinner - all possibly meaning the same thing - or completely different ones.

So, let's go the panel and get a professionals' view.

AT HOME, HIGH AND FAMILY TEAS.

"At Home" Tea is served upon small tables, the servant before bringing it in seeing that one is placed conveniently near her mistress, who generally dispenses the tea. No plates are given for a tea of this kind, and the servant, or servants, after seeing that all is in readiness, leave the room, the gentlemen of the party doing all the waiting that is necessary.
The tea equipage is usually places upon a silver salver, the hot water is in a small silver or china kettle on a stand, and the cups are small. Thin bread and butter, sandwiches, cake, petits-fours and sometimes fresh fruit are all the eatables given. These are daintily arranged on plates, spread with lace doilies.

High Tea. - In some houses this is a permanent institution, quite taking the place of late dinner, and to many it is a most enjoyable meal, young people preferring it to dinner, it being a movable feast that can be partaken of at hours which will not interfere with tennis, boating, or other amusements. At the usual high tea there are probably to be found one or two small hot dishes, cold chicken, or game, tongue or ham, salads, cakes of various kinds, sometimes cold fruit tarts with cream or custard, and fresh fruit. Any supper dish, however, can be introduced, and much more elaborate meals be served, while sometimes the tea and coffee are relegated to the sideboard. In summer it is not unusual to have everything cold.

Family Teas. - At these meals cake, jam, sardines, potted meats, buttered toast, tea cakes and fruit are often provided, in addition to the tea, coffee, bread and butter. Watercress and radishes are nice in summer.
The hours for family teas may vary in many households, but are generally governed by the time of the dinner that has preceded them, and the kind of supper partaken of afterwards. Where this is of a very light character, such as a glass of wine and a slice of cake, or a more homely glass of beer and bread and cheese, a 6 to 7 o'clock tea would not be too later, and a few savouries or eggs would be needed in addition to the bread and butter and cake so generally found; but where a substantial supper is to follow the tea the latter would be of a very light description, and should be served as early as 4.30 to 6 o'clock.

America and England: and may they never have any division but the Atlantic between them. - Dickens

In a slightly belated tribute to our American cousins and their Independence Day celebrations, I thought we could look at what Mrs Beeton has to say about Americans and their cookery.

AMERICAN COOKERY

Now that we receive American provisions in such good condition, it is as well we should know something about American cookery. We give, therefore, some recipes for the cooking of those provisions with which we are already familiar, together with some for purely American dishes that as yet we have not had an opportunity of trying here, feeling sure that ere long means will be found to bring the required ingredients within our reach.

Amongst the plentiful supply of fresh provisions in America, fish takes a prominent place, and forms a larger diet than here. The immense extent of the American coasts, Atlantic and Pacific, supplemented by the large lakes and rivers, yield an ample supply of not only those fish familiar to us, but many others as yet unknown, amongst which are those named for their colour, such as the blue and white fish, and the celebrated clam, while oysters are extremely plentiful and far too cheap to be considered a luxury. Game (although not preserved as here), poultry vegetables and fruit are all found in abundance in America.

One lesson we might learn from the Americans, and that is to make a greater variety in our bread and breakfast and tea-cakes. There is a terrible sameness in this branch of bakery in England, and we seldom rise above white or brown bread, tea-cakes, muffins or hot rolls; while at American breakfast-tables breads of various flours (often blended), dainty biscuits, crackers, and many other nice substitutes for these will be found to vary the monotony of these necessary adjuncts of the meals.

American drinks, candies, and ice creams we scarcely need speak of here, for they have come to us and been appreciated by most English people.

We ought to be grateful to Americans for having introduced us to the fluid beef, and other preparations of meat that form such good substitutes for alcoholic drinks in the cold weather, putting strength as well as life into our bodies when at all overcome by cold or fatigue. The iced drinks for summer we think are less valuable , for, though very refreshing for the time, they have, when partaken of very freely, an injurious effect.

So there you have it, Yay for American fish, breads and hot meat drinks - boo for cocktails.

But wait - there's more

I'm a lucky girl. My sister purchased this book for me from the Brotherhood of St Lawrence on line. Who knew you could op shop on line?

Mrs Beeton's Simple Cookery in Colour from 1978 not only has glorious colour pictures of interesting foods. It is also in metric. No more tricky conversions - if I want to make something simple. This book was also published by Ward Lock & Co. which led me to some wikipeding to see what I could find about them.

Yep, there they are. Apparently publishing since 1854 when it was founded by Ebenezer Ward and George Lock (you just don't see enough Ebenezers about these days), Ward Lock & Co opened their Melbourne office in 1888. The company is still in existence and its imprint is still used by Penguin Books.

Ward Lock & Co boast such authors as Mrs Beeton, as well as Nigel Tranters early works, Dornfold Yates and Thomas Hugnes and published the revised edition of The Picture of Dorian Gray.

However, my copy of Mrs Beeton's Cookery Book was printed by Foy & Gibson. It's a special edition. Foy & Gibson (also known as Foys) was one of Australia's earliest department store chains, modelled on Le Bon Marché in Paris and other European and American Stores of the period. Interestingly, their first store was in Smith Street, Melbourne, which is not more than 3 major roads from my house, and their warehouse/factory was also nearby. So actually, my little book hasn't travelled very far from where it was created (well, sold at the very least.)

I presume it was some kind of collarboration between Ward Lock & Co and Foy & Gibson to release a special edition. But definitely requires further investigation.

Sadly, Foy & Gibson no longer exist.
But the warehouse in Collingwood still stands. So I can see it when I ride my bicycle up to the supermarket nearby.

It's growing!

my collection of Mrs Beeton books that is...

I just acquired this darling copy of Mrs Beeton's Cookery book. This time it was my mother-in-law who supplied the goods... she was showing it to me knowing that I have the other book Actually, she thought I had the same book. I asked if she would leave it to me in her will... so she just gave it to me, although I guess technically it should still belong to Gran in case she wants to pickle anything in the nursing home. (Apparently the sister-in-law gets to have Gran's recipe collection instead.) So this is my husband's Gran's copy of Mrs Beeton... allegedly again given as a wedding present.

However, here I come across the same quandary as I have with my nana's copy. It appears to be a lot older than a wedding present would suggest. This one seems even older than the All about Cookery, and a quick google gives it an approximate date of early 1900s to 1910ish. All very puzzling.

And, intriguingly, this book has lots of different recipes to the other one. Some things that were popular when this book was printed had evidently fallen by the way side by the time All about Cookery was published.

So I'm looking forward to even more adventures with Mrs Beeton.

Portion Distortion - Now & Then

An interesting article from The Age Online... especially for those of us with an historic cookery/living project on the boil...

Are recipes making us fat?
February 17, 2009 - 10:05AM

Studied ... US cookbook Joy of Cooking.

It's not just fast food restaurants that have changed the way people eat - cookbooks share the blame.

So-called portion distortion, the trend of eating larger and larger servings, is as much a problem with recipes as it is restaurants, and has been going on even longer, a study published this week in the Annals of Internal Medicine found.

The study, which looked at how classic recipes have changed during the past 70 years, found a nearly 40 per cent increase in calories per serving for nearly every recipe reviewed, about an extra 77 calories.

"So much finger pointing is going on at away-from-home dining it really takes the focus off where we could probably have the most immediate influence," says Cornell University marketing professor Brian Wansink, who directed the study.

The study identified the trend in numerous cookbooks, but it focused on American kitchen icon Joy of Cooking, first published during the 1930s and regularly updated with new editions since then, most recently in 2006. Those editions gave researchers a continuity of recipes from which to draw their data, Wansink says.

Of the 18 recipes published in all seven editions, 17 increased in calories per serving. That can be attributed partly to a jump in total calories per recipe (about 567 calories), but also to larger portion sizes.

Only the chili con carne recipe remained unchanged through the years. The chicken gumbo, however, went from making 14 servings at 228 calories each in the 1936 edition, to making 10 servings at 576 calories each in the 2006 version.

Calls to Scribner, publisher of Joy of Cooking, were not immediately returned.

Most excess calories in the American diet still come from food eaten outside the home, says Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition and food studies at New York University. But she says the study is yet another illustration of how accustomed people are to eating ever increasing quantities of food.

And changes in Joy of Cooking have been going on for a while. Increases in overall calories per recipe have been gradual, but portion sizes tended to jump, first during the 40s, again during the 60s, and with the largest jump in the 2006 edition.

The first significant signs of restaurant portion inflation didn't show up until the late 70s, says Wansink.

Lisa Young, an adjunct nutrition professor at New York University, had similar findings in a 2002 study that compared the book's brownie recipe from the 60s and 70s editions to the recipe from the 1997 edition.

"Same recipe. Same pan. But in the 60s and 70s it yielded 30 brownies," she says. "In the 1997 edition it yielded 15."

She also was able to trace the trend to other recipe sources. For example, a popular chocolate chip cookie recipe that decades before produced 100 cookies, made only 60 during the 80s, though no ingredients had changed.

Wansink says he is more concerned by the increase in overall calories per recipe - what experts call caloric density - than in the portion size increases, which is a more easily recognised phenomenon.

"That (calorie increases) is more insidious because that's the sort if thing the average person wouldn't notice, wouldn't even think would have happened over the years," says Wansink, author of Mindless Eating, an examination of why people overeat.

Much of the change can be attributed to money. Relative to household income, food is cheaper than during the 30s. So recipes once padded with less expensive (and lower calorie) ingredients like beans, now often have more meat, Wansink says.

The scope of Wansink's study is limited. It measures the recipes only as written, not as eaten. Because people may eat more or less than the suggested serving, estimating the effect on the typical diet is challenging.

But a 40 per cent increase is significant. A change of even 10 per cent can affect weight, especially when dealing with high calorie foods, says Wansink. His solution? Don't let a full portion get anywhere near your plate.

"It's not enough to just be aware," Wansink says of the recipes once intended to serve nearly twice as many people are they do today. "Put half of it away as soon as it's cooked."
AP

Mrs Beeton would like to introduce...

well, anyone really, so long as they are of good character and reliable.

Further to 50's gal's post about visiting the new neighbours...here's what Mrs B has to say.

"IN A NEW NEIGHBOURHOOD.

When taking a house in a new locality, it is etiquette to wait for the residents of longer standing to call, thus evincing a desire, on their part, to become acquainted. It may be that the mistress will desire intimacy with but a few of her neighbours; but it is to be borne in mind that all visits, whether of ceremony, friendship , or condolence, should be punctiliously returned, though some time may be allowed to elapse in the case of undesirable acquaintances.

Letters of Introduction. - You may perhaps have been favoured with letters of introduction to persons living in the neighbourhood. In this case, enclose the letter of introduction in an envelope, with your card, and leave it at the house. Do not, however, wait to be received on this occasion. If the person to whom the letter is addressed call in the course of a few days, the visit should be returned by you within a week, if possible. It is more usual to write by the post and introduce a friend, instead of leaving everything to be said by the letter that is give. Men, especially in business circles, frequently introduce by scribbling across a visiting card "To introduce Mr._______."

In the event of your being invited to dinner, after calls have been made as above, nothing but necessity should prevent you from accepting. If you really cannot accept, state the reason frankly. Opportunity should also be taken to call in the course of a day or two, to express regret that circumstances made it impossible.

Giving a Letter Of Introduction. - Always pass a letter of introduction to your friend unsealed. Courtesy dictates this, on the assumption that the person you are introducing is naturally interested in knowing the manner in which he or she is referred to. Should you receive a letter from a friend, introducing a person known to and esteemed by the writer, the letter should be immediately acknowledged, and willingness expressed to do all in your power to carry out his or her wishes."

Have you ever received a letter of introduction? Or been asked to write one? The closest thing to this nowadays that I can think of is the "Friend of a Friend" section of facebook... you may know this person..do you?

And wouldn't it make it easier to get to know people if you were introduced by someone already in the know...

The housewife

'House keeping has been mostly aptly described as the "oldest industry." It is certainly the most important, the very lynch-pin of life's daily round...Woman [since the War] has extended her influence in every sphere and in that which has always been peculiarly her own her position is more unassailable than ever. To use language appropriate to this volume, it may be said that while statesmen may carve nations, good cooks alone can consolidate them.
There are those - not many nowadays - who hold that housekeeping is a matter of instinct and the light of nature. Many women have, it is true, an inherited capacity; but like all other arts, this of domestic management must be cultivated, and even the most self-reliant of brides is generally willing, after a short experience, to concede that she is glad of such counsel as a well-tried book like this can give.'

I was thinking about all of us here in blogland, all with various different housekeeping or cooking experiments going on, and I was wondering why it is so prolific. What is it that we are missing from our ordinary lives that we need to search out old books and manuals to teach us? Obviously, it's nothing different to what they used to do 'back in the day'. sounds like it was perfectly acceptable to ask for help or get a book if you needed it.

Anyway, let see what else Mrs B has to about the housewife...

'Whether the establishment be large or small, the functions of the housewife resemble those of the general of an army or the manager of a great business concern. It is hers to inspire, to mould, direct; vigilance or slackness on her part will alike inevitably be reflected back. The most successful housewives are those who, as in other walks of life, make themselves felt rather than seen or heard. Constant nagging never yet made a good servant: on the other hand, a too-easy rule and undue familiarity are bad alike for housewife and for maid. In every household there are occasions when the housewife can, without loss of dignity and without suspicion of intrusiveness, show that she is interested in the lives of those about her and genuinely concerned for their welfare. Servants, for their part, can always give "that little more, and how much it is," which raises the relationship from that of mere wage-earning to one of respectful friendliness and willing co-operation. On the day that mistresses and maids realise their common humanity, their mutual dependence, and their mutual interest, the servant difficulty will disappear.'

Being a housewife was more that just slobbing about at home while your servants did all the work. And it was more that working your fingers to the bone in a flurry of housecleaning activities with no greater purpose or plan. The housewife is a general, directing and planing the battle against dirty and unclean elbows. She is the CEO of Home, Inc. making sure that all the quarterly projections for health, happiness and domestic tranquility are met.

Interesting that now homemaking and the domestic arts are such underrated skills, huh?

Mrs B recommends Alzheimer's

Well, not really, because aluminium doesn't really cause Alzheimer's, but she recommends aluminium cookware. In recent times, there has been a move away from aluminium, but in All about Cookery, "we belive, wherever possible, in the use of aluminium". I am, however, assuming that this is a later day addition, as aluminium was only first isolated in 1825.

Anyway, this is the list of 'required' articles for the kitchen in a fair-sized house.
Let me know if you have even half of these things. And if you do, where on earth do you keel it all?
The things I own will be in orange.

1 Boiling-Pot, oval, cast-iron
2 Casseroles
1 Double Pan or Boilerette
1 Dripping-pan with well on Iron Legs, wrought-iron
1 Ladle for same
1 Egg-Bowl
1 Egg Poacher
1 Fat-Pan and Drainer, Oval, wrought-iron
6 Fireproof glass Dishes, assorted I have one or two
1 Fish-Kettle with tin bottom, strong
1 Frying-pan, oval
1 Omelet-Pan
1 Preserving-Pan
4 Saucepans, assorted I have 3
1 Salamander and stand
1 Saute-Pan
3 Souffle Dishes
1 Steamer, 3 or more tiers
6 Stewpans, assorted sizes I have 2
1 Stock-Pot, 4 galls., with tap and drainer
1 Sugar Boiler
1 Tea-Kettle, oval
1 Well-Kettle, copper-bottom, tin body
1 Basting Ladle
1 Colander, strong tin
2 Dish Covers, wire
2 Dish-up Forks and Guards I have one
1 D. Slice
1 Egg-Slice
1 Frying-Basket
1 Gravy Strainer, Conical
1 Gridiron, Hanging, strong wire
1 pair Steak-Tongs Do BBQ tongs count?
1 Soup Ladle, strong tin
12 Spoons, assorted
6 Spoons, Wooden
1 Toasting-Fork Again I ask, do BBQ ones count?
1 Vegetable Strainer, wire
1 Apple corer
1 Bread-Grater I have a cheese grater, it would probably grate bread
1 Bread Rasp
1 Chopping-Board - and then a few more
1 Cook's Bone Knife
2 Cook's Knives
2 Corkscrews
1 Cutlet-Bat
1 Cutlet-Saw
1 Daubing Needle
2 Egg brushes
1 Egg Whisk, strong-wire
1 Box Fancy Cutters - I assume she means biscuit cutters
1 Filleting Knife
1 Flour-Dredge
1 Icing-Tube
1 Jelly Bag and stand
1 case Larding Needles
1 Lemon-Squeezer
1 Meat-Chopper
12 Meat-Hooks
1 Meat saw
1 Pasteboard, hardwood
1 Box Paste Cutters, fluted
1 Box Paste Cutters, round I have a few, not sure what constitutes a box though
1 Paste Jagger
1 Pestle and mortar
1 Pint Measure
6 Pudding-Cloths
1 Rolling-Pin, hardwood
2 Root Knives
1 Pair of Scissors
2 sieves, hair
1 sieve, brass wire
1 set of Skewers
1 Sugar-Dredge
1 Scales
2 Tin Funnels - Well, mine are plastic
2 Tin Openers
1 Box Vegetable cutters
3 Vegetable scoops
2 Cake-Tins
12 Dariole-Moulds
6 Fancy Entree Cups
6 Flan tins
2 Jelly Moulds
24 Patty-Pans, fluted I have several cupcake and muffin tins though
4 Pie-Dishes, assorted Maybe only 2
4 Pudding-Bowls, assorted
12 Tartlet-Pans
6 Breakfast Cups and Saucers
1 Coffee-Pot
3 Jugs
6 Plates, assorted
1 Teapot
2 Trays, strong I have one
1 set Tea, Coffee and Sugar Canisters
1 Bread Crock
1 Flour Crock
1 Seasoning Box
1 Coffee Mill, steel
1 Freezer
1 Knife-Machine
1 Knife Sharpener
1 Meat-Safe
1 Mincing-machine
1 Potato-Masher
1 Potato-Peeler
1 Refrigerator
2 Galvanized Pails
1 Bass or Yard Broom
1 Dish Mop
1 Hair Broom
3 Scrubbing Brushes
1 Set Shoe Brushes
1 Set Stove Brushes
1 Flue Brush
1 Dustpan Brush
1 Oven Thermometer
Copper, Steel or Aluminium shavings for scrubbing out pans

Dismally frumpish?

'Mrs Beeton lived in the Victorian era‚ which‚ as everyone under 30 knows‚ was dismally frumpish.' Florence White‚ The Times‚ February 1933.

So what are your impressions of the Victorian era?

An exceedingly long period in British history which includes the colonisation of New Zealand, the Irish potato famine, the Crimean War, the Indian mutiny, the publication of The Origin of Species, the occupation of Egypt and Jack the Ripper.

I imagine the 'dismally frumpish' comment is a reflection of the clothes and social mores perceived to have gone with them, the repressed sexuality, the constraints in society - and yet this is a time when prostitution was on the rise. However, even wikipedia disputes this, suggesting that "Corsets stressed a woman's sexuality, exaggerating hips and bust by contrast with a tiny waist. Women's ball gowns bared the shoulders and the tops of the breasts. The tight-fitting jersey dresses of the 1880s may have covered the body, but they left little to the imagination." Check out this foxy minx and tell me she's not as equally exciting as a Victoria's Secret model.

Lytton Strachey writing to Virginia Woolf, November 8, 1912:

Is it prejudice, do you think, that makes us hate the Victorians, or is it the truth of the case? They bungling hypocrites; but perhaps really there is a baroque charm about them which will be discovered by our great-great-grandchildren as we have discovered the charm of Donne, who seemed intolerable to the 18th century. Only I don't believe it... I should like to live for another 200 years (to be moderate).
(Cited in The Letters of Lytton Strachey, edited by Paul Levy, Penguin, 2005.)

So do we have a misconception of Victorian society? And if so, why? Is it because our high-school history teachers never bothered to explain it to us in depth? Or because we love to watch Dickens' adaptations and just accept that everything was dark, dirty and repressed? And are you a Victorian realist or romanticist?

"The finest housekeeper in the world"

is apparently what Sir Arthur Conan Doyle thought of Mrs B.

In his study of married life, A Duet; with an occasional Chorus, he makes his heroine say "Mrs Beeton must have been the finest housekeeper in the world. Therefore, Mr Beeton must have been the happiest and most comfortable man."

Not only this glowing praise (although not having actually read A Duet I cannot say if this was for real or not) but Mrs Beeton has also been 'the guide, philosopher and friend of countless happy homes for more that half a century. Her Cookery book, of which this is one of the most successful, have appeared among the wedding presents of brides as surely as the proverbial salt cellars, and thousands of grateful letters for all English-speaking countries testify that they have often proved the most useful gifts of all.'

Nothing I like more than a bit of shameless self-promotion...(when I have a band that's going to be the name of my first album), but I found it rather amusing to be reading this in the preface to my cookery book, desperately convincing me to purchase the copy I am holding in my hands.

Mrs Beeton is 'without a rival', the book is 'tried and tested' which 'while little has been taken away, much has been added', espeically to fit with the 'CHANGING TIMES', and absolutely 'no expense, however great, has been spared in obtaining the best possible results' for the illustrations and photographic reproductions. My editions not only has over 2,000 practical recipes, but also 12 paltes in colour and over 250 illustrations...

Whew, that's sure sold me then.