Cuisine and Cookery
Needless to say the Victorians diet was probably no healthier than ours is today. There was a big enough problem with adulteration of food that in 1875 the Sale of Drug and Food Act was passed.
The children above are enjoying Ice or Ice Cream. It became quite common to sell
these water-ices made with water and little more than food coloring as opposed
to adding real fruit flavor, which would have cost the vendor more money,
therefore receive less profits. It may seem insignificant when talking about
Ices, as they were called but imagine going to market and purchasing milk that
had been diluted with water. Despite these adulterations the Victorians enjoyed
a wide array of scrumptious dishes.
The typical meal for a working class family was meek;
it included butter, potatoes, bacon, corn, accompanied by beer or tea.
Poorer families were stuck with contaminated foods, they usually ate their meats
cold. Inventions such as canned food, rising flour and sauces made cooking
easier for higher class families and changed cooking forever. The railways made
it possible to deliver, fresher fish, dairy products and other groceries to the
market, hence making for more variety in cuisine.
While new technology made it easier to cook there was still many challenges in cooking. Usually the servant cooked while kneeling on the floor over a coal or wood burning stove, gas stoves were in the making, and there was a great danger in their dresses catching fire! As far as food preservation was concerned pickling, drying and salting were still the mostly commonly used methods.
Victorian women had strict rules for their lives and the dinner table was no
exclusion. A gentlewoman would cut her peas in half so as to show that she was
small and delicate and that her stomach was only as big as her mouth. Enjoy your
peas by the spoonful and appreciate your extinguisher!
Black, Maggie. Victorian Cookery,
English Heritage: London, 2004
This macaroon by Audra E. Burkhartsmeier