British Food: An Extraordinary Thousand Years of History

Erscheinungsjahr 2003
ISBN: 978-0-231-13110-0
Verlag: COLUMBIA UNIV PR

Buch, Englisch, 416 Seiten, Format (B × H): 184 mm x 262 mm, Gewicht: 903 g

Reihe: Arts and Traditions of the Table: Perspectives on Culinary History

Until the middle of the nineteenth century, English cuisine was known throughout Europe as extraordinarily stylish, tasteful, and contemporary, designed to satisfy sophisticated palates. So, as Colin Spencer asks, why did British food "decline so direly that it became a world-wide joke, and how is it now climbing back into eminence?" This delectable volume traces the rich variety of foods that are inescapably British and the thousand years of history behind them.

Colin Spencer's masterful and witty account of Britain's culinary heritage explores what has influenced and changed eating in Britain from the Black Death, the Enclosures, the Reformation, the Age of Exploration, the Industrial Revolution, and the rise of capitalism to present-day threats posed by globalization, including factory farming, corporate control of food supplies, and the pervasiveness of prepackaged and fast foods. He situates the beginning of the decline in British cuisine in the Victorian age, when various social, historical, and economic factors an emphasis on appearances, a worship of French

cuisine, the rise of Nonconformism, which saw any pleasure as a sin, the alienation from rural life found in burgeoning towns, the rise and affluence of the new bourgeoisie, and much else created a fear that simple cooking was vulgar. The Victorians also harbored suspicions that raw foods were harmful, encouraged by the publication of a key cookbook of the period, Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management.

However, twenty-first century British cooking is experiencing a glorious resurgence, fueled by television gurus and innovative restaurants with firm roots in the British tradition. This new interest in and respect for good food is showing the whole world, as Spencer puts it, "that the old horror stories about British food are no longer true."

Autoren/Hrsg.

Spencer, Colin

Fachgebiete

• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften Interdisziplinär Ökotrophologie (Ernährungs- und Haushaltswissenschaften)

Inhaltsverzeichnis

IntroductionChapter 1: Prologue: The LandAfter the RomansThe Early ChurchThe CountrysideLivestockOpen Field SystemWomen and the LawChapter 2: Anglo-Saxon GastronomyFoods and FastsCooking the FoodFood for the EliteFeast HallsHerbal KnowledgeThe Famine YearsChapter 3: Norman Gourmets 1100-1300The NormansThe Earliest RecipesMedieval SaucesSpice and SplendourColouringThe Four HumoursFastingFishPreservationGameThe KitchenFruit and VegetablesThe Anglo-Norman CuisineThe Significance of the CuisineChapter 4: Anarchy and Haute Cuisine 1300-1500Famine and FeastThe Black DeathThe Forme of CuryA Country HouseholdThe Medieval HousewifeMilk DrinkingPilgrim FoodThe Aristocratic DietThe Peasant DietThe Peasant DietThe ChurchThe Wars of the RosesChapter 5: Tudor Wealth and DomesticityThe ReformationRoyal ProclamationsTudor FarmingFood of the Star ChamberTudor CookingPreservingWealth and CommerceClassChapter 6: A Divided CenturyCivil WarGentlewomen's SecretsThe Bedford KitchenThe Rise of the Market GardenThe Accomplish't CookNew BeveragesSamuel PepysJohn EvelynThe Rise of CapitalismNew Thoughts on FarmingCow's MilkA Coronation and Patrick Lamb, Court CookLa VarenneChapter 7: Other Island AppetitesIrelandEarly Medieval IrelandLate Medieval PeriodThe Potato and FamineModern PeriodScotlandEarly AgricultureThe FoodThe French InfluenceThe Eighteenth CenturyThe Role of WomenScottish CookeryWalesEarly RichesThe GentryCattle DrovesWelsh FoodThe Twentieth CenturyChapter 8: Glories of the Country EstateEnclosuresChange and DisplayThe Technology of CookingTea TimeThe French and Hannah GlasseSea TravelWhite Bread and PotatoesWomen CooksThe Country EstateParson WoodfordeChapter 9: Industry and EmpireA Leap ForwardThe Disappearance of Peasant CookingA New TownServants and CooksJane Austen and the BrontesBreakfastStreet FoodFish and ChipsThe Food of the PoorChapter 10: Victorian FoodIsabella BeetonBeeton's BookA La RusseFrench and British CookingCheap ImportsConvenience FoodThe Rise of the Fancy BiscuitsDrinking MilkReasons for the Decline of British CookingChapter 11: Food for AllFood for HeroesWorking Class FoodMilk CrisisJ. Lyons & Co. Ltd.First World WarSocial UpheavalBritish Canned FoodDiet in the ThirtiesRebirth of a CuisineNew Technology and Middle Class CookingSecond World WarThe Age of AusterityCordon BleuFifties FoodElizabeth DavidGoing EthnicChapter 12: The Global VillageHealth FoodsFast FoodFast FoodDiet Towards the MillenniumFarming CrisisWorld TradeThe Essential British CuisineRebirth of the British CuisineAppendix I: Wild Food Plants of the British IslesAppendix II: The Traditional British CookingNotesGlossaryGlossary of ConversionsPicture CreditsSelect BibliographyIndex

Über Autor(innen)

Colin Spencer is an author and playwright and was food editor for The Guardian for thirteen years. He is the author of Vegetarianism: A History and co-author of The Faber Book of Food.