Although my interest has always been political history, with writing this blog social history has pretty much taken centre stage. My research has taken me into various aspects such as fashion, entertainment, mass media and even food all of which gave me an insight into how people in the past lived.
Food particularly has held an interest for me. I love to cook and eat and have always taken an interest in the history behind what we eat and what people in the past ate. While reviewing the Official Downton Abbey cookbook for this blog, making some of the recipes gave me some insight about what was eaten during the early twentieth century both upstairs and downstairs. And unsurprisingly the publishers decided to release a Christmas version of the Downton Abbey cookbook not authored by Annie Gray this time but by a woman named Regula Ysewijn.
Not having heard of Regula Ysewijn, I googled her and came face to face with a pleasant looking woman who looked to me more like a WW2 re-enactor. She’s born and based in Belgium, is a food writer specialising in the history of British baking and is a judge in Junior Bake Off. She has also contributed to documentaries and written articles about British food history for various publications.
The Official Downton Abbey Christmas Cookbook is not only a cookbook featuring food we associate with the festive season, but it also features a brief history of Christmas as it was celebrated in Britain and how its celebrated today owes its origins to the Victorian era and even far back into the past with the Christianisation of pagan winter festivals. Reading through the cookbook, I don’t think this is a strictly Christmas tome but more of a winter cookbook as there are several dishes that are not Christmassy but are suitable for the autumn/winter months.
My main criticism of this cookbook is the lack of a bibliography at the end, but Ysewijn helpfully mentions the sources she’s used ranging from stalwarts such as Mrs Beeton and Eliza Acton to more obscure names such as Lady Clark, Agnes Jekyll, Florence White and Georgina Countess of Dudley in the introduction before each recipe. The fact that many of the cookbooks she’s used are written by women and aristocratic or middle-class ones at that demonstrate the changes in British society especially after the First World War where several women were forging careers as food writers or journalists either by choice or financial necessity. Ysewijn through her writing hints at what could have been good storylines for Ladies Edith and Sybil to reflect the greater opportunities afforded to women from the 1920s onwards.
In the end however, The Official Downton Abbey Christmas Cookbook is like its official cookbook counterpart which as I wrote in my review:
“[W]hile it is a laudable attempt to correct the misconceptions perpetuated by the likes of ‘unofficial’ cookbooks and blogs, this effort is nothing more than pandering to the aspirations of Downton fans who like to fantasise themselves as Lady Mary or Cora wafting around in expensive gowns, living in a big house (that is an expensive white elephant in reality) and attended to by a platoon of servants who would cater to their every whim.”
If it’s a proper Christmas cookbook you’re after, then you would be better off getting Delia Smith’s Happy Christmas or Nigella Lawson’s Nigella Christmas. However, if you fancy an attempt to make something from the book then I would suggest dishes such as Coq au Vin (p. 98) or Rissoles of Salmon (p. 61) which do not really require any special or out of the ordinary ingredients. One of the biggest surprises from the book is the Tamarind Curry of Rabbit with Rhubarb (pp. 102-3) which my husband made with chicken instead. The recipe would not be considered authentic by today’s standards and at first glance looked stodgy but as the saying goes, never judge a book by its cover – it was delicious and crucially demonstrated how certain Indian ingredients like tamarind paste and spices can go well with British produce such as rhubarb.
Yesewijn writes with enthusiasm and authority and this offering is better read as a history of British food and how Christmas has been celebrated as well as a glimpse into a bygone era and what Downton Abbey has consistently and inexplicably failed to portray.
oooOOOooo
Growing up in Southeast Asia, my exposure to Britain was through its literature and the Royal Family. Food was never really on my radar, the only British food I knew was fish and chips and of course its breakfast.
That all changed when I moved to the UK in 2004 and learned quickly that while British food isn’t well regarded internationally and is regarded as a sort of joke (which I think is unfair and now stoutly defend British food to those who don’t know any better) it’s a different story with cakes and sweets. The British seem to have a sweet tooth, witness how all visitor attractions have a café or tea room where people can sit down and enjoy tea (or coffee) and cake or something sweet. Cakes always form centre stage at major life events such as birthdays and weddings and the way through one’s colleagues’ good books is to bring cakes or biscuits either homemade or shop bought, it doesn’t matter. As someone who comes from a country where there is no indigenous baking tradition and whose love affair with cakes was mostly influenced by America, it took me awhile to spot the difference between British and American baking.
There’s also the popularity of programmes such as The Great British Bake Off and of course afternoon tea in a posh hotel is a big thing especially for special occasions. The recent Platinum Jubilee celebrations also highlighted the importance and popularity of cakes and other sweet goodies when a national competition was launched for a pudding to commemorate the Queen’s 70 years on the throne. If there are three things the British do well food wise in my opinion, it’s their breakfast, fish & chips, and cakes.
And this is where Regula Yesewijn’s Oats in the North, Wheat from the South comes in. Subtitled “A History of British Baking Savoury and Sweet” the book covers everything baked from cakes to buns to biscuits even savoury pies. As the title itself hints, geography has played a part in various regional specialties such as Chelsea Buns, Yorkshire Parkin, Aberdeen rolls among others. Yeswjin covers both national and local favourites such as Victoria Sponge, Lemon Drizzle cake, Bath Buns and Yum Yums down to obscure ones such as Banbury cakes and Aberdeen crulla that have disappeared from menu boards even in their places of origin.
The tome is not only a recipe book but also looks at the history behind British baking specialties; the love affair that the British have with cakes, buns, biscuits, pies, and bread. Each recipe has an introduction that chronicles the origin behind these delicacies, how they have stayed the same or changed over time. A good example of the latter is mince pies, now they’re tarts filled with fruits and spices however their origin dates back from the Middle Ages and was a huge pie filled with a mix of meat and spiced fruits. It wasn’t until the 18th century that the mince pie shrunk into the shape we know today, until the 19th century that they became associated with Christmas, and it was during the last century when the meat was taken out.
Regarding the recipes themselves, my husband and I have tried a few and they have worked. There is pleasure derived from making one’s own Cornish Saffron Buns or discovering something new such as Genoa cake which tastes like a lighter version of fruitcake. All in all, this book is a love letter to British baking and what makes it unique and different.
Enough of this Tomfoolery! 