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Food in England
First published in 1954 and the bible of English cooks ever since, Dorothy Hartley's FOOD IN ENGLAND is now back in print after many years. Her love of the infinite variety of English cooking and her knowledge of British culture and history show why our food should never be considered dull or limited. There are unusual dishes such as the Cornish Onion and Apple Pie, and even recipes for fungi, from common field mushrooms to puffballs. She describes some delicious puddings, cakes and breads, including an exotic violet flower ice cream, an eighteenth century coconut bread and Yorkshire teacakes. The finely-executed line drawings that accompany many of the recipes are more than just beautiful; they inform the cook about different varieties and techniques of food-handling. FOOD IN ENGLAND, which had such a deep influence on many contemporary cooks and food writers, will undoubtedly attract a new generation of admirers.
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First published January 1, 1954
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
December 5, 2018
It’s no secret I love books. When I worked at a girls’ boarding-school, the librarian would from time to time alert staff that old stock was being deleted, at which point I would beetle down The Long Corridor to the library, heart beating fast with pleasurable anticipation, and stagger back with armfuls of weighty tomes. Food in England, published in 1954, was one such - 662 jam-packed pages of fascinating historical details collected by an eccentric Englishwoman, Dorothy Hartley, who died aged 92 at the house in Froncysylltau she inherited from her Welsh mother, after a lifetime collecting and recording old customs. She trained as an artist, taught art, worked as a journalist and wrote on social history among other things. In 2012, Lucy Worsley made a film exploring her life-story (see link below).
Food in England is a treasure-chest of marvellous, personally-researched, idiosyncratically-ordered recipes, old customs,ways of growing food, etc, and I consumed it at the rate of a page or two a night - slow reading, if you like. I’ve usually got a selection of books going at any time - a novel, a non-fiction, a spiritual readings book, and, the last year or so, a vintage Ladybird book - a four-course meal for bookworms!
Here’s a baker's dozen of fascinating tasters from the book which might tempt you to acquire a copy. The beautiful illustrations are by Miss Hartley herself (a fact I was unaware of until I finished the book and researched the author - among my jotted reading notes I find the indignant remark - ‘artist not credited!’).
• The history of white bread, and the pre-Reformation belief in the power of consecrated bread.
• Thumb bread ... the American word "piecing" for a snack taken in the hand, has been preserved since it left England with the Pilgrim Fathers. In Yorkshire they still speak of a "piece poke" for a dinner bag.
• Recipe for 18th century Coconut Bread and for Famine Bread (from Markham, ingredients including Sarrasins corne , or Saracen's Corn).
• Description, from sixteenth century journal, of a sea-voyage when the sailors came upon a fifty year old gibbet, used to hang mutineers, from which their cooper made drinking tankards for those "as would drink in them".
• Description of the Welsh pig: “... this old-fashioned, peaceable, capable, thrifty, neat little porker ... has been kept by every Welsh miner, quarryman, and farmer, for centuries.”
• Ox-rein for Clockmakers - the long testicle cord of the bull ... was hung from a hook with a heay weight to stretch it out. Its strong gut texture was used as pulleys in some sorts of grandfather clocks.
• The famine years of the Middle Ages - ‘To realise how desperate was the famine you must know the seasons as the starving peasants knew them - close and vital knowledge.’
• A recipe for Mediaeval Chewing-Gum (or chewing wax) using beeswax, honey, ginger and cinnamon
• The middle-class Victorian household 1800-1900 section includes mention of brisk exercise before breakfast, which brought to mind the old ladies I met when I was alumni officer at the boarding-school where Enid Blyton's daughters were educated. Girls in the 1920s and 1930s were required to run to the village and back (3 miles!) before breakfast every day.
• The Hafod, or summer farm in early times, common to all mountain countries (now no longer practised in Wales, sadly)
• The old Welsh dog power churn wheel ("It is no hardship, the dogs turn up their job as gladly as their fellows turn up for their job with the sheep").
• The Queen's Cheese recipe (1600), to be made between Michaelmas and Allhallowtide, and a huge cheese, nine feet in circumference, made in 1841 for Queen Victoria from one milking of 737 cows.
• Last but not least, for fellow diehard fans of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey and Maturin novels - the recipe for soup squares, surely Dr Maturin's portable soup!
I look forward to foraging in second-hand bookshops for her other works - Life & Work of the People of England (6 volumes) sounds right up my street.
Link to clips from a BBC film made by Lucy Worsley:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p010...
Food in England is a treasure-chest of marvellous, personally-researched, idiosyncratically-ordered recipes, old customs,ways of growing food, etc, and I consumed it at the rate of a page or two a night - slow reading, if you like. I’ve usually got a selection of books going at any time - a novel, a non-fiction, a spiritual readings book, and, the last year or so, a vintage Ladybird book - a four-course meal for bookworms!
Here’s a baker's dozen of fascinating tasters from the book which might tempt you to acquire a copy. The beautiful illustrations are by Miss Hartley herself (a fact I was unaware of until I finished the book and researched the author - among my jotted reading notes I find the indignant remark - ‘artist not credited!’).
• The history of white bread, and the pre-Reformation belief in the power of consecrated bread.
• Thumb bread ... the American word "piecing" for a snack taken in the hand, has been preserved since it left England with the Pilgrim Fathers. In Yorkshire they still speak of a "piece poke" for a dinner bag.
• Recipe for 18th century Coconut Bread and for Famine Bread (from Markham, ingredients including Sarrasins corne , or Saracen's Corn).
• Description, from sixteenth century journal, of a sea-voyage when the sailors came upon a fifty year old gibbet, used to hang mutineers, from which their cooper made drinking tankards for those "as would drink in them".
• Description of the Welsh pig: “... this old-fashioned, peaceable, capable, thrifty, neat little porker ... has been kept by every Welsh miner, quarryman, and farmer, for centuries.”
• Ox-rein for Clockmakers - the long testicle cord of the bull ... was hung from a hook with a heay weight to stretch it out. Its strong gut texture was used as pulleys in some sorts of grandfather clocks.
• The famine years of the Middle Ages - ‘To realise how desperate was the famine you must know the seasons as the starving peasants knew them - close and vital knowledge.’
• A recipe for Mediaeval Chewing-Gum (or chewing wax) using beeswax, honey, ginger and cinnamon
• The middle-class Victorian household 1800-1900 section includes mention of brisk exercise before breakfast, which brought to mind the old ladies I met when I was alumni officer at the boarding-school where Enid Blyton's daughters were educated. Girls in the 1920s and 1930s were required to run to the village and back (3 miles!) before breakfast every day.
• The Hafod, or summer farm in early times, common to all mountain countries (now no longer practised in Wales, sadly)
• The old Welsh dog power churn wheel ("It is no hardship, the dogs turn up their job as gladly as their fellows turn up for their job with the sheep").
• The Queen's Cheese recipe (1600), to be made between Michaelmas and Allhallowtide, and a huge cheese, nine feet in circumference, made in 1841 for Queen Victoria from one milking of 737 cows.
• Last but not least, for fellow diehard fans of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey and Maturin novels - the recipe for soup squares, surely Dr Maturin's portable soup!
I look forward to foraging in second-hand bookshops for her other works - Life & Work of the People of England (6 volumes) sounds right up my street.
Link to clips from a BBC film made by Lucy Worsley:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p010...
July 23, 2015
I'm moving this off the "currently reading" shelf, because, while I've read big chunks of it and will consult it in the future, reading 600 pages of recipes is tough going. Hartley wrote wonderful stuff about the agriculture, husbandry, cooking, homemaking, and eating of England from the Neolithic Age onwards, concentrating mostly on medieval and early modern food practices that continued and/or were adapted, mostly in country foodways, through the 19th and 20th centuries.
The book suggests a much more varied, rich, and bizarre English cuisine than the stereotype allows, listing native plants and garden plants that were once widely consumed but now are forgotten (e.g., few people make sea holly toffee anymore, or gather cowslips or English laver or maidenhair ferns and know how they were combined with dozens of other herbs and flavorings); describing fuels, hearths/ovens, and other kitchen technologies, not to mention food sources, that were altered or lost in the Industrial Revolution and in times of war (how much of English cooking survived WWII and rationing?); and, most of all, stressing a regional view of English food: peat fires v. coal, different pasture for different breeds of cow, cultivated fruits v. wild, and the type and quality of flour grown in a region all change the cuisine ("We expect the last dish of sucking pig will be served in Gloucestershire"). So if you're into Slow Food, food history, or just English plain cookery, you'll find a lot of great stuff here and might get some questions answered. (Since I was 10 and read Jane Eyre, I've been trying to picture the "sago" Grace Poole ate for supper in the attic. What the hell was it? Now I have 3 recipes.) One complaint: the lack of footnotes and sources.
Hartley's tone is generally calm and didactic; she waxes enthusiastic over certain flavors, and is strict about good and bad food preparation. But once in a while she really lets go; under the heading "Hedgehog," she gets so emotional she has to put a sentence in all-italics: "[H:]edgehogs are completely harmless, and do an enormous amount of good in the fields and gardens by devouring snails and slugs. They become very tame, especially in dry weather, when they are glad of water. They are very fond of bread and milk, which trait has caused them to be accused of stealing it from cows--a complete fallacy. They also eat fallen fruit in the orchard, and are credited with rolling in it in order to carry it off on their backs. Thousands of these harmless little Furze-pigs are run over by motorists on the roadways at night; they do not bolt when frightened, but roll up, lie still, and are crushed to death. No one should harm a hedgehog."
AN UNHARTLEYLIKE RANT ON BEHALF OF PLUM PUDDING AND FRUITCAKE:
On a not entirely related note, I'd just like to say that I love plum pudding and fruitcake, and I'm tired of people's complaints about them. First, everybody hates plum pudding and fruitcake, so what kind of cachet do you think you earn for hating them? Oh, so you wear shoes and know who the president of the U.S. is too? Bully for you. Second, PP and FC fit into the category of foods that sophisticated eating adults should test out and reassess from time to time, like oysters, blue cheese, and foie gras: decadent, intense, and grown up (in PP's case, slightly bitter, alcoholic, and fatty). Third, so you had a bad fruitcake experience once: get over it!
September 15, 2015
This is a magnificent book, written in 1953 by someone who learnt her cooking in English country kitchens in the days before widespread electricity and gas. It’s a combination of food history, recipes, general household advice, bits of personal memoir, opinion, and amusing or interesting quotes from old books.
Apart from the obvious stuff — what sauces to serve with mutton*, regional ways to cook a ham, the difference between Welsh, Scottish and West Riding Oatcakes — there are chapters about beekeeping, brewing, butter churns, as well as the chapters about the history of English food: what they ate at medieval feasts, how they stored food for long sea voyages. It really does conjure up a whole lost world: not just because of the foods which have fallen out of favour, like mutton or parsnip wine, but because the recipes pre-date a whole raft of exotic ingredients like aubergine and yoghurt.
It is endlessly quotable, but here are a few random extracts:
Blending Plants For ‘Tea’
It was during the acute rationing period that all these ‘teas’ were used in England to adulterate the imported teas.
A serviceable English ‘tea’ may be made with blackthorn for bulk, and sage, lemon balm, woodruff (the plant), and black-currant leaves for flavour. Do not omit at least three out of the four flavouring herbs, but let some flavour predominate. Thus, if currant and sage predominate, the tea will somewhat favour Ceylon; if the lemon balm predominates, it will be a more China cup; if the ‘woodruff’, it will have the smoky aroma of Darjeeling.
Eggs And Apple Savoury Or ‘Marigold Eggs’
This is Worcestershire and Oxfordshire, and probably very old.
Line a shallow dish with thin short crust, butter the bottom, and cover it with thinly sliced apples, and set it to bake until the apples are just cooked. Make a custard mixture of eggs beaten in milk, season strongly with pepper, salt and thyme, a very little chopped sage, and a lot of marigold petals (the common yellow marigold). Pour this savoury custard over the cooked apples and return it to the oven to bake until set. I was told it was served with roast pork, like Yorkshire pudding is served with roast beef (the sage and apple indicate this), but the marigold is more usually a cheese condiment.
Sheep’s Trotters With Oatmeal
Sheep’s trotters are the ceremonial part of the Bolton Wanderers football team dinners. Only the heavy types of mountain sheep, such as the Pennine Range sheep, can make this dish well. (I don’t think a sparrow could make a meal off a Welsh trotter, but in the larger breeds of sheep, the trotters are almost as meaty as a pig’s).
And I thought this was an appealing juxtaposition of headings:
Recipe Used for Whitewashing the White House at Washington
[…]
Whitewash as Made for an Anglesey Cottage
It’s a genuinely fascinating book both as history and gastronomy.
* Redcurrant jelly for valley breeds; barberry jelly for upland breeds; rowan jelly for Welsh and mountain mutton. ‘With the dull winter mutton of the garden lands, hot onion sauce is very comforting.’ Hot laver sauce (seaweed) and samphire with salt-marsh mutton. ‘Caper sauce is served with any of the sturdier types of garden mutton. In default of the imported caper, pickled nasturtium seeds are very good.’
Apart from the obvious stuff — what sauces to serve with mutton*, regional ways to cook a ham, the difference between Welsh, Scottish and West Riding Oatcakes — there are chapters about beekeeping, brewing, butter churns, as well as the chapters about the history of English food: what they ate at medieval feasts, how they stored food for long sea voyages. It really does conjure up a whole lost world: not just because of the foods which have fallen out of favour, like mutton or parsnip wine, but because the recipes pre-date a whole raft of exotic ingredients like aubergine and yoghurt.
It is endlessly quotable, but here are a few random extracts:
Blending Plants For ‘Tea’
It was during the acute rationing period that all these ‘teas’ were used in England to adulterate the imported teas.
A serviceable English ‘tea’ may be made with blackthorn for bulk, and sage, lemon balm, woodruff (the plant), and black-currant leaves for flavour. Do not omit at least three out of the four flavouring herbs, but let some flavour predominate. Thus, if currant and sage predominate, the tea will somewhat favour Ceylon; if the lemon balm predominates, it will be a more China cup; if the ‘woodruff’, it will have the smoky aroma of Darjeeling.
Eggs And Apple Savoury Or ‘Marigold Eggs’
This is Worcestershire and Oxfordshire, and probably very old.
Line a shallow dish with thin short crust, butter the bottom, and cover it with thinly sliced apples, and set it to bake until the apples are just cooked. Make a custard mixture of eggs beaten in milk, season strongly with pepper, salt and thyme, a very little chopped sage, and a lot of marigold petals (the common yellow marigold). Pour this savoury custard over the cooked apples and return it to the oven to bake until set. I was told it was served with roast pork, like Yorkshire pudding is served with roast beef (the sage and apple indicate this), but the marigold is more usually a cheese condiment.
Sheep’s Trotters With Oatmeal
Sheep’s trotters are the ceremonial part of the Bolton Wanderers football team dinners. Only the heavy types of mountain sheep, such as the Pennine Range sheep, can make this dish well. (I don’t think a sparrow could make a meal off a Welsh trotter, but in the larger breeds of sheep, the trotters are almost as meaty as a pig’s).
And I thought this was an appealing juxtaposition of headings:
Recipe Used for Whitewashing the White House at Washington
[…]
Whitewash as Made for an Anglesey Cottage
It’s a genuinely fascinating book both as history and gastronomy.
* Redcurrant jelly for valley breeds; barberry jelly for upland breeds; rowan jelly for Welsh and mountain mutton. ‘With the dull winter mutton of the garden lands, hot onion sauce is very comforting.’ Hot laver sauce (seaweed) and samphire with salt-marsh mutton. ‘Caper sauce is served with any of the sturdier types of garden mutton. In default of the imported caper, pickled nasturtium seeds are very good.’
February 4, 2015
A comprehensive and utterly fascinating classic. This book ought to be required reading for every Englishman (and woman), every tourist to England, every Ambassador, visiting Head of State, postgraduate student, et al. For the surest way to gain an understanding of a nation is to appreciate the history of that nation's food.
On a sadder note, this book also acts as a reminder of what we have lost due not only to population growth, industrialisation, and commercialisation; but also our innate lazy desire to spend less time (and money) in producing very high quality, and varied, fresh ingredients and finished dishes.
On a sadder note, this book also acts as a reminder of what we have lost due not only to population growth, industrialisation, and commercialisation; but also our innate lazy desire to spend less time (and money) in producing very high quality, and varied, fresh ingredients and finished dishes.
November 20, 2016
This is a fantastic book - I've read it three or four times, it's completely fascinating if you have any interest in the history of English cooking. And there's a diagram showing how to cook three courses at once in a cauldron.
Want to read
December 29, 2008recommended by Terry Pratchett.
February 1, 2016
More than a cookbook, although partly a cookbook, this is a history of what must be every natural ingredient English cooks ever used from Roman Britain to the time of writing, covering everything from seaweed to hedgehogs. It's an odd, fascinating, informative, inspiring, amazing book (although it's useless as an academic source because it doesn't have any references or even a bibliography).
It's also beautifully illustrated with funny little line drawings by Dorothy Hartley herself, and it's full of her personality and life history, from her school days in a convent to her time in Africa. It's one of my favourite books in the world, I've read it cover to cover more than once, but it's also a great book to dip into.
I'd recommend all of Hartley's other books too, which delve into more specifics on English food and farming, like Water In England (covering everything from drainage ditches to beer) and The Land of England, which covers English country customs through the ages.
It's also beautifully illustrated with funny little line drawings by Dorothy Hartley herself, and it's full of her personality and life history, from her school days in a convent to her time in Africa. It's one of my favourite books in the world, I've read it cover to cover more than once, but it's also a great book to dip into.
I'd recommend all of Hartley's other books too, which delve into more specifics on English food and farming, like Water In England (covering everything from drainage ditches to beer) and The Land of England, which covers English country customs through the ages.
May 19, 2013
This book is a classic. Fascinating in its detail, broad in scope, and precious to anyone who is interested in how people lived - and their ways of obtaining and preparing food - in the last century in this country. Dorothy Hartley's research and observations stand out as a record of how people from all walks of life. Not to mention the anecdotes of her own experiences, and her empathy with country people everywhere, as well as their ways and means of living their lives. Nearly all of this kind of knowledge is lost now.
November 21, 2014
This book is certainly epic. If you are reading it, as I was, for the history of English food you won't be disappointed. However, you may find the bits you need can be garnered without reading each recipe. That's a personal choice, naturally. Definitely do not skip this book due to it being a cook book because its worth is far broader. Hartley left out very little and saved all of this knowledge as a culinary heritage.
August 6, 2012
Absorbing, comprehensive explication of cooking in England and its place in daily life. Comparable to Elizabeth David's magnificent English Bread and Yeast Cookery.
July 21, 2024
It took me awhile because it is long and I’m sure I won’t be cooking anything from it but… history and recipes! I’m a big fan.
Currently reading
June 21, 2012Just got this tome and am really excited about it.
Read
July 9, 2012One of the best food books ever written.
Read
September 10, 2017It has been a wonderful journey with the author. We shared not only the cookery ,but also shared the British culture and the country life in this amazing book.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews