England’s changing tastebuds
Today’s class was all about epiphanies. I announced I’d had one, you see. Except it really wasn’t an epiphany: it was really a paradigm shift. And it was all about overcooked vegetables.
For a while I’ve been looking at how people look at English food. Where they draw their stereotypes from and how this contrasts with what actually happens in English foodways past and present. How the French get labels of glorious gourmandise and the English get accused of soggy vegetables.
My explanation was complicated. Far too complicated for a short blog entry. It took two hours to explain to the class.
We began with Elinor Fettiplace and country house cooking and its relationship to standard views of Enlighsness. Then we talked about the effects of changing landscapes upon foodways. This included some discussion of enclosures and industrialisation - among other things - on moving people places and changing what they eat and how much time and resources they can spare for food.
We discussed the middle classes and the working classes and trade and Civil War and the roles of religion and of exploration. Celebrity chefs came up, and so did keeping up with the Jones’s. How perceptions of foodways shift in people’s minds as they move countries played a part in the discussion, as did technological change.
What we finally realised was that English food from the seventeenth to the early nineteenth century wasn’t a simple thing at all.
Most people’s perception of the cuisine is straightforward: the roast beef of Old England, and all that.
The reality is far more fascinating: it’s a patchwork quilt, where some of the patches are old and some new, some patriotic and some sneaky, some traditional and some groundbreaking, some colourful and some dull, some almost hidden and some trumpeting their glory.
I decided the class needed to celebrate the amazing food history of England and so we drank malmesy. We also paused a moment to remember Karen Hess, one of whose books we looked at in her memory.
food history, foodways, teaching history, English food, English foodways, Elinor Fettiplace, the roast beef of Old England, Karen Hess
May 29th, 2007 at 10:09 am
You still can’t beat a nice bit of Sunday roast… especially beef, with lashings of roast potatoes and gravy.
Our national dish now though is chicken tikka masala, and Italian pizzas, Greek kebabs, and Chinese food also make up a huge swathe of our eating habits.
May 29th, 2007 at 11:44 am
Food at the extremes, good or bad, like classic literature, transcends time. Unfortunately, people fail to remember the great meals as much as the bad ones, and I think that is where the stereotypes are born.
I’ve never had English food, but I promise that if I ever do, I will not go in with a pre-conceived notion.
May 29th, 2007 at 4:47 pm
I recently received an Irish cookbook. A friend told me years ago that Irish mothers can’t cook! Ha! In some ways (my mom is Irish) this seems to be true, but the cookbook sure looks delicious!
May 29th, 2007 at 7:42 pm
Gillian,
It sounds like a fascinating class. I’m sure it’s all generalizations, but I have to admit one reason i’m so enamored with my Italian bloodlines is for the cuisine.
May 31st, 2007 at 3:48 am
Dave, you’re making me hungry.
Doug, when you eat English food, go for the best cooks and the most interesting recipes - make your initial contact *count.* Either that or buy the Good Food magazine and make your own best-of English food. They have some gorgeous recipes in that there publication (a friend sends me a copy from time to time and I carry it round for 2 days, dreaming).
Andrea, please don’t eat that cookbook. Life will get better. I promise. A real Irish stew, properly made, is delightful. (My mind is dwelling on rich winter food right now, isn’t it?)
The funny thing is, Farley, that not all Italian food is equally wonderful. Some places have pasta without enough sauce or no vegies or acid wines. Tuscan’s my current personal favourite, though, and it’s near perfect :).
December 14th, 2007 at 3:55 am
[...] The picture of my choice, is, of course, to illuminate my special subject of the day. When I do my food history course next February I’ll see if one of my students can get a good shot when I bring it in [...]