A Georgian Repast
In the eighteenth century what food was available depended on the season. In finer homes, several courses would be served, with the tablecloth removed between courses. Dinner had its own ritual. Ladies and gentlemen dressed in fine clothes to impress. The host would proceed to the dining room with the most senior lady on his arm. The host sat at the foot of the table, the hostess at the head. After the senior lady sat, the other guests would choose their seats. Chairs near the hostess were considered places of honor and reserved for the most important guests.
One course could consist of between five to twenty-five dishes: soups or creams, main dishes, side dishes and pastries. Meat dishes were placed in the center of the table; vegetable, fish and custard dishes were never placed in the center. The dinner began when the host served soup to his guests. Each guest took a glass of wine, toasting everyone’s health.
Meals would last for hours, ending with the women departing for a drawing room or parlor, to drink coffee or sweet wine, and the men remaining at the table to discuss serious matters over their port.
Households often made their own libations, including wine.
Receipt for raspberry wine: (raspberries available starting in June, but usually in July)
Take some fine raspberries; bruise them with the back of a spoon; strain through a flannel bag into a stone jar. To each quart of juice, put a pound of double-refined sugar. Stir well, and cover with a cloth. Let it stand for three days, then pour it off clear. To a quart of juice, put two quarts of white wine, bottle it off. It will be fit to drink in a week.
A favorite dessert in this era was the syllabub.
Receipt for Whipt Syllabub: Take a quart of thick cream and a half pint of sack. The juice of oranges or lemons (oranges available most months, probably due to being cultivated in an Orangery). Grate the peel of two lemons; add half a pound of double-refined sugar; pour into a broad earthen pan, and whisk well. Sweeten some red wine or sack, and fill glasses; when the froth from the mixture rises, take it off with a spoon and lay it on a sieve to drain. Then fill your glasses with the whipped froth.
Receipts from The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy, by Mrs. Glasse, 1796.
Diane Scott Lewis
Website
I'll give away a paperback copy of my historical novel, The False Light, set in England during the French Revolution. The winner of this giveaway is Shelly Hammond!
Hop Participants
In the eighteenth century what food was available depended on the season. In finer homes, several courses would be served, with the tablecloth removed between courses. Dinner had its own ritual. Ladies and gentlemen dressed in fine clothes to impress. The host would proceed to the dining room with the most senior lady on his arm. The host sat at the foot of the table, the hostess at the head. After the senior lady sat, the other guests would choose their seats. Chairs near the hostess were considered places of honor and reserved for the most important guests.
One course could consist of between five to twenty-five dishes: soups or creams, main dishes, side dishes and pastries. Meat dishes were placed in the center of the table; vegetable, fish and custard dishes were never placed in the center. The dinner began when the host served soup to his guests. Each guest took a glass of wine, toasting everyone’s health.
Meals would last for hours, ending with the women departing for a drawing room or parlor, to drink coffee or sweet wine, and the men remaining at the table to discuss serious matters over their port.
Households often made their own libations, including wine.
Receipt for raspberry wine: (raspberries available starting in June, but usually in July)
Take some fine raspberries; bruise them with the back of a spoon; strain through a flannel bag into a stone jar. To each quart of juice, put a pound of double-refined sugar. Stir well, and cover with a cloth. Let it stand for three days, then pour it off clear. To a quart of juice, put two quarts of white wine, bottle it off. It will be fit to drink in a week.
A favorite dessert in this era was the syllabub.
Receipt for Whipt Syllabub: Take a quart of thick cream and a half pint of sack. The juice of oranges or lemons (oranges available most months, probably due to being cultivated in an Orangery). Grate the peel of two lemons; add half a pound of double-refined sugar; pour into a broad earthen pan, and whisk well. Sweeten some red wine or sack, and fill glasses; when the froth from the mixture rises, take it off with a spoon and lay it on a sieve to drain. Then fill your glasses with the whipped froth.
Receipts from The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy, by Mrs. Glasse, 1796.
Diane Scott Lewis
Website
I'll give away a paperback copy of my historical novel, The False Light, set in England during the French Revolution. The winner of this giveaway is Shelly Hammond!
Hop Participants
- Random Bits of Fascination (Maria Grace)
- Pillings Writing Corner (David Pilling)
- Anna Belfrage
- Debra Brown
- Lauren Gilbert
- Gillian Bagwell
- Julie K. Rose
- Donna Russo Morin
- Regina Jeffers
- Shauna Roberts
- Tinney S. Heath
- Grace Elliot
- Diane Scott Lewis
- Ginger Myrick
- Helen Hollick
- Heather Domin
- Margaret Skea
- Yves Fey
- JL Oakley
- Shannon Winslow
- Evangeline Holland
- Cora Lee
- Laura Purcell
- P. O. Dixon
- E.M. Powell
- Sharon Lathan
- Sally Smith O'Rourke
- Allison Bruning
- Violet Bedford
- Sue Millard
- Kim Rendfeld
11 comments:
I wonder as a vegetarian how the cooks would have coped with providing so many courses without meat or seafood
meikleblog at gmail dot com
Great post! So interesting. Thank you for the chance to win your book. jman1985@yahoo.com
I am so enjoying browsing all the contributions to the Banquet Blog Hop - yours included!
A very interesting post! I'd love to win a copy of your book.
I had syllabub once, at a private Regency dinner, and it was delicious. Never tried to make it though. Thanks for the recipe!
Being an aristocrat in these times seems so boring. Imagine having so little to do that one sat for hours at meals.
ShaunaRoberts [at] nasw [dot] org
I loved your information on a typical meal. Fascinating! Thanks so much for the giveaway.
Susan Heim
smhparent [at] hotmail [dot] com
Thanks for all your comments. I enjoyed delving into the 18th c. cookery book for receipts, as they called them then. And use the info in my novels.
This was really fun to read. The receipt for whipt syllabub sounds rather good. Not sure I could ever pull off actually making it without messing it up royally, but it does sound good. I like the idea of meals lasting for hours! So much better than the rush, rush that seems to be today.
Thank you for the blog and thank you for the chance to enter the giveaway. Have a wonderful day one and all.
Shelly H
booski24@hotmail.com
Very interesting! I'm really enjoying all the old recipes, as I love imaging what my favorite characters might have eaten. It's fun to try a modern version to snack on while reading.
Great post, glad I found this hop! Thanks again for the great giveaway.
kacidesigns AT yahoo DOT com
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