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Archive for April, 2010

The English are well known for their love of meat pies. Receipts (recipes) for them can be found in cookbooks of nearly every era. They appeared less and less often as the centuries progressed, however. By the early 19th century, they had pretty much fallen out of favor and so began to disappear from cookbooks. [...]

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I thought I’d share a few more tidbits, and maybe even another Tudor-era receipt, from the book The Taste of the Fire, The Story of the Tudor Kitchens at Hampton Court Palace. Then I’m heading back “home,” back to the time period I know best, namely the early 19th century. If you’re interested in anything [...]

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When I was growing up, some of the best times were spent sitting with my dad and listening to him read “The Goops” from The Children’s Book of Literature. It’s a poem, written by Gelette Burgess (1866-1951), that told of the naughty habits of some mischievous, bald-headed, child-like beings. I think the poem, although quite [...]

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Water was certainly never a problem at Hampton Court Palace, according to The Taste of the Fire.* After having been collected in large basins just three miles away at springs on Coombe Hill, it was piped through lead conduits under the Thames River and then into the Palace. The difference in elevation between the Hill [...]

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Let’s pretend it was true: no one during previous centuries drank water because it was polluted; if they did, they’d get sick and/or die, and so everyone drank beer instead. Okay. Well…what about the animals? If all water was polluted and unsafe, what did the livestock drink? What about domestics such as chickens, goats, sheep, [...]

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did they drink water?

The other day, I heard a supposed “expert” proclaim that people in earlier centuries never drank any water because it was polluted, that if they did they’d get sick and/or die, and so they drank beer instead. Well, I was miffed, to say the least. I squirmed in my seat, struggling not to leap up [...]

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Receipts (recipes) for several of the same dishes appear time and time again in cookbooks of every century. The specifics may change slightly, but the basics remain the same. Pea soup is one such dish that’s commonly found throughout the ages. Here’s a receipt using green peas that was possibly served often while Henry VIII [...]

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During the medieval period, including Henry VIII’s reign, life in England was dictated by the Church of Rome’s calendar. Abiding by papal authority meant that a series of feast and fast days ruled the everyday lives, and meals, of all British citizens. Those who were members of the Court were no exception. Of course, they [...]

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As I mentioned previously, I’ve been reading up on the role of food during Hampton Court’s Tudor years in The Taste of the Fire. I’ve discovered a treasure trove of fascinating information. For instance, Hampton Court’s multi-room kitchen complex was built in 1530. Its staff, numbering at more than two hundred, worked tirelessly to prepare [...]

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A neat little booklet that I recently ordered just arrived the other day. It wasn’t too expensive, but since it came all the way from jolly ol’ England, the shipping was, gulp, high. Extremely so! In any event, I received my copy of The Taste of the Fire, The Story of the Tudor Kitchens at [...]

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