#victorian food

[madwoodland]

got inspired to draw some victorian desserts from reading some 19th century books!

[edwardian-girl-next-door]

from Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management by Isabella Beeton (orig. published 1861; above from the 1888 edition)

[uxbridgeenglishdictionary]

Okay, great points made about 'medieval' English food (love those cookbooks) - but let's not gloss over the bit about 'poor people in Victorian England'?

I feel like people's views on Victorian food as referenced in this way are almost entirely down to Lionel Bart's Oliver! And while that musical slaps (ask me how I know (yes I played both Oliver and the Artful Dodger in 2 separate productions)), it is not good historical evidence for social historical understandings of 'poor Victorian's attitudes towards and consumption of food'.

Not every poor Victorian person was in a fucking workhouse. And even more pressingly, not every poor Victorian person was a Dickens character.

It would be like gesturing at the food served in other semi-carceral institutions in modern day Britain, or indeed America, (in which the food provided is less than delicious and often less than nutritious as well), and saying 'all poor Brits ate like that every day all the time'!

Those hyper-local forms of food referenced in the medieval literature above (herbs, weird fish, specific coastal foraging shit) didn't just... vanish. If you want to read more about 'poor peoples' Victorian' food, may I suggest this article, or this one on working-class diets, or even this introduction to food and drink in the 19th century.

And if you're more into watching your social history, please enjoy the Victorian Farm series. Ruth Goodman's a very well-regarded social historian focused on food and domestic life. The series covers production of food, recipes, and much more on Victorian England. Here's one freely accessible episode on Youtube, but it's also on Prime and... available through arrr matey means.

tfw you see some stupid post that paints medieval peasants eating just plain grey porridge and acting as if cheese, butter or meat was too exotic or expensive for them, and have to use all your inner strength to not just reblog it with an angry rant and throwing hands with people. so i will just post the angry rant here

no, medieval people did not only eat grey porridge with no herbs or spices, they had a great variety of vegetables we dont even have anymore, grains and dairy products, not to mention fruits and meats, all seasonal and changing with the time of the year. no, medieval food was not just tasteless, maybe this will surprise some of you but you can make tasty food without excessive spice use, and can use a variety of good tasting herbs. if you'd ever tried to cook some medieval recipes you would know that. medieval people needed a lot of energy for their work, if they would only eat fucking porridge all of the time they would get scurvy and die before they could even built a civilisation. they had something called 'pottage' which was called that because it was cooked in one pot. you could leave the pot on the fire and go about your day, doing stuff and come back to a cooked meal. they put in what was available that time of the year, together with grains, peas, herbs, meat etc etc. again, if you would try to make it, like i have with my reenactment friends, it can actually be really good and diverse.

dont confuse medieval peasants with poor people in victorian england. dont think that TV shows what it was really like. dont think that dirty grey dressed people covered in filth were how the people looked like.

they made use of everything. too poor to buy proper meat? buy a sheeps head and cook it. they ate nettle and other plants we consider weeds now. they foraged and made use of what they found. hell, there are medieval cook books!

most rural people had animals, they had chickens (eggs), goats (milk and dairy), cows (milk and dairy), sheep (milk and dairy) and pigs (meat machine), and after butchering they used ALL THE PARTS of the animal. you know how much meat you can get out of a pig, even the smaller medieval breeds? the answer is a lot

if you had the space you always had a vegetable garden. there are ways to make sure you have something growing there every time of the year. as i said they had a variety of vegetables we dont have anymore due to how farming evolved. you smoked pork in the chimney, stored apples in the dry places in your house, had a grain chest. people could go to the market to buy fish and meat, both fresh and dried/smoked. they had ale, beer and wine, that was not a luxury that was a staple part of their diet.

this post ended once again up being longer than i planned, but please for the love of the gods, just actually educate yourself on this stuff and dont just say stupid wrong shit, takk

[the-goblin-queen]

It is well known that some persons like cheese in a state of decay, and even 'alive'. There is no accounting for tastes, and it may be hard to show why mould, which is vegetation, should not be eaten as well as salad, or maggots as well as eels. But, generally speaking, decomposing bodies are not wholesome eating, and the line must be drawn somewhere.

-- Page 95, Isabella Beeton, "The Campaign for Domestic Happiness"

[beautifulgiants]

History Hit - What did working class people eat in the Victorian era?

[beggars-opera]

It's been a hot second since I've seen a picture of a Victorian mustache cup on here so look at this one in all its glory

This is a sippy cup. You just invented a sippy cup for manly men who want to go to tea parties and not feel emasculated by drinking too fast and getting their perfectly coifed mustaches droopy I can't

[vanalex]

[marzipanandminutiae]

[applies for an even somewhat decently-paid job for which I am amply qualified, though the institution has rejected me for multiple other jobs in the past]

well time to look at Victorian houses within commuter rail distance on Zillow since I will clearly be able to pay a mortgage and restore that Completely Gutted No Appliances kitchen very soon!!!!

[canisalbus]

I know people sort of stopped talking about the whole "victorian child vs modern fast food" debate a while ago. but I was scrolling your page today and Machete really looks like he would NOT survive a big mac

.

[shewhoworshipscarlin]

Goblet, mid 1800s, Russia.

[blushingguy]

My cute cake theme this year vs last year~

[asalesbian]

Clara & a partial inventory i drew during my Victoriocity relisten for the final day of @podcastgirlsweek!

[lemon-wedges]

Its been a while since I updated this little project but heres the dealio. I got "mysteriously" sick for the last 2 months and it kinda halted my work on getting this thing physically printed. BUT IM BACK and ready to start this up again. I'm really hoping i get everything done by Jan. or very latest feb (mostly anticipating for holiday slow down)

In the meantime i got a few questions on my interest check asking if i would offer a digital version of the zine. and the answer 2 months late is YES I WILL YOU CAN GET IT NOW ACTUALLY ON MY GUMROAD OR KO-FI HURRRAYYYYYY!!!! 🥳🥳 GO CHECK IT OUT ITS $3

GUMROAD | KO-FI

[nonbinary-akutagawa]

My Ranpo moodboard :^)

[arcticclimes]

looming majestically and slightly out of focus in the background during the attempted execution scene fitzjames my beloved

[marzipanandminutiae]

The worst fake history myth about the Victorian era I ever came across was that the skirts were so wide to allow women to shit on the streets. (And apparently the undergarments opened for convenience).

...w h a t

I mean, the undergarments thing is true. drawers and, later, combinations (think a romper-style chemise/drawers mashup) had open crotch seams to allow ease of using facilities

using a PRIVY. or a CHAMBER POT. or a TOILET, from about the mid-1800s onwards. not THE FREAKING STREET

do you want to shit on the street, mythmaker? does that sound pleasant to you? would you like to walk around a shit-filled street? does this mean women in New Look evening gowns c. 1950s were also shitting in the street as they waited for their husbands or drivers to bring the car around? why are you less inclined to say that than to assign this idea to the Victorians?

so many questions. so much utter shit- in this concept, not on the streets