Festive food
Ages of splendour
Katie Dashwood
Christmas is hardly a new invention, but what culinary skills and tastes did our more hedonistic ancestors bring to the cel- ebrations? Looking back through the myri- ad of recipes for traditional Christmas fare, it is instantly apparent that this festivity was once celebrated in more lavish style. Whilst we are all familiar with that doyenne of home cuisine Mrs Beeton, whose elaborate repertoire of such dishes still commands great respect, it is perhaps less widely appreciated that winter cookery in the 18th-century had been artfully mastered. Books from this age reveal an unending assortment of receipts and elaborate menus, many of which make the modern- day equivalent appear positively meagre by comparison and might tempt the reader to wonder if, with the passage of time, today's gourmet descendants are even a trifle mun- dane.
In an era which delighted in the comfort- able pleasures of civilisation, the Georgians were renowned for their love of food and drink, and heartily consumed both in enor- mous quantities. Appetites, both male and female, could never have been described as faint-hearted, though a certain Duchess of Rutland could claim her waist measured merely the width of an orange and a half! Indulgence in splendid banquets was not reserved solely for Christmas time. An everyday dinner was such a feast that it rarely occupied less than four, if not five, hours. Furthermore, table displays were sumptuous sights, with many dishes on sil- ver and porcelain. The aim was to impress guests and make a statement, so food was superbly decorated and ornamented. Exot- ic golden spun-sugar globes contained mot- toes and often the tables themselves were themed on snowy winter gardens, and land-
FOOD AND WINE sponsored by Fortnum & Mason
scapes and cottages thatched with vermicel- li stood near floating islands fashioned from meringues. Food was symbolic; the Pineapple was a token of hospitality and the sturgeon and rare turtles indicated wealth. Individuals took a keen interest in food. Womanisers, for instance, were enthralled to discover that by taking choco- late they could improve their amorous per- formances with their mistresses.
Fittingly, 18th-century Christmas fare was both munificent and magnificent. The Wide range of methods (many of them now long-forgotten) employed when dealing With ingredients surely contributed to this fact. Fielding, preserving, salting, candying, boiling as well as broiling, stewing and roasting (joints weighed on average thirty Pounds) all played their part. Potting and collaring of meats such as a swine's face, a calfs head or an entire pig was also normal practice and, whilst cookery books were at Pains to carefully compile correct lists of everything in season in every month of the Year, the art of preservation meant, of course, that certain foods could be enjoyed throughout the calendar year. A surprising- ly wide selection of ingredients was gener- ally obtainable. All manner of vegetables, fruit, fish and an astonishing variety of proper, wild game, herbs, a wealth of hedgerow produce (elderflower vinegar, for example, darling amongst today's array of designer vinegars, was already common- Place) appear to have been readily avail- able. In addition, wild plants frequently formed the basis of countless cordials and carefully concocted medicinal cures for every type of Christmas hangover, though the temptations to experiment with these cures today are doubtful. In keeping with tradition, appetising soups — oyster, chicken and bacon were especially popular — preceded two cours- es, each one composed of a selection of at least 25 different dishes, thereby making 50 laboriously prepared dishes in total. The first choice might well have included jugged hare, a palpatoon of pigeons, a mar- row pudding, stewed eels, a roasted pig, a leg of lamb boiled with cauliflower, roast venison, Scotch collops, giblet pie, roast beef with horseradish and pickles. Moving on to the next course, woodcock, partridge and quails, potted pigeons, lobsters, green peas as well as the festive piece de re'sis- tance, roasted turkey — the bird having been laid a good distance from the fire to cook — stuffed with pickled herrings and accompanied by a white sauce spiced with mace were all presented. Such delights would have been washed down with wines such as raisin, orange, cherry or currant. Puddings might have consisted of apricot fritters, preserved whole quinces, almond cheesecakes and custards or apple tansy followed by candied fruits. Chestnut pud- ding was a special favourite, in which the chestnuts were first blanched, then com- bined with orange-flower water, cream, egg yolks (one recipe mentions as many as 18), sugar, rosewater, lumps of marrow or fresh butter before being baked. There is no evi- dence of the Christmas pudding we eat today, which seems to have been a later invention (reference is made to a York- shire Christmas pie and a Christmas plum porridge, but both refer to savoury cre- ations). The Christmas cake, however, would appear to have originated in the guise of a 'costly and elegant' Twelfth Day cake made with yeast and currants before becoming, in the next century, what it is today; a rich, dense fruitcake, marzi- panned, iced and decorated with those accumulated ornaments which are unfail- ingly recycled each year.
Despite the apparently elaborate nature of the food described above it is not diffi- cult to prepare if one sets aside the time. There is a selection of 18th-century cook- ery books in print, most of which can be bought at Hatchard's in Piccadilly. The , recipes make an exotic and substantial change from the anaemic smoked salmon- and-turkey formula of today. Excellent game birds are on sale at Selfridges, Fort- num & Mason and Harvey Nichols (as well as at good local butchers). For those who understandably cannot face the frustrating process of pastry-making and mincing at home the above shops also sell wonderful game and fruit pies, rich venison and pheasant pâtés and pre-prepared oven- ready meats. All of the above also provide delicious little bundles for mulling and spicing wine the old bucolic Christmas way.
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If you are not under the table by the sec- ond course, you risk, to paraphrase Dorothy Parker, finding yourself under the host (though he may, of course, be your husband).
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