Outline of Pre-Modern English Cuisine

Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.

England

I. Elizabethan Times.

a. Passion for new things, aping of foreigners.

b. Prosperity made for magnificence among nobles, plenty among commons.

c. Scientific interest in food products and in distilling, horticulture, etc.

II. Commonwealth.

a. Time of repression; excess of every kind forbidden.

b. Political turmoil, civil war, turned men's minds from all soft living and luxury.

c. Religious severity did away with observance of feast days.

III. Restoration and Age of Queen Anne.

a. French influence felt strongly at court.

b. Steady commerce with colonies made new products staple in diet.

c. Scientific agriculture increased production of food stuffs enormously.

IV. Present Time.

a. Reform bills of 1832 lowered food prices.

b. Tendencies noted in III continue to operate more strongly, especially importation and productivity.

Barrows, Anna, and Bertha E. Shapleigh. Outline on the History of Cookery. Teacher's College, Columbia University, 1915.

Anna Barrows, Bertha E. Shapleigh

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