It seems strange that it’s taken me a year of blogging – and 800 years or so of English literature – to write about bread when it is such a staple food. In the Bible story of Adam and Eve, the first human beings, God punishes Adam with hard work, saying, “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground” (Genesis 3: 19). Bread, the most basic of foodstuffs, will only be earned through back-breaking labour.
A Christmas Interlude
As Christmas approaches, I thought it would be fitting to take a break from my chronological journey through literature and come up with something a little festive. Obviously Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (1843) has the Christmas meal par excellence, but with the school term having only ended on Friday I don’t think I really have time to roast a goose or make a plum pudding in order to replicate the meal enjoyed by Bob Cratchit and his family. Continue reading “A Christmas Interlude”
The Civilizing Effects of Food
When I first blogged about food in Robinson Crusoe I promised that I would – like the eponymous protagonist – try cooking with goat, as soon as I sourced some goat meat. Well, goat meat has arrived at my local farmers’ market, so I couldn’t resist the opportunity to try it out. Continue reading “The Civilizing Effects of Food”
Pea Soup
One of the starters at the First World War Supper Club has a long and distinguished history in literature. Pea soup – which appears in May Byron’s Pot-luck, our source recipe book for our 1914-inspired menu – is mentioned in the Ancient Greek play, The Birds, by Aristophanes (first performed 414BC). The servant of Tereus, an Athenian prince who has been turned into a bird, explains how he must serve his master and bring him all types of food: “Again he wants some pea-soup; I seize a ladle and a pot and run to get it.”
Continue reading “Pea Soup”