A History of Food in 100 Recipes by William Sitwell

Author:William Sitwell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Chapter 54

Roly-poly jam pudding

1861

AUTHOR: Isabella Beeton, FROM: Beeton’s Book of Household Management

TIME – 2 HOURS.

AVERAGE COST – 9D.

SUFFICIENT – FOR 5 OR 6 PERSONS.

SEASONABLE – SUITABLE FOR WINTER PUDDINGS, WHEN FRESH FRUIT IS NOT OBTAINABLE.

¾lb of suet-crust,

¾lb of any kind of jam.

Make a nice light suet-crust, and roll it out to the thickness of about ½ inch. Spread the jam equally over it, leaving a small margin of paste without any, where the pudding joins. Roll it up, fasten the ends securely, and tie it in a floured cloth; put the pudding into boiling water, and boil for 2 hours. Mincemeat or marmalade may be substituted for the jam, and makes excellent puddings.

The Victorian era is perceived as one of morality, order and discipline. Although a modern commentator, ‘The Age of Uncertainty’ blogger, adds that it was also ‘the true age of the charlatan, when anyone with a passing interest in phrenology and an impressive beard could make sweeping pronouncements about any subject that took their fancy’.

But those who aspired to adhere to the upright – if not firmly vertical – spirit of the age needed advice. And in 1861 the book that should have been called ‘How to be a Fine Upstanding Victorian’ was published. In fact it was called Beeton’s Book of Household Management (simply ‘Beeton’s’ at first – named after Samuel Beeton, the publisher – the ‘Mrs’ being added in later editions). A publishing sensation at the time, its popularity has endured ever since and, amazingly, it is still in print today.

It is the most famous cookery book in the English language, but it endures not just because of the recipes. It is a guide to living, not to mention dying (there’s a section on registering a death). So this is no mere recipe tome. Such a vast array of knowledge is arranged across its 2,000 recipes and over 1,000 pages. Within the book you’ll learn how to deal with bad dreams, calculate your income tax, take in lodgers, apply a bandage, make a bed, clean an oil painting, give the correct duties to a footman, not to mention how to cook that British classic jam roly-poly.

The tome endures for two main reasons. Firstly, as it was continuously up-dated for some hundred years, it has been continually useful. Secondly, the original 1861 version paints a clear picture of middle- and upper-class life in the latter part of the nineteenth century. So it acts as both a manual for and a mirror on the Victorian age.

One might have expected such a book to have been the culmination of a lifetime of work by someone who had worked in households, cooked and served in every position before, finally, becoming the respected arbiter of all things domestic. A Victorian version of the American Eliza Leslie, who, in her dotage, received visitors eager for her advice on cupcakes or etiquette.

Yet, as is now widely known, Mrs Beeton was no plump, ageing Victorian lady buckled into a corset. She was not just pretty and slender but a mere twenty-five years old when the book came out.

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