The Old Foodie

You might not think that you do, but you probably do some historical cookery from time to time. Take garlic butter for example. Garlic butte...

Yesterday we looked at some slightly different ideas for Christmas pudding and mince pies; today I want to offer you a couple of slightly di...

The English may only have two sauces, if the old saw is to be believed - but as one of them is gravy, and the other one is custard, and both...

I thought it might be interesting to look briefly at some of the ‘traditional’ sauces served with certain foods, and see how many have stood...

The United Brewer’s Industrial Foundation produced a recipe booklet in 1937 to promote the use of beer in cookery. A beer-themed luncheon me...

Last week I was confused over ‘corach’ sauce. Thanks to pointer from a regular reader and commenter (see the post here ), I am now a little ...

The Women’s Christian Temperance Union of Norfolk, Virginia, were outraged and ‘congregations horrified’ when it was rumoured that the local...

It seems to me that the citizens of the world are divided into three groups when it comes to bacon: - Those who eschew it for religious re...

How often do you use mace? A reader asked about its apparent decline in popularity recently in response to the recipe of the day. Mace is,...

Buying take-out on the way home from work is not a twenty-first century idea. The workers of Victorian London could buy a great variety of c...

There are lots of options to gild the lily that is your Christmas pudding. For many of us, it is custard, pure and simple. For many of you,...

I was asked recently about the history of Brandy Butter in its role as a traditional sauce for Christmas Pudding. Those of you who are regul...

Today we focus on the dressing (or “stuffing”, if you prefer, which I do) of the turkey. Browsing historic recipes gives me the impression t...

The idea of a sharp fruity sauce served with rich meat is an old one which we explored very recently. Today, of course, we have to consider ...

Today I want to follow-on from the ideas posed in yesterday’s story. As we discussed in that post, in medieval times there was no clear dist...

I never tire of the ‘food as medicine’ theme. It is an ancient theme indeed - and one which has been undergoing something of a revival over ...

I thought that it might be fun to have a week of on the topic of English sauces, for no other reason than I will be in the country for a lit...

Today I will be travelling to London after a couple of days in Singapore, so my thoughts are on airline food. I do hope Singapore Airlines ...

Monday 19 ... Nora Ephron the screenwriter, novelist, and director for whome we have to thank Sleepless in Seattle , When Harry Met ...

May 15 ... Dr. William Kitchiner and his Magazine of Taste is our inspiration for the week. It proves that spice mixes are not a new id...