▼
Tuesday, February 28, 2006

The breakfast of diarists.

›
Today, February 28th … “Up in the morning, and had some red Herrings to our breakfast”, wrote Samuel Pepys on this day in 1660. Herring and ...
Monday, February 27, 2006

Tuppence for mutton.

›
Today, February 27th … School dinners have never had a good reputation, but at Eton on this day in 1504 they were about to get a whole lot ...
Friday, February 24, 2006

Restoration by Soup.

›
Today, February 24th … The traditional Italian soup ‘Zuppa alla Pavese’ was supposedly invented on this day in 1525 in Lombardy, during the ...
Thursday, February 23, 2006

Putting on the Ritz.

›
Today, February 23rd … This day in 1850 was the birthday of Cesar Ritz, father of the Ritz hotel chain. Not bad, for the thirteenth child of...
Wednesday, February 22, 2006

A commentary on domestic manners.

›
Today, February 22nd … Frances Trollope, the mother of the novelist Anthony Trollope, was in Cincinnati in 1829 escaping an unhappy marriage...
1 comment:
Tuesday, February 21, 2006

The great pancake mystery.

›
Today, February 21st … In 1950 first International Pancake Race was held in on this day in the town of Liberal, Kansas against the women of ...
2 comments:
Monday, February 20, 2006

From health food to snack food.

›
Today, February 20th … It took half a century for the milkshake to cross the Atlantic, if the newspapers are anything to go by. The first Br...
Sunday, February 19, 2006

The parson’s tongue and other parts.

›
Today, February 17th … Parson James Woodforde needs no introduction to readers of The Old Foodie. The clerical diarist was still at Oxford o...
12 comments:
Thursday, February 16, 2006

Extracting the goodness.

›
Today, February 16th … Today in 1893 there was born in a village near Ballarat, a baby who would change the food culture of Australia. He wa...
Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Alcohol and other food for invalids.

›
Today, February 15th … John Byrom was an English poet, hymnist, Fellow of the Royal Society, and inventor of a type of shorthand. On this da...
Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Saints, sex, and soup.

›
Today, February 14th … There was no contest for today’s topic: it is St Valentine’s day, so naturally we will get around to the subject of c...
Monday, February 13, 2006

Flowery, fishy, and fried.

›
Today, February 13 … According to the mediaeval saintly calendar of flowers, the plant of the day is Primula polyantha, dedicated to St Cath...
Friday, February 10, 2006

The elaborate science of the confectioner.

›
Today, February 10th … Victoria and Albert were married on this day in 1840, and the newspapers loved it. The 136 kg, 2.84 m. circumference ...
Thursday, February 09, 2006

A thorny problem.

›
Today, February 9th … A Spanish bishop and four gentlemen guests sat down to dinner on this day in 1568. The menu has survived: Bread, wine,...
3 comments:
Wednesday, February 08, 2006

What does “cooking” mean?

›
Today, February 8th … What does “cooking” mean? My favourite answer is: It means the knowledge of Medea, and of Circe, and of Calypso, and o...
Tuesday, February 07, 2006

An Australian mention.

›
Today, February 7th … This day in 1891 was the birthday of Ambrose Heath, the extraordinarily prolific English food writer and broadcaster. ...
Monday, February 06, 2006

A theme too far?

›
Today, February 6th … In the second half of the nineteenth century there was a campaign by “men who, by their high social position, could ex...
2 comments:
Friday, February 03, 2006

Husbandry and Housewifery.

›
Today, February 3rd … On this day in 1557 a marvellous little book called “A hundreth good pointes of husbandrie” was published by Thomas Tu...
Thursday, February 02, 2006

Boats and biscuits.

›
Today, February 2nd … If you were to be in Marseilles on this day, it would be difficult to avoid eating “navettes” – small orange-scented d...
Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Dishes for the deserted.

›
Today, February 1st ... The man on whom Daniel Defoe supposedly modelled his character Robinson Crusoe was rescued on this day in 1709 from ...