The post ‘The Downton Abbey Christmas Cookbook’ my new book appeared first on Miss Foodwise.
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Copyright Greetje Van Buggenhout
I’m happy to announce the publication of my new book: ‘The Official Downton Abbey Christmas Cookbook’!<
(Scroll down for the reference list which wasn’t printed in the book because of the page count limit)
For this book I jumped into my collection of cookery books of not only the early 20th century in which Downton is set but also the Victorian era when our most beloved cook Mrs Patmore was training as a chef. I made a little excursion into the oldest cookery book in the English language for the first festive recipe for goose and witnessed the curiosity for continental cooking around the late 1920’s.
I also uncovered a celebration of strong women, from the extraordinary position of Mrs Patmore as a female chef in a period when men were still lord and master in the kitchens of the aristocratic households. But also Lady Edith’s story of breaking loose from the limitations that come with her social position as a woman from a great family pursuing a career as a columnist and later as the editor. She symbolises the modern times ahead in which women will not only gain more freedoms, but also the right to vote — with the suffragette movement in the headlines. Many of the recipes I chose came from cookbooks written by women, and some women, like England’s first freelance food journalist; Florence White, and Lady Agnes Jekyll were very much like Lady Edith. Others were cookbooks written by aristocratic ladies like Lady Cora Crawley with recipes gifted to them by other ladies of her circle.
This book is a celebration of Christmas, showing you where those traditional old customs come from and how some of them aren’t very old at all. Popularised by Charles Dickens ‘A Christmas Carol’ todays Christmas is what he made of it. Reviving long lost customs and placing family at the centre of it all. This book praises history but also looks at change. There’s patriotic pudding and emblematic beef, stunning pies and unexpected treats seasoned with many stories which makes this book not only very Downton, but also very Regula.
Flemish food writer and culinary historian Regula Ysewijn has brought to life not only the dishes of the Downton era but also some of the magnificent edible delights of earlier centuries. It is a brilliantly researched book full of tasty treats. I do hope you enjoy it.
— Julian Fellowes, Creator of Downton AbbeyThis is a beautiful book that goes beyond the expected foods of Christmas to show us delights we’ve long forgotten. Regula’s customary combination of solid research and gastronomic flair has unearthed a world of often surprising recipes seen through the lens of Downton Abbey.
— Dr. Annie Gray, Food Historian
I was invited to write this book in November and when I started my research in januari I had no idea I would be creating this book during a pandemic. After a lot of hurdles along the way, with the publishing team in lockdown on the other side of the world in a different timezone and the photoshoot in NYC cancelled more than once due to restrictions and printers closing and backlogging, we are more and excited we managed to bring out this book in time for Christmas 2020. This feels like a triumph.
The Official Downton Abbey Christmas Cookbook
By Regula Ysewijn
With a foreword by Dr Annie Gray
Release 27-29 oktober, Weldon Owen US, Titan Books UK, DK Verlag Germany
Traditional Christmas dishes include:
- Palestine Soup
- Sole à la Dorchester
- Jugged Hare with Prunesand Raisins
- Recipes for iconic roast beef, turkey and goose
- Duck with Orange, Lemon, and Olives
- Yorkshire Christmas Pie
- Spinach Balls à l’Italienne
- Bread sauce
- Anchovy Éclairs
- Plum Pudding
- Wartime Christmas Pudding
- Nesselrode Ice Pudding
- Whitby Yule Cake
- Epiphany Tart
- Cambridge Milk Punch
Signed Copies
Cookbook Bake in Brighton-Hove in England has signed copies of this book as wel as my recently published ‘Oats in the North, Wheat from the South’. Signed copies can always be obtained in Belgium at Luddites in Antwerp instore and online.
Two books in one year, I surely didn’t plan that!
Reference list of books consulted
As we reached our page count there was no room for my reference list, hence why I am giving it here for those geeks like me who usually skip right to the bibliography before reading the actual book.
- A Book of Cookrye, AW, 1584
- A Book Of Scents And Dishes, Dorothy Allhusen, 1920
- A Christmas Garland, John C. Nimmo, 1885
- A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens, 1843
- A Christmas Tree, Charles Dickens, 1850
- A Dictionary of Biblical Tradition in English Literature, David Lyle Jeffrey, 1992
- A History of New York, from the Beginning of the World to the End …,Washington Irving, 1809
- A Mummers’ Play from Limpley Stoke, Academic Journal Offprint from – Wiltshire Archaeology 83, Felicity Gilmour, 1990
- A Right Merrie Christmas. London: Leadenhall Press, ca. 1890; repr. New York: Benjamin Blom, John Ashton, 1968
- Antiquitates Vulgares: Or, The Antiquities of the Common People, Henry Bourne, 1725
- Apician morsels; or, Tales of the table, kitchen and larder by Secundus, Dick Humelbergius, 1829
- Beef Cattle Production and Trade, edited by Lewis Kahn, David Cottle, 2020
- Book of Salads, Alfred Suzanne; C. Herman Senn, 1906
- Cakes and Ale, Edward Spencer, 1913
- Christian, Roy, Old English Customs, Roy Christian, 1972
- Christmas carols ancient and modern, Tomlins, William Lawrence, 1844-1930, edited by William Sandys, 1830
- Christmas Carols, ancient and modern by William Sandys (1792–1874), 1833
- Christmas entertainments: wherein is described abundance of fiddle-faddle-stuff : curious memoirs of old Father Christmas : illustrated with many diverting cuts, Field & Tuer, 1740
- Christmas Husbandry Fare, Thomas Tusser, 1515- 1580
- Christmas in the Olden Time by Sir Walter Scott, 1886
- Christmas With The Poets, a collection of songs, carols, and descriptive verses relating to the festival of Christmas, from the Anglo-Norman period to the present time / embellished with fifty-three tinted illustrations by Birket Foster, and with initial letters and other ornaments, 1855
- Christmas, His Masque, Benjamin Jonson, Alternate Title: The Masque of Christmas Date first performed: Dec 1616- Date first published: 1640
- Christmas: Its Origin and Associations Together with Its Historical Events and Festive Celebrations During Nineteen Centuries, William Francis Dawson, 1902
- Christmas: Its Origin and Associations: Together with Its Historical Events and Festive …in the nineteenth century, William Francis Dawson. E. Stock, 1902
- Christmasse carolles newely enprinted, Wynkyn de Worde, This manuscript was previously known as “Douce Fragment 94b, 1521
- Clavis calendaria; or, A compendious analysis of the calendar, Volume 2, John Brady, 1815
- Common Sense in the Household: A Manual of Practical Housewifery, Marion Harland, 1874
- Curye on Inglysch (Middle English recipes), C.B. Hieatt en S. Butler, 1985
- Diary, Samuel Pepys
- Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Bede, Oxford university press, 1999
- Encyclopedia of Food Sciences and Nutrition (Second Edition), P.J. Hudson, in 2003
- English Presbyterian Eloquence, Thomas Lewis, 1720
- Epigrams theological, philosophical, and romantick: also the Socratick session, or, The arraignment and conviction of Julius Scaliger : with other select poems, Samuel Sheppard, 1651
- Farmers Almanac, 18th century, exact date unknown, Online edition over at: https://www.almanac.com/
- Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry, Thomas Tusser, 1585, edition. 1812
- Fletcher’s Poems and Translations, 1656
- Food in England, Dorothy Hartley, 1954
- Good things in England, Florence White, 1932
- Great British Gardeners: From the Early Plantsmen to Chelsea Medal Winners, Vanessa Berridge, 2018
- Hesperides, Robert Herrick, 1648, As reproduced in: William Henry Husk, Songs of the Nativity (London: John Camden Hotten, 1868)
- Italian Regional Cooking, Ada Boni, translated by Maria Langdale and Ursula Whyte, 1969
- Kalm’s account of his visit to England : on his way to America in 1748, Pehr Kalm, 1892
- Kitchen Essays, Agnes Jekyll, 1922
- Langland, 1340, Piers Plowman
- London Bewitched, 1708
- London Labour and the London Poor, Volume 1, Henry Mayhew, 1851
- London images: John Camden Hotten, 1868
- Luncheon and Dinner Sweets, C. Herman Senn, 1911
- Mary Tudor: The First Queen. London: Little, Brown, Porter, Linda, 2007
- Mémoires et observations faites par un voyageur en Angleterre, Misson Francis Maximilian, 1698
- Modern Cookery, for Private Families, Eliza Acton, 1845
- Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management, Isabella Beeton, 1861
- New century cookbook, Charles Herman Senn, 1904
- Nursery Rhymes of England, James Orchard, 1842
- Observations on Popular Antiquities: Chiefly Illustrating the Origin of Our Vulgar Customs, Ceremonies, and Superstitions, Volume 1, John Brand, 1813
- Observations on the Popular Antiquities of Great Britain: Chiefly …, Volume 1 By John Brand, 1813
- Oxford Night Caps, by Richard Cook, Published 1835
- Oxford Night Caps: Being a Collection of Receipts for Making Various Beverages Used in the University, Richard Cook Slatter & Rose, 1871
- Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed., 1876–79
- Poems on several occasions, and translations: wherein the first and second books of Virgil’s Æneis are attempted, in English. Thomas Fletcher, 1692.
- Reliquiæ Antiquæ: Scraps from Ancient Manuscripts, Illustrating Chiefly Early English Literature and the English Language, Volume 1, Thomas Wright, James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps William Pickering, 1841, reprinted by Norwood Editions, Norwood, PA, 1973
- Round about our Coal Fire, or, Christmas Entertainments … with some curious Memories of Old Father Christmas; Shewing what Hospitality was in former Times, and how little there remains of it at present. – 1734, reprinted 1796, Anonymous (‘Dick Merryman’)
- Royal Museum Greenwich: https://www.rmg.co.uk/discover/behind-the-scenes/blog/proof-in-the-pudding – mention of Christmas pudding gifted to soldiers by Lady Rawlinson, wife of Lieutenant General Sir Henry Rawlinson
- Scotland: Vols. VI–VIII. 1876–79
- Songs of the Nativity, William Henry Husk, 1868
- Soyer’s Standard Cookery: A Complete Guide to the Art of Cooking Dainty, Varied, and Economical Dishes for the Household, 1912, [Soyer, Nicolas
- Spices, salt and aromatics in the English kitchen, Elizabeth David,
- Sports and Pastimes of Merry England”, 1859, Thomas Miller “
- Sports and Pastimes of Merry England”:Thomas Miller
- The Art of Cookery, John Mollard, 1803
- The Art of Cookery…, Hannah Glasse, 1747
- The ‘Boar’s Head Carol’ and Folk Tradition in Folklore, James E. Spears, 1974,
- The accomplished cook, Robert May, 1660
- THE ARRAIGNMENT Conviction and Imprisonment of CHRISTMAS,1645, Simon Minc’d Pye,
- The Book of Days: A Miscellany of Popular Antiquities in …, Volume 2 By Robert Chambers, 1832
- The book of vegetable cookery, Erroll Sherrson, 1931
- The complete practical cook: or, a new system of the whole art and mystery of cookery, Charles Carter, 1730
- The Cookery Book of Lady Clark of Tillypronie, Catherine Frances Frere, 1909
- The Country Housewife and Lady’s Director, Richard Bradley, 1727
- The Crayon: Volume 7, William James Stillman, John Durand, 31 December 1859
- The Curiosities of Ale & Beer: An Entertaining History, John Bickerdyke, 1889
- The diary of a country parson, edited by John Beresford, James Woodforde, 1740-1803.
- The diary of John Evelyn; by Evelyn, John, 1620-1706; Bray, William, 1736-1832
- The Dudley Book of Cookery and Household Recipes, Georgiana Countess of Dudley, 1909
- The Franklin’s Tale, The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer, 1387 -1400
- The Gentle Art of Cookery, Mrs C. F. Leyel and Miss Olga Hartley, 1925
- The Gentleman’s Magazine, Volume 94, Part 2; Volume 136, A. Dodd and A. Smith, 1824
- The Gentleman’s Magazine and Historical Chronicle, Karl Blind, “Boars Head Dinner at Oxford, and a Germanic Sun-God,” in John Nichols, ed. , Volume 242, 1877
- The Gentleman’s Magazine, december, 1733, p 652
- The Great War cookbook’, May Byron’s, 1915, re-issued 2014
- The Greedy Queen: Eating with Victoria, Dr Annie Gray, 2017
- The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas: Roots and Rebirth of the Folkloric …By Al Ridenour, 2016
- The letters of Charles Lamb, with a sketch of his life. The poetical works. Charles Lamb, Thomas Noon, 1838
- The Modern Baker, Confectioner and Caterer. A Practical and Scientific Work for the Baking and Allied Trades. In 6 volumes. John Kirkland, 1913
- The Modern Cook, Charles Elmé Francatelli, 1845
- The New Oxford Book of Carols, Hugh Keyte, Andrew Parrott, 1992
- The official Downton Abbey Cookbook, Dr Annie Gray, 2019
- The Oxford Companion to sugar and sweets, Darra Goldstein, 2015
- The Progresses and Public Processions of Queen Elizabeth …, John Nichols, 1823
- The Riches of Chaucer: In which His Impurities Have Been Expunged, His Spelling Modernised, His Rhythm Accentuated and His Obsolete Terms Explained; Also Have Been Added a Few Explanatory Notes and a New Memoir of the Poet, Volume 1, E. Wilson, 1835
- The Royal English and Foreign Confectionery Book, Charles Elmé Francatelli, 1862
- The Victorian Gardene, Caroline Ikin, 2014
- The Vindication of Christmas, John Taylor, 1652
- The Works of Jonathan Swift, Containing Interesting and Valuable Papers, Not Hitherto Published … With Memoir of the Author, Volume 1, Jonathan Swift, Thomas Roscoe H.G. Bohn, 1843
- The works of Mr. John Cleveland containing his poems, orations, epistles, collected into one volume, with the life of the author. Cleveland, John, 1613-1658.
- The Book of Christmas,Thomas Hervey, 1836
- Vanity Fair, William Makepeace Thackeray, 1847-48
- Women who cry Oranges, from Works, Jonathan Swift, 1755
- Works of Robert Herrick. vol II. Alfred Pollard, ed. London, Lawrence & Bullen, 1891
You might also like my other 2020 publication ‘Oats in the North, Wheat from the South’
The post ‘The Downton Abbey Christmas Cookbook’ my new book appeared first on Miss Foodwise.
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In my new book ’Oats in the North, Wheat from the South’ I’m showing the reader how the diverse climate of the British Isles influenced the growth of cereal crops and the development of a rich regional baking identity with it. Imports of spices, sugar, treacle, fortified winesand citrus added flavour, colour and warmth to a baking culture much adored and replicated all over the world.
With the help of historical cookbooks, diaries and newspaper archives, I have given the most traditional recipe of a bake – which means, how it usually appears in old cookbooks – but often also a more recent version of that recipe to show how recipes evolve through a change of taste, economy and fashion.
With a foreword by food historian Dr. Annie Gray.
The book was nominated for the André Simon Award and included in ‘The best cookbooks of 2020’ list by BBC Radio 4’s The Food Program in the US in The New Yorker magazine and The Washington Post.
Erratum
There are two errors in Oats in the North: When halving the recipe for Flapjacks the butter wasn’t halved, use 100g instead of 200g. For the Bannocks the same thing happened; use 225 ml of buttermilk instead of 450 ml. Mea culpa! In the new print it has been corrected.
Praise for Oats in the North, Wheat from the South:
”An excellent and diligently written book celebrating some super-tasty British treats”
— JAMIE OLIVERA feast for the eyes, as well as the stomach, meticulously researched and beautifully photographed, this is a true love letter to the food Britain does best. One to savour, and treasure, but most of all, one to bake from!’
— FELICITY CLOAKE, THE GUARDIAN
”While this is a book that you just long to bake from instantly, it is also one to be read, and savoured, as it brings alive the link between culture, climate and cuisine.”
— NIGELLA LAWSON“It’s a love letter to British baking and all that that implies. It brings together buns and bakes that you’ll find in every local shop, and cakes and breads that have long since disappeared. Here you’ll find recipes both old and new, resurrected for the future, together with the stories that make them such a window onto both the past and the present. The joy of Regula’s writing is that through it all, we realise that it takes an outsider looking in to show us who we truly are.This is a beautiful book. It is a lyrical book. It is a book full of good things, modern and old, with a multitude of real heritage and imagined tradition behind them. Enjoy.
— Dr Annie Gray, food historian‘Regula – who is Belgian – has an obsession with Britain, not just its food but its literature, landscape and architecture, and we’re lucky to have such an enthusiast looking in from the outside. As well as recipes, she writes about the connections between bakes and ingredients – it’s often difficult to unravel the threads that link foods – and tells stories. A book to read as well as to cook from and an absolute gift for the curious baker.’
— Diana HenryThis stunning ode to British baking went semi-viral earlier this year, when the Tokyo-based writer Kat Bee tweeted a page from the book in which the author, Ysewijn, acknowledges the inextricable role of slavery, particularly in the Caribbean, in the development of British sweets: “Sugar has a cost, and that cost was paid by those in bondage.” This clear-eyed perspective on the line between the past and the present runs throughout the book, which threads together Cornish pasties, treacle tarts, seed cake, and all the other greats of the British baking canon.
–Helen Rosner, The New Yorker“Regula Ysewijn blends history and recipes in the most delectable way, with traditional cakes, buns, pies, and tarts. A British baking bible.”
— Tom Parker Bowles, The Daily Mail
Virtual Book Tour!
As the Covid19 Pandemic hit right in the week of my book launch we had to cancel all events in the UK and the US and do as much virtually as we could. Here is a great selection of podcasts and interviews!
BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour – Last guest that episode, find it here >
Olive Magazine Podcast – find it here >
Tea & Tattle Podcast – find it here >
Cooking with an Italian Accent podcast – find it here >
Borough Market‘s Borough talks – find it here >
Sunday Post interview – find it here >
At the Sauce Podcast – Find it here >
Good Food Hour – KSRO Radio Sonoma County US – Find it here >
Milk Street podcast – Boston – Find it here >
Further listening:
Gastro Podcast, The Great Pudding Off (2019) – Find it here >
Book reviews that could be helpful:
Nigella Lawson’s Cookbook Corner >
Article on Otago Daily Times (New Zealand) >
Try a few recipes
Belgian Buns over on the Telegraph >
Carrot cake with cashew topping on the Telegraph >
Chelsea Buns over on The Sunday Times >
3 recipes on the Otago Daily Times NZ >
COVID19 measures: Large outlets will send even outside the UK, for local delivery the independent book stores mentioned below have stock and are happy to send to you.
For sale at
Amazon UK and Waterstones UK
And Indie bookstores with in particular the following stores:
In the UK
Cookbookbake in Brighton (also shipping to you)
Warwick Books in Warwick (also shipping to you)
Toppings & Company in Edinburgh, Ely and Bath (also shipping to you)
Browsers Bookshop in Woodbury (delivers locally)
In Australia
In United States
’Oats in the North, Wheat from the South’ Published with Murdoch books in Britain, Australia and New Zealand in April and the US later this year (with a different title: ‘The British Baking Book” and cover) with Weldon Owen.
San Fransisco: Omnivore Books @OmnivoreBooks
Los Angeles: Now Serving @nowservingla
Barnes & Noble
Lebanon
Papercup bookstore, Beirut
Selling the Dutch edition in Belgium
Luddites, Antwerpen (selling both EN and NL)
Boekhandel Novelle, Kortrijk
Paard Van Troje, Gent
Standaard Boekhandel
Fnac
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Today is Stir-up sunday and the most important day on the pudding calendar. Today is the day to prepare the Christmas pudding, or plum pudding. Why this should be done a month before Christmas is something I’ve written about in a previous posting here and in my book Pride and Pudding. But this year I wanted to give you an alternative to the traditional plum pud.
A figgy pudding is just another name for a plum pudding – and both of them generally refer to puddings made with raisins or currants and no figs at all. However there have been recipes for figgy pudding in the late 19th century, but those recipes did refer to puddings made with figs and didn’t give a recipe for plum pudding. Using dried figs, this results in a dark and luxurious winter pudding. Why not have this as your pudding on Christmas day for a change this year?
This is a recipe from my little book the ‘National Trust Book Of Puddings‘ which was published in april (2019).
Maybe you have noticed on instagram or you have spotted one of my previous post about the copper pudding basin I developed with the people from Netherton Foundry? It creates a perfect pudding because copper holds the heat much better than ceramics do. It is a pudding basin for life, and one to pass on to your sons and daughters, because this is seriously durable and also incredibly pretty. To find out more about the copper pudding pot, go over to Netherton Foundry’s website here.
Figgy Pudding – from my book ‘The National Trust Book of Puddings’
- 400g dried figs
- 3 tablespoons golden syrup
- 120ml red wine
- 20ml Cointreau
- 60g currants
For the pudding
- 110g plain flour
- 60g shredded suet
- 120g brown sugar
- 60g fresh breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon mixed spice
- Pinch of salt
- 2 eggs
- 75ml stout or porter beer
Method
Start the day before you want to make the pudding. Put the figs and golden syrup into a saucepan with the red wine and Cointreau and bring to a simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring to immerse the figs in the liquid. When the figs have softened, remove them and set aside while simmering the liquid until it becomes syrupy. Cut any tough stems off the figs, then halve the figs and put them in the syrup to soak overnight. Soak the currants separately in a little water. It is also best to mix the pudding a day or a few hours in advance. Mix together all the dry ingredients in a large bowl, then add the eggs, currants and stout and mix well by gently stirring with a wooden spoon.
Prepare a 1.1-litre pudding basin for steaming and preheat the oven to 160C. See how to prep a pudding basin on this post about Christmas pudding here >
Arrange the halved figs all around the basin. Chop any leftover figs and fold them into the pudding mixture then spoon the mixture into the basin, cover and steam in the oven for 3 hours.
When done, turn the pudding out on to a plate. Warm any leftover syrup and drizzle over the pudding. Slice and serve with custard or clotted cream.
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