Dining in Regency Elegance: Dishes Enjoyed by Jane Austen
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Wright State University CORE Scholar Pre-conference Materials, Posters, and Pride and Prejudice: The Bicentennial Ephemera Oct 1st, 12:00 AM Dining in Regency Elegance: Dishes Enjoyed by Jane Austen Lindsey Puterbaugh Wright State University - Main Campus Follow this and additional works at: https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/celia_pride Part of the English Language and Literature Commons Repository Citation Puterbaugh, Lindsey, "Dining in Regency Elegance: Dishes Enjoyed by Jane Austen" (2013). Pride and Prejudice: The Bicentennial. 9. https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/celia_pride/preconference/ephemera/9 This Event is brought to you for free and open access by the CELIA Events at CORE Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Pride and Prejudice: The Bicentennial by an authorized administrator of CORE Scholar. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Desserts Good Manners Meals were a great opportunity Desserts were the grand finale to to show one’s wealth, good Dining in Regency dinners; the most fashionable sweet $0.00 endings were ices, but the following breeding, and taste. Knowing were also well-known dishes. the proper etiquette for a formal dinner was necessary to stay in Quince Paste Elegance good standing with the rest of Using quince pears, the cook made society. Here are some: Dishes Enjoyed by Jane Austen a jelly and then added sugar until it became a fine, moldable candy. Courses could number anywhere from 2 to 20, so By Lindsey Puterbaugh pace yourself! Gentlemen always offer to serve the ladies next to them. Always eat as quietly as possible. Slurping soup is especially undignified. Use appropriate silverware. Beverages Cheesecake Aside from tea, these were The consistency of the cheese was other popular drinks during much different from the modern the Regency. cheesecake we enjoy now. This classic dessert was topped with fruit or almonds. Spruce Beer Similar in the making to root $0.00 beer, we know Jane made this “At Devizes we had herself from her letters. comfortable rooms and a Negus good dinner, to which we This was a popular punch sat down about five; made for balls which consisted amongst other things we of wine, nutmeg, lemon juice, hot water, and sugar. had asparagus and a lobster, which made me Café Au Lait "Pride and Prejudice: The Bicentennial." CELIA, wish for you, and some Whether for breakfast or an Wright State University, 2013 afternoon pick-me-up, coffee cheesecakes…” was a popular drink of the Jane to Cassandra, 1799 Regency. Tea-time Dinner Entreés This most British of meals started before lunch was a common practice. Regency dinners were often very heavy and the pièce-de-resistance of The foods here go best with British tea, like Earl Grey. the day. Cooking all day for a dinner was not uncommon, but ultimately worth the effort. Sandwichs Popularized in the late Beefsteak Eighteenth Century by the Beef was, and still is, a staple of Earl of Sandwich, a British cuisine. A contemporary sandwich could be served way to cook steak was to fry it for lunch as well as snacks in butter, and serve it in gravy; at tea-time. Common finally, it was topped it with sandwiches of the time shallots or onions and consisted of cucumber, garnished with parsley. cheese, or meat. Partridges While partridges may not have been shot at Longbourne in the White Soup novel, they were still often seen This is the same soup Mr. in Regency-style cooking. Bingley had served at his Stewed in bacon grease and “We sat down to dinner Netherfield Ball, and gravy with vegetables and consists of veal broth, egg herbs, the bird would be juicy a little after five, and yolks, ground almonds, and and flavorful. had some beef-steaks and cream. This is a temperamental soup, not Pork and Apples a boiled fowl, but no easy to keep from After roasting the loin or neck oyster sauce.”- Jane in a congealing; therefore, of pork, the dish was dressed serving it tells of the high with applesauce and served; letter to her sister skill level of the chef which this was a sweet way to enjoy a Mr. Bingley hired to serve rich meat. Cassandra, 1798 his guests. Boyle, Laura. "Regency Recipes." The World of Jane Austen. Last modified 2013. Accessed September 26, 2013. .