Cooking up a Nation

COOKING UP A NATION COOKING UP A NATION: PERCEPTIONS OF ENGLISH COOKERY, 1830-1930 BY LAUREN GOLDSTEIN, B.A. (Hons.), M.A. A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy McMaster University © Copyright by Lauren Goldstein, May 2015 McMaster University DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (2015) Hamilton, Ontario (History) TITLE: Cooking Up A Nation: Perceptions of English Cookery, 1830-1930 AUTHOR: Lauren Goldstein, B.A. (Hons.) (Queen’s University), M.A. (McMaster University) SUPERVISOR: Professor S. Heathorn NUMBER OF PAGES: viii, 268 ii Lay Abstract This dissertation explores the origin of the idea that English food is inherently “bad” and demonstrates that this perception developed in the mid-nineteenth century. It uses cookbooks and newspaper articles to examine the connections between “bad” cookery and gender, national identity, and nostalgia. The combination of new technologies and changes in food transportation, new evidence of food adulteration, and emerging Victorian values led to the development of a negative perception of English cookery. Increasing imports through advances in shipping, refrigeration, and canning decreased the production of English goods at home. The emphasis on being economical, efficient, and clean meant that traditional English dishes such as roast beef and plum pudding were no longer celebrated, but instead, considered wasteful and monotonous. The adaptation and absorption of new imported ingredients and dishes into English cookbooks created a cosmopolitan cookery by the twentieth century, but, at the same time, deepened confusion over what an English food identity was. iii Abstract This dissertation explores the origin of the idea that English food is inherently “bad” and demonstrates that this perception developed in the mid-nineteenth century. While it is commonly assumed that the poor quality of English cookery developed after the Second World War, this dissertation demonstrates that English cookery was perceived poorly beginning in the nineteenth century. This dissertation brings together an analysis of Victorian values, gender, food adulteration, food technologies, and nostalgia to establish how the English criticized themselves and created the belief that English cookery is “bad.” By examining cookbooks and newspaper articles, this investigation illustrates how the English criticized their own cooking and developed a sense of anxiety about their perceived flawed cookery. In the nineteenth century, cookery was evaluated based on emerging Victorian moral values rather than taste. The emphasis on being economical, efficient, and clean meant that traditional English dishes such as roast beef and plum pudding were no longer celebrated, but instead, considered wasteful and monotonous. Increasing imports through advances in shipping, refrigeration, and canning decreased the production of English goods at home. The adaptation and absorption of new imported ingredients and dishes into English cookbooks created a cosmopolitan cookery by the twentieth century, but, at the same time, deepened confusion over what an English food identity was. By studying cookbooks, this dissertation uses an untapped resource to explore the perception of English cookery. Cookbooks, especially mass publications, helped further the belief that English cookery was wasteful and unclean, and prescribed countless remedies for readers. Cookbooks also offered another perspective for exploring gender and cookery, as middle class women found themselves multitasking as housewives, educators, and cooks. More iv than just a collection of recipes, cookbooks provide historians with windows to view ideas of food identity, community, and culture. v Acknowledgements This dissertation could not have come together without the support and assistance of a number of individuals. I owe a great deal of gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Stephen Heathorn, for his support, guidance, and belief in studying food history. I also owe a large thank you to my other committee members, Dr John Weaver and Dr Martin Horn, who both offered unique perspectives, helpful editing, and food-related anecdotes. I would also like to thank Wendy Benedetti and Debbie Lobban in the History Department office for their encouragement and assistance. This project could not have been completed without the financial assistance of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and McMaster University. My research involved time well spent in Great Britain at a variety of archives and libraries. I am indebted to the staff of the British Library, the Wellcome Library, the National Archives of Scotland, the National Library of Scotland, the National Library of Wales, the Bodleian Library, the Brotherton Collection at Leeds University, and the Fuller Collection at Oxford Brookes University. I am also grateful for the use of The British Newspaper Archive online, which is an excellent resource that is constantly growing. I also owe many thanks to my friends and family for their support and encouragement. A big thank you to Justin Waxman, for his love and support, and for helping me to stay focused. I would also like to thank my late grandfather, for always encouraging a love of history, and my grandmothers, for sharing their “cookery manuscripts” with me. And, a very special thank you to my parents, Ken and Carla Goldstein, whom I cannot thank enough for introducing me to England at a young age and encouraging me to pursue a PhD. I thank them especially for their constant support, for reading each draft, and for their love of London. vi Table of Contents Lay Abstract …………………………………………………………………………………… iii Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………………… iv Acknowledgements …………………………………………………………………………….. vi Declaration of Academic Achievement ……………………………………………………….. viii Introduction: Studying the “Culinary Darkness” ……………………………………………….. 1 Chapter 1: Cleanliness, Economy, and Cookery: Victorian Values and the Perceptions of “Bad” English Food, 1830-1930 ………………………………………………………………………. 26 Chapter 2: Gender and Food Production: The “Good Plain Cook,” the Housewife, and the Cookbook …..…………………………………………………………………………………... 75 Chapter 3: National Identity, English Cookery, and International Comparisons …………….. 131 Chapter 4: “Good Old Christmas Fare”: The Annual Evaluation of English Cookery ………. 186 Conclusion: “Putting English Cookery on the Map” …………………………………………. 234 Bibliography ………………………………………………………………………………….. 249 vii Declaration of Academic Achievement Lauren Goldstein is the sole author of this dissertation. viii Ph.D. Thesis – L. Goldstein; McMaster University – History Introduction: Studying the “Culinary Darkness” “...the culinary darkness has settled upon us...” “French Wines and Cookery,” The Examiner, September 15, 1866. In 1928, Florence White established the English Folk Cookery Association, with the goal of celebrating English cookery. In her autobiography, she recalled that “in 1926 no one had any idea that England possessed any national cookery beyond roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, and Christmas plum pudding. It was perfectly sickening to hear nothing but these dishes mentioned as England’s cookery.”1 She wrote that the English “had the finest cookery in the world, but it had been nearly lost by neglect.”2 White wanted her Cookery Association to join with the Universal Cookery and Food Association, which focused on French cooking, but her attempts to add English folk cookery to their agenda were rejected. Through her own dedicated work on English cookery, White and her Cookery Association collected recipes from throughout England and published them as a cookbook in 1932, Good Things in England. In the introduction, White wrote, “this book is an attempt to capture the charm of England’s cookery before it is completely crushed out of existence.”3 The subtitle for the book said that the cookbook contained “traditional and regional recipes…between 1399 and 1932,” to celebrate English cookery down the centuries. White’s goal was to reclaim English cookery, to demonstrate that it was more than roast beef and plum pudding, and to prove that English cookery was not “bad.” Throughout her journalism career and campaign for English cookery, Florence White published a number of articles and broadcast on the BBC. Her autobiography described her life and varied career, concluding with her development of the English Folk Cookery Association 1 Florence White, A Fire in the Kitchen: The Autobiography of a Cook, (London: J.M. Dent and Sons Ltd, 1938), 317. 2 White, A Fire in the Kitchen, 317. 3 Florence White, Good Things in England: A Practical Cookery Book for Everyday Use, (London: Jonathan Cape, 1932; reprinted Persephone Books, 2007), 9. 1 Ph.D. Thesis – L. Goldstein; McMaster University – History and her crusade for English cookery. Describing her free-lance writing in the 1920s, White wrote that the criticism of English cookery, hotels, and Victorian women in the press made her a “whole-hearted partisan” and increased her “efforts to support all four: English cooks, English cookery, English hotels, and our splendid Victorian women.”4 Visiting various places throughout England and trying local dishes led her to create a “gastronomic map of England” and her experience campaigning for English cookery involved “putting English cookery on the map.”5 White strongly believed in the excellence of English cookery, but found it had been criticized for far too long. Her cookbook was an attempt to celebrate the excellence

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