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Food Connecting Cultures

During the Victorian Era, a greater incorporation of India and its culture was introduced into England. Practices of food making, like curry, into the national diet of Victorian England, “functioned as agents of cultural exchange between colonizers and colonized”. The cultural exchange happening in Victorian England offered new ways of communication through the wives of the time who were seen as the good cooks, or the ones to make the “good food.”

Cookbooks of this era define the women of the time. Not only were they filled with recipes for an abundance of occasions, they were also, “self-conscious cultural documents in which we can locate metaphors for nineteenth-century British imperialism”. Cookbooks not only shared ideas on food, but also gave women a sense of independence and domestic power. During this time, women began to see themselves as not sub servants to their husbands, but as their own person. Cooking and integration of Indian culture through those who colonize and have been colonized, gave rise to many of the earliest feminist movements seen in history.

Books like, “Good Things in England, A Book for Everyday Use, Containing Traditional and Regional Recipes Suited to Modern Tastes, Contributed by English Men and Women Between 1399 and 1932” , give insight by Florence White about the history of curry in English culture. Unlike many historians of the time, she is not comparing English curry to Indian curry, but instead makes claims that the master chefs of curry are Anglo-Indian, which many English recipes have been updated and improved due to the Indian culture.

Three of the of the most influential cook books of the Victorian Era are, “Maria Rundell's 1807 Domestic Cookery, Eliza Acton's 1845 Modern Cookery in all its Branches, and Isabella Beeton's celebrated 1859 Book of Household Management”, all contain a chapter on the use of curry at the dinner table. All of the cookbooks mentioned offer some insight onto how curry may have been somewhat of a foreign idea to many modern English, but their history is rooted in curry and both England and India share many similarities. As states, “we have intermingled many foreign ones which we know to be excellent of their kind, and which now so far belong to our national cookery, as can be met with commonly at all refined modern tables”.

 Modern Habits Rooted in the Victorian Era 

Many habits of today’s modern England and habits of the old Victorian England are quite similar. A famous quote to explain the phenomenon is, “a place for everything and everything in its place”. Developments during the Victorian Era in regard to kitchen cookware, gadgets, and sterilization practices ushered in a new era of food readiness and preparedness.

Many traditions also emerged out of this era, including the tradition of holiday meals. Special meals just for certain holidays where families were brought together to celebrate with one another. Meals such as Roast Mutton, Boiled Beef, and Stewed Rabbit  were all staples in the holiday cuisine of Victorian England. Many of these meals would be served on special dining dishes, which is precursor to the modern idea of fine china. These recipes were only available to the rich, but this did not keep the poorer class from also celebrating with their own variations and creative touch. Today’s modern world may see no issue with traditions on a particular holiday, but the origins are rooted in the Victorian Era.

For the most part, a good portion of the population will eat three meals per day being breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Breakfast in the Victorian Era was a fairly common practice. Foods included for breakfast could include some familiar foods like fruits, scones, and bacon. However, breakfast could also include bull’s eye, meat, fish, and poultry. Afternoon tea was a popular practice that much of the population practiced. For dinner, depending on the season, Victorian households would eat chicken, soups, and stews. These meals would be accompanied by fresh vegetables.