Why cook from historical recipes?

Tue, 14 Feb 2006 05:00:00 GMT

People often ask me, "why on earth are you interested in cooking food that is so passè? Surely many of the ancient dishes that have not survived into modern times have been lost because they were pretty awful and don't deserve to be eaten today?" Of course many old recipes are not to twenty-first century taste and your dinner party would hardly go with a zing if you offered your guests porpoise with furmety, a roasted bittern or a broiled udder. The animal rights people would quite rightly throw a brick through your window. Nevertheless, there are literally tens of thousands of British recipes that have been entirely forgotten and are well worth reviving. Many are absolutely incredible.

More than any other European nation, we have lost touch with our true culinary heritage, and tend to look to other cultures for ideas. We seriously need to reverse this process. For many complex historical reasons, food that was once highly prized in this country has become unfashionable and in some cases unobtainable. Take mutton for instance. We are surrounded in Cumbria by millions of sheep. But how many butchers do you know who sell mutton in this region? I am not talking about lamb - I mean mutton - you know - "ould yaw". The truth is that mutton was once the most commonly eaten meat in Britain - more popular even than the so-called "roast beef of old England". And there were good reasons for this. When well finished, properly hung and cooked properly, mutton is a delicious, tender meat with a much better flavour than much of the mass-produced lamb we eat nowadays. In fact there is an entire lost gastronomy that belongs to this wonderful meat. Did you know for instance that Yorkshire Pudding was eaten with mutton, long before it became a popular foil to roast beef.

In a recent survey I made of English recipes published between 1550 and 1914, I identified 324 recipes for cooking mutton that are all completely different. And my survey was not entirely comprehensive. What has happened for instance to mutton roasted with oysters, smoked mutton gammon, soused breast of mutton, braised rumps of mutton and carbonaded mutton with cream? How many of you know what China Chilo is - or Stump Pie - or Oxford John? When did you last feast on Mutton Sausages? (Click here to see a mutton recipe)

A few inspired individuals like Andrew Sharp of Lindal in Furness, are trying to encourage us to eat more of this excellent meat. Surely the great eating public of Cumbria, where we raise some of the best sheep in Europe should be leading this Mutton Renaissance. Help the cause by asking your local butcher for mutton and ask in your favourite local restauraunts why it is not on the menu! (Click here to visit Farmer Sharps site)

Historic Food - Ivan Day

Why cook from historical recipes?