Whether the Egyptian pastry consisted simply of bread
dough we do not know, but it probably contained oil or fat
of some kind, for it is certain that the cakes of the Hebrews
were composed of fine flour and oil, with probably honey
sometimes added; but none of the Egyptian pastry has been
found containing fruit like our pies, although cakes consist-
ing entirely of dates are known to have been made, and
called date bread.
Our fruit puddings are simply pies boiled instead of
baked. Who is there who fails to appreciate a pudding or
pie of fresh fruit, whether of green gooseberries in the early
spring, or of black and red currants and raspberries or
cherries in summer, and all the delicious plums, damsons,
and greengages of autumn ! Happily, the art of bottling
fruits has attained to such perfection that we may now get
fruit pies and puddings all the year round, instead of, as in
former times, having to depend upon apples and jams only,
during the winter months. The thrifty housewife, it is true,
used to bottle gooseberries for her own winter use, but they
could not be purchased ; whereas now, for a few pence, we
may indulge in pies of currants, cherries, and greengages at
Christmas.
PART II
MEAT
' 8 piece of a Itio is foortfj tfoa of a (fat9
CHAPTER V
CHRISTMAS FARE — THE ROAST BEEF OF OLD ENGLAND
AND THE BOAR'S HEAD
ON thousands of tables at Christmas-tide the roast beef of
Old England smokes with appetising odour. From the
lordly baron which always graces the Queen's table, and the
goodly sirloin of aristocratic renown, to the humble but far
from despicable aitch-bone, all is toothsome, wholesome,
and highly esteemed alike by high and low, rich and poor.
The wretched inmates of gaol and workhouse look forward
to the feast of roast beef and plum-pudding, which is almost
sure to be given by the charitable for their delectation at
Christmas, and in almost every parish the same substantial
fare is provided for the poorer parishioners. At the tables
of the rich, it is true, the time-honoured sirloin is now
relegated to a subordinate position, its place being usurped
by the turkey, which has superseded also the stately pea-
cock, formerly at this season, adorned with all its feathers,
introduced with something approaching to religious cere-
mony, as was also the great boar's head, with its chaplet of
rosemary and a lemon between the teeth ; but then, as now,
the loin of beef, knighted in due form by Charles II., was
always the piece de resistance, and from time immemorial the
double loin, known as the baron, has always been a royal
70 OUR VIANDS
dish, and one specially selected is always sent from Windsor
to Osborne to grace the Queen's dinner table, being accom-
panied by that other famous Christmas dish, a boar's head,
sent of late from Germany.
Our viands
1893Page 30
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Whether the Egyptian pastry consisted simply of bread
dough we do not know, but it probably contained oil or fat
of some kind, for it is certain that the cakes of the Hebrews
were composed of fine flour and oil, with probably honey
sometimes added; but none of the Egyptian pastry has been
found containing fruit like our pies, although cakes consist-
ing entirely of dates are known to have been made, and
called date bread.
Our fruit puddings are simply pies boiled instead of
baked. Who is there who fails to appreciate a pudding or
pie of fresh fruit, whether of green gooseberries in the early
spring, or of black and red currants and raspberries or
cherries in summer, and all the delicious plums, damsons,
and greengages of autumn ! Happily, the art of bottling
fruits has attained to such perfection that we may now get
fruit pies and puddings all the year round, instead of, as in
former times, having to depend upon apples and jams only,
during the winter months. The thrifty housewife, it is true,
used to bottle gooseberries for her own winter use, but they
could not be purchased ; whereas now, for a few pence, we
may indulge in pies of currants, cherries, and greengages at
Christmas.
PART II
MEAT
' 8 piece of a Itio is foortfj tfoa of a (fat9
CHAPTER V
CHRISTMAS FARE — THE ROAST BEEF OF OLD ENGLAND
AND THE BOAR'S HEAD
ON thousands of tables at Christmas-tide the roast beef of
Old England smokes with appetising odour. From the
lordly baron which always graces the Queen's table, and the
goodly sirloin of aristocratic renown, to the humble but far
from despicable aitch-bone, all is toothsome, wholesome,
and highly esteemed alike by high and low, rich and poor.
The wretched inmates of gaol and workhouse look forward
to the feast of roast beef and plum-pudding, which is almost
sure to be given by the charitable for their delectation at
Christmas, and in almost every parish the same substantial
fare is provided for the poorer parishioners. At the tables
of the rich, it is true, the time-honoured sirloin is now
relegated to a subordinate position, its place being usurped
by the turkey, which has superseded also the stately pea-
cock, formerly at this season, adorned with all its feathers,
introduced with something approaching to religious cere-
mony, as was also the great boar's head, with its chaplet of
rosemary and a lemon between the teeth ; but then, as now,
the loin of beef, knighted in due form by Charles II., was
always the piece de resistance, and from time immemorial the
double loin, known as the baron, has always been a royal
70 OUR VIANDS
dish, and one specially selected is always sent from Windsor
to Osborne to grace the Queen's dinner table, being accom-
panied by that other famous Christmas dish, a boar's head,
sent of late from Germany.