Synopsis
From traditional seaside holiday treats like candy floss, ice cream and fish ’n’ chips, to the British fascination for baking, the Victorian era has shaped British culinary heritage. Victoria’s austere attitude after an age of Regency indulgence generated enormous cultural change. Excess and gluttony were replaced with morally upright values, and Victoria’s large family became the centre of the cultural imagination, with the power to begin new traditions. If Queen Victoria’s family sat down to turkey on Christmas day, so did the rest of the nation. Food was a significant part of the Victorians’ lives, whether they had too much of it or not enough. The destitute were fed gruel in the workhouses – the words of Dickens’s Oliver are forever imprinted on our minds: ‘Please, sir, I want some more.’ The burgeoning street traders spilling over from the previous century devolved into a whole new culture of ‘mudlarks’, trotter boilers and food slop traders, to name but a few. Wealthy Victorians gorged with the newly emerging trend for breakfast, lunch and tea. Public dining became de rigeur, and the outdoor ‘pique-nique’, introduced a new way of eating.Victorians also struggled against many of these trends, with the belief that denial of food was a moral good. This was the era of educating and training in food management, combined with the old world of superstition and tradition, that changed British society forever.
About the Author
Emma is a Fellow of The Royal Historical Society, Post-graduate Historian and Archaeologist, former senior museum professional & Award-Winning author of 13 food history books. She has appeared numerous times as a food history expert on documentaries and mainstream popular programmes for Channel 4, Channel 5, BBC1 and KBS-TV, Korea. She has lectured, delivered demonstrations and interactive talks online and across a variety of venues both nationally and internationally for The Guild of Food Writers, Bath and Stroud Literature Festivals, 1 Royal Crescent Bath, Wakefield Rhubarb Festival, The Women’s Institute, Tastemade, BBNY Group LLC, New York and been a regular interviewee on podcasts including English Heritage, BBC History Extra, Table Talk with Stefan Gates and Eat Your Heartland Out, with former U.S. senator Capri Cafaro. Emma has regularly featured as a food history expert & author on BBC radio and Talk Radio Europe and written articles for English Heritage, BBC Food, Lancashire Life, BBC History Magazine, Daily Express, Daily Mail, Times Literary Supplement, Victorian Review, Lancashire Post and Love Food.com among others. More recently Emma has worked as an online Archaeology tutor for a home learning tuition hub. She also continues to work with her ever expanding collection of antique Kitchenalia.
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