Flavours for all delibelly activity

I noticed that the Flavours deli in Tufnell Park had Victorian engravings of kitchen utensils on its blinds. This is very much in keeping with the style of this shop which produces delicious food which you always feel has a touch of tradition behind it.

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Flavours is the latest venture from Julie Friend, BBC TV Masterchef Winner, cookery teacher and founder of catering company Delibelly.

Shops for food lovers selling a range of breads, pastries, delicatessen goods, home made cakes, foodie gifts and a selection of meals to take home for lunch or dinner.

Flavours Web Site

22 Breweries and Beer in London.

The Great Breweries are those of :

Barclay, Perkins and Co., Park-st., Southwark
Meux and Co., Tottenham-Court-Road
Combe, Delafield, and Co., Castle-st., Long-acre
Whitbread and Co., Chiswell-street
Truman, Hanbury, and Co., Brick-lane, Spitalfields
Godding and Co., Belvedere-road, Lambeth
Reid and Co., Liquorpond-street., Grays-Inn-lane
Calvert and Co., 89 Upper-Thames-street
Elliot and Co., Pimlico

The visitor should exert his influence amongst his friends to obtain an order of admission to any one of the largest I have named. The best London porter and stout in draught is to be had at the Cock Tavern, 13, Fleet-street, and at the Rainbow Tavern, 15, Fleet-street, immediately opposite. Judges of ale recommend John O'Groats, 61, Rupert-street, Haymarket; and the Edinburgh Castle, 322, Strand.

source: Hand-Book of London, Peter Cunningham, F.S.A., John Murray, London, (1850) p. xxiii and xxiv

This entry is at the front of the hand book amongst the list of facilities and places of interest. The invitation to exert influence amongst friends reveals much about the time. Many of the institutions and collections in societies needed a member's introduction in order to be viewed.
Obviously this wasn't a day when the general riff raff could come and go as they please poking their noses into matters that shouldn't concern them!


Jack Adams is a member of the Pub History Society and heartily encourages all who have an interest to enroll for the most reasonable of annual subscriptions, £10. Click on the logo below and life will never be the same again!

The Saw-Fish in the Gulf of Paria

The following interesting narrative, by Capt. Wilson, of the Halifax Packet, gives us an idea of the powers of this monster:

"Being in the Gulf of Paria, in the ship's cutter, on the 15th April 1839, I fell in with a Spanish canoe, manned by two men, then in great distress, who requested me to save their lives and the canoe, with which request I immediately complied; and going alongside for that purpose, I discovered that they had got a large Saw-fish entangled in their turtle net, which was towing them out to sea, and but for my assistance they must have lost either their canoe or their net, or perhaps both, which were their only means of subsistence.

Having only two boys with me in the boat at the time, I desired them to cut the fish away, which they refused to do; I then took the bight of the net from them, and with the joint endeavours of themselves and my boat's crew, we succeeded in hauling up the net, and to our astonishment, after great exertions, we raised the saw of the fish about eight feet above the surface of the sea. It was fortunate circumstance that the fish came up with the belly towards the boat, or it would have cut the boat in two.

"I had abandoned all idea of taking the fish, until, by great luck, it made towards the land, when I made another attempt, and having about fifty fathom of rope in the boat, we succeeded in making a running bowline-knot round the saw of the fish, and this we fortunately made fast on shore; when the fish found itself secured it plunged so violently that I could not prevail on any one to go near it; the appearance it presented was truly awful.

I immediately went alongside the Lima packet, Capt. Singleton, and got the assistance of all his ship's crew. By the time they arrived the fish was rather less violent; we hauled up the net again, in which it was still entangled, and got another fifty fathoms of line made fast to the saw, and attempted to haul it towards the shore; but although mustering thirty hands, we could not move it an inch.

By this time the negroes belonging to Mr Danglad's estate, came flocking to our assistance, making together with the Spaniards, about one hundred in number: we then hauled on both ropes for nearly the whole of the day, before the fish became exhausted. On endeavouring to raise the fish it became most desperate, sweeping with its saw from side to side, so that we were compelled to get strong guy ropes to prevent it from cutting us to pieces.

After that, one of the Spaniards got on its back, and at great risk, cut through the joint of the tail, when animation was completely suspended: it was then measured, and found to be 22 feet long, and 8 feet broad, and weighed nearly 5 tons."*

* Mag. Nat. Hist. 1839, p 519

source: The Ocean, P.H. Gosse, London (1845) p191-3

No 1146 - Toast (To Make)

Ingredients-
Bread made the day before.

Method-
Cut the bread into slices a third of an inch thick, trim them neatly, and toast them in front of a clear fire until evenly brown on each side. Bread neither new nor very stale makes the best toast. If very new bread has to be used, hold it in front of the fire until the steam has evaporated, then turn it, and do the same to the other side. Turn it again to brown on each side, and do not hold it too near the fire.

Time- To toast a slice of bread, about half a minute on each side, if very new rather longer.

source: A Practical Dictionary of Cookery, Ethel S. Meyer, London (1899)

For the love of Victorian Recipes

There is just something about collecting Victorian books that gives me a deep sense of satisfaction. The idea that you can go to book fairs and hunt amongst the shelves for texts that are 100, 150 or even 200 years old and pay no more than £2 actually seems like insanity.

How is it that people do not value these texts more highly. As an historian I cannot describe the joy of picking up an obscure self published biography which seeks to detail a life that was lived over 100 years ago. Admittedly the literature is not always of the finest but it is always absolutely genuine and in the weaknesses you see more of the character than you will find in any polished text about "Victorian Lives".

One of my favourite finds was "The London Mysteries" by Reynolds in 1858. That cost me exactly £2 for a book 151 years old. The binding was not in good repair but I have a friend who is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and he made the book good. This was not a re-bind but a protection of what was with appropriate materials. This work cost me £25 so it would be right to say that I have invested £27 in this excellent piece which obviously I feel is worth every penny.

From the Adams Collection of Victorian Books

For example, let's have a look at this illustration from the text. Here we have the genuine image of a London pub in 1858 or a bit earlier. As you can see from the window, this is a Dining Room and even today, if you look carefully, you will find in old Victorian pubs windows with these words engraved.

A white cloth at the table, a waiter bringing a pile of steaming dishes, note the slight grovel in his posture, and two characters at lunch after having a vibrant encounter in a Debtors Court. Through the window is a coach and the streets of London. The more you look at this image the more you feel like you are looking through a window in time.

But for me the true value is in holding this book, holding and feeling its age, reading its script and knowing that is some very profound way I am connecting not just with the author but with a set of people long dead.

Utensils in the Victorian Kitchen circa 1880

Copyright Images Jack Adams t/a Victorian Gems

Kitchen Utensils absolutely required by a good Cook

Set of 6 wrought-iron sauce-pans

1 wrought-iron stock pot

1 Bain-marie pan

1 wrought-iron kettle

1 oval boiler

1 digester

1 saucepan digester

1 stewpan digester

6 enamelled stewpans

1 Saute pan

1 French saute pan

1 potato steamer

1 salamander and stand

1 oval frying pan

1 round frying pan

1 fluted gridiron

1 bachelors frying pan

1 omelet pan

1 omelet souffle pan

1 braising pan

1 preserving pan and spoon

1 flour dredger

1 sugar dredger

1 brass bottle-jack

1 dripping pan and stand

1 basting ladle

1 wooden meat screen

1 coffee mill

1 meat chopper

Meat saw

1 colander

Pestle and mortar

2 gravy strainers

1 bread grater

2 sets of skewers

1 fish slice

1 egg slice and ladle

1 pair of steak tongs

1 egg whisk

1 beef fork

1 French cook's knife

1 steak beater

Fish kettle

Mackerel saucepan

Turbot kettle

Salmon and jack kettle

1 pair of fish scissors

Double hanging gridiron

Sliding toaster and trivet

Toasting fork

Carson's patent salting apparatus

Kent's patent soup strainer

Mincing machine

Weighing machine

Herb stand

Box of paste cutters

12 patty pans

3 tart pans

3 Dariol moulds

Marble slab for making paste

Rolling pin- American with removable handle

1 Paste jigger

"Piston" freezing machine

1 cheese toaster

3 larding pans

2 cook's knives

1 mushroom mould

1 star fritter mould

1 vegetable cutter, or "the French vegetable cutter"

1 vegetable mould

3 pudding moulds

6 jelly moulds

3 cake moulds

2 wooden spoons and mashed potato fork

Ice closet

Sugar spinners

Sugar moulds

The cost of the above would be 38l. 10s.

source:Warne's Model Cookery and Housekeeping Book

edited and compiled by Mary Jewry (1880 approx)

This is one long list of what is considered to be "absolutely required"

by the Victorian cook in her kitchen. In terms of price we can offer this comparison:

Current data is only available till 2008. In 2008, £38 10s 1d from 1880 was worth:

£2,857.98 using the retail price index

source:http://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare