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Austen & Food

This web page is not connected to one chapter only, but functions rather as a mutual page for several as the need arises.

Sources for header illustrations:

Ch6/1: Austen and Food

Pen Vogler writes in his Guardian article that o​f Austen's mature works, Emma is the one most concerned with food. Vogler explains:

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In the small, rural world of Highbury it becomes a focus for charitable friendship and almost every social gathering. It is also the pet subject of that old fusspot, Mr Woodhouse, who invites his elderly guests to suppers of "made" dishes such as sweetbreads with asparagus, scalloped oysters, minced chicken and apple pies (made with fresh apples, not "unwholesome preserves"). He "loved to have the cloth laid, because it had been the fashion of his youth" (although he was so squeamish about rich food that he was rather sorry to see anything laid on it). [...]

It is care for [Emma's] father, as well as the novel's care for neighbourliness, that makes Emma the only heroine of the mature works to concern herself with anything as crude as the need for bodily sustenance. [...]

Austen invites the reader to relish both the food and the characterisation when she offers the hot Negus that makes Fanny Price feverish at her first ball, the roast loin of pork that Mrs Bates enjoys and Mr Woodhouse shudders over, or the luxurious cocoa that General Tilney sips for breakfast. In matters culinary and comic she was able to have her cake and eat it.[i]

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[i] Vogler, ‘Pride and Partridges’.

Ch6/2: Gipsying

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In Cooking with Austen, Kirsten Olsen writes that 

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On occasion, people chose to take their afternoon meal outdoors, in which case the meal might be referred to as "cold meat," a "cold collation," or a "picnic." The practice of eating outside with packed lunches was also known as "gipsying." All members of the party were supposed to contribute something to the meal...’[i]

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[i] Olsen, Cooking with Jane Austen, 19

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It is interesting because gypsies also feature in Emma (pp.261-262):

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[...] A few minutes made Emma acquainted with the whole.

      Miss Smith, and Miss Bickerton, another parlour boarder at Mrs. Goddard’s, who had been also at the ball, had walked out together, and taken a road, the Richmond road, which, though apparently public enough for safety, had led them into alarm.—About half a mile beyond Highbury, making a sudden turn, and deeply shaded by elms on each side, it became for a considerable stretch very retired; and when the young ladies had advanced some way into it, they had suddenly perceived at a small distance before them, on a broader patch of greensward by the side, a party of gipsies [sic]. A child on the watch, came towards them to beg; and Miss Bickerton, excessively frightened, gave a great scream, and calling on Harriet to follow her, ran up a steep bank, cleared a slight hedge at the top, and made the best of her way by a short cut back to Highbury. But poor Harriet could not follow. She had suffered very much from cramp after dancing, and her first attempt to mount the bank brought on such a return of it as made her absolutely powerless—and in this state, and exceedingly terrified, she had been obliged to remain.

      How the trampers might have behaved, had the young ladies been more courageous, must be doubtful; but such an invitation for attack could not be resisted; and Harriet was soon assailed by half a dozen children, headed by a stout woman and a great boy, all clamorous, and impertinent in look, though not absolutely in word.—More and more frightened, she immediately promised them money, and taking out her purse, gave them a shilling, and begged them not to want more, or to use her ill.—She was then able to walk, though but slowly, and was moving away—but her terror and her purse were too tempting, and she was followed, or rather surrounded, by the whole gang, demanding more.

      In this state Frank Churchill had found her, she trembling and conditioning, they loud and insolent. [...]

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Might Austen have been aware of this double meaning of 'gipsy'? Did she build on the connection between the poor gypsies living in the outskirts of Highbury and the rich(er) populating wishing an outdoor life for one afternoon?

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If we check the OED, it is clear that intransitive verb 'to gipsy' has the meaning of having one's meals in the open air and to picnic, which so far supports the possible connection.

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The OED tells us that there is a recording of it from around 1627, but the other time estimations are all recordings done after Austen's life time. One must conclude that Austen most probably did not know of this double meaning and that this is a coincident. 

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Ch6/3a: The Complete Confectionary by Frederic Nutt, Esq.

There are some very fine online versions of cooking books available, and this is one of them:

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The Complete Confectioner, or The Whole Art of Confectionary Made Easy; with Receipts for Liqueures, Home-made Wines, &c. The Result of many Years Experience with the Celebrated Negri and Witten.

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It is available in splendid conditions in different versions. These illustrations are links to the fifth edition and the sixth edition, respectively.

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Ch6/3b: References to strawberries in The Complete Confectionary

When we look into this famous cooking book, we do see several recipes including strawberries; these examples are from the sixth edition.

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The recipes are:

p.   90. Strawberry Jam.
p. 119. Strawberry Water, of Strawberry Jam.
p. 129. Strawberry Ice Cream.
p. 139. Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream.
p. 161. Strawberry Water Ice.
p. 182. Fresh strawberry Water Ice.

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Ch6/4: Suggestions for Materials on18th and 19th-Century Cookbooks and Household Chores

Ch6/5a: Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1834) 

According to Encyclopedia of Global Change, Thomas Robert Malthus was an English social and demographic theorist. Encyclopedia of Global Change continues to write that

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[i]n his Essay on the Principle of Population (1798), Malthus depicted, in classic apocalyptic terms, the consequences of population outstripping the available food supply. He did not predict famine or universal resource scarcity, as commonly believed, but rather set forth the circumstances under which famine might occur.

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Encyclopedia of Global Change adds that Malthus was born in Sussex, England, and educated at Cambridge University, and that he ... 

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was both an ordained clergyman of the Church of England and a professor of economics at the East India College (Hertfordshire). His population essay, pamphlets on trade policy, and Principles of Political Economy (1820) are among the fundamental works of classical economics. The social-policy implications Malthus drew from his population theory made him a figure of controversy throughout his lifetime, and well beyond.

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Malthus argued that population tends to increase at a geometric rate (1, 2, 4, 8, 16), while food supplies can only be increased at an arithmetic rate (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). Hence population tends to outstrip the means of subsistence. But humans do not blindly propagate up to the point of starvation. They are capable, unlike plants and animals, of foreseeing the consequences of their actions. Thus population is limited by prudential behavior—preventive checks that lower the birth rate—as well as by various positive checks, such as famine and disease, that raise the mortality rate. In Malthus's view, advancing societies come to rely less on the positive and more on the preventive checks. When population increases too rapidly, equilibrating forces come into play: expanded labor supply, lower real wages, postponed and less-frequent marriages, and higher mortality. This sets the stage for demographic recovery: higher wages, earlier marriages, lower mortality, and a rise in population. Malthus called these recurring cycles oscillations.

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Finally, Encyclopedia of Global Change state that ...

Malthus's influence has been wide and enduring. Both Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace cited the Essay on Population as a work that opened their minds to the idea of natural selection. In the twentieth century, renewed concern about excessive population growth, whether on economic, national security, quality of life, or environmental grounds, has rekindled interest in Malthus.[i]

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[i] Gilbert, ‘Malthus, Thomas Robert’.

Ch6/5b: An Essay on the Principle of Population, 1798

According to the Online Library of Liberty, there are two versions of Thomas Robert Malthus’s Essay on the Principle of Population. 

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The Online Library of Liberty continues:

The first, published anonymously in 1798, was so successful that Malthus soon elaborated on it under his real name. The rewrite, culminating in the sixth edition of 1826, was a scholarly expansion and generalization of the first. In this work Malthus argues that there is a disparity between the rate of growth of population (which increases geometrically) and the rate of growth of agriculture (which increases only arithmetically). He then explores how populations have historically been kept in check.[i]

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[i] Staff at Online Library of Liberty, ‘On “An Essay on the Principle of Population”’.

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Ch6/6: Food oriented people fall into the background and confuse the distinction between eating and romance - Examples hereof

Food-oriented people, such as Miss Bates and Mr Woodhouse whose jabber often centres on eating, fall into the background, and, according to Michael Parrish Lee, they 'confuse the distinction between eating and romance by jumbling the two together or treating them interchangeably.'  Lee suggests that Mr Woodhouse turns food into a problem through his concern about its effects on his health and the health of others.[i]

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Here are some examples:

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Mr Woodhouse (E:20):

'Mrs. Bates, let me propose your venturing on one of these eggs. An egg boiled very soft is not unwholesome. Serle understands boiling an egg better than any body. I would not recommend an egg boiled by any body else—but you need not be afraid—they are very small, you see—one of our small eggs will not hurt you. Miss Bates, let Emma help you to a little bit of tart—a very little bit. Ours are all apple tarts. You need not be afraid of unwholesome preserves here. I do not advise the custard. Mrs. Goddard, what say you to half a glass of wine? A small half-glass—put into a tumbler of water? I do not think it could disagree with you.'

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Mr Woodhouse (E:80)

'How long it is, how terribly long since you were here! And how tired you must be after your journey! You must go to bed early, my dear—and I recommend a little gruel to you before you go.—You and I will have a nice basin of gruel together. My dear Emma, suppose we all have a little gruel.'

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Miss Bates (E:132)

The aunt was as tiresome as ever; more tiresome, because anxiety for her [Jane Fairfax] health was now added to admiration of her [Fairfax] powers; and they had to listen to the description of exactly how little bread and butter she[Fairfax] ate for breakfast, and how small a slice of mutton for dinner, as well as to see exhibitions of new caps and new work—bags for her mother and herself;

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Miss Bates (E:135):
'My dear Miss Woodhouse—I come quite overpowered. Such a beautiful hind-quarter of pork! You are too bountiful! Have you heard the news? Mr. Elton is going to be married.'

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Miss Bates (E:259):

'The baked apples and biscuits, excellent in their way, you know; but there was a delicate fricassee of sweetbread and some asparagus brought in at first, and good Mr. Woodhouse, not thinking the asparagus quite boiled enough, sent it all out again. Now there is nothing grandmamma loves better than sweetbread and asparagus—so she was rather disappointed, but we agreed we would not speak of it to any body, for fear of its getting round to dear Miss Woodhouse, who would be so very much concerned!—Well, this is brilliant! I am all amazement! [...] Dear Jane, how shall we ever recollect half the dishes for grandmamma?'

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[i] Lee, The Food Plot, 40-41.

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Ch6/7: Examples of Austen's hints that Mrs Elton is not a genteel woman

Jane Austen hints that Mrs Elton belongs to 'trade' and that she is not born a genteel woman at other times; here are some examples:

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  • When Mrs Elton feels that the conversation is aimed at her family she exclaims

    • ‘Oh! my dear, human flesh! […] if you mean a fling at the slave-trade, I assure you Mr. Suckling was always rather a friend to the abolition.’(E:235)

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  • When Mrs Elton says: ‘As I tell Mr. E., you are a thorough humourist.—Yes, believe me, Knightley .…’(E:280)
    No genteel woman calls her husband by an abbreviation or speaks to a gentleman of a higher rank than she herself as if they were intimate friends. Leaving out his title is an indication of her lower social upbringing.

Ch6/8: Interest in food is to be frivolous, selfish or gross

Maggie Lane writes in Jane Austen and Food that Austen's heroines are free from earthly appetites, and that their attitude towards food can be expressed in just one word: indifference. But they should not be indifferent towards their duty as a housekeeper or as a host; to provide food for other people is commendable.[i] Lane adds that of all Austen's heroines Emma is the one who deals with food the most due to her

position as housekeeper of Hartfield and 'lady bountiful of Highbury', but she is 'indifferent' to what she eats. Lane repeats that Emma never  talks or thinks about food except in relation to other people.[ii]

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On the other hand, 'to take an interest in food in an Austen novel is to be almost certainly condemned as frivolous, selfish or gross,'[iii] and Lane gives the example of Mr Collins (Pride and Prejudice) who enumerates all the dishes at supper on the way back from Mrs. Philips’s and thus presents himself as low and vulgar.[iv]

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Lydia talked incessantly of lottery tickets, of the fish she had lost and the fish she had won, and Mr. Collins, in describing the civility of Mr. and Mrs. Phillips, protesting that he did not in the least regard his losses at whist, enumerating all the dishes at supper, and repeatedly fearing that he crowded his cousins, had more to say than he could well manage before the carriage stopped at Longbourn House. (PP:64)

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[i]   Lane, Jane Austen and Food, 89.

[ii]  Lane, Jane Austen and Food, 78, 86.

[iii] Lane, Jane Austen and Food, 78.

[iv] Lane, ‘French Bread’, 138.

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Ch6/9: Mr Knightley donates his last, treasured apples to the Bates

Mr Knightley behaves very 'knightly' when he gives away his last apples to the Bates. This is Miss Bates' description of the situation:

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'But I was really quite shocked the other day—for Mr. Knightley called one morning, and Jane was eating these apples, and we talked about them and said how much she enjoyed them, and he asked whether we were not got to the end of our stock. "I am sure you must be," said he, "and I will send you another supply; for I have a great many more than I can ever use. William Larkins let me keep a larger quantity than usual this year. I will send you some more, before they get good for nothing." So I begged he would not—for really as to ours being gone, I could not absolutely say that we had a great many left—it was but half a dozen indeed; but they should be all kept for Jane; and I could not at all bear that he should be sending us more, so liberal as he had been already; and Jane said the same. [...] However, the very same evening William Larkins came over with a large basket of apples, the same sort of apples, a bushel at least, and I was very much obliged, and went down and spoke to William Larkins and said every thing, as you may suppose. William Larkins is such an old acquaintance! I am always glad to see him. But, however, I found afterwards from Patty, that William said it was all the apples of that sort his master had; he had brought them all—and now his master had not one left to bake or boil. William did not seem to mind it himself, he was so pleased to think his master had sold so many; for William, you know, thinks more of his master’s profit than any thing; but Mrs. Hodges, he said, was quite displeased at their being all sent away. She could not bear that her master should not be able to have another apple-tart this spring. He told Patty this, but bid her not mind it, and be sure not to say any thing to us about it, for Mrs. Hodges would be cross sometimes, and as long as so many sacks were sold, it did not signify who ate the remainder. And so Patty told me, and I was excessively shocked indeed! I would not have Mr. Knightley know any thing about it for the world! He would be so very....' (E:187-188)

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Ch6/10: The Knight Family Cookbook

The Jane Austen Detectives write that The Knight Family Cookbook was for some time lost but re-surfaced, and that it has an annotation in the fly leaf:

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This book I bought from Chawton and gave to my sister Mrs. J. Knight, on whose death, it was returned - TK 1793 (Thomas Knight).

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The JA Detectives add that ‘the Cookbook also contains the bookplate of Montagu George Knight of Chawton, followed by the words, "Jane Austen's recipe book written by herself", written in pencil.’ However, they explain that no-one has yet given any credence to this claim, and that they think it unlikely that JA contributed to the cookbook due to the fact that academic scholars have confirmed there are two distinctly different handwriting styles in the cookbook. However, the JA Detectives believe that it is likely that she would have tasted some of the family recipes  while visiting Chawton House.[i] 

 

[i] Jane Austen Detectives Staff, ‘History of the Knight Family Cookbook’.

Ch6/11: Martha Lloyd's Household Book

Martha Lloyd’s household book, contains nearly 100 handwritten recipes, household advice, medicinal remedies and formulas,[i] collected by JA’s close friend and later ‘flat-mate’ and sister-in-law (though this marriage took place in 1828 after Austen had died).

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As the Jane Austen’s House Museum suggests

[r]ecreating recipes from this book may be as close as one can get to dining at the cottage with Jane Austen.

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The book is now encased at the Jane Austen’s House Museum'.[ii]

 - - - 

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In 1797, Martha’s sister, Mary, became the second wife JA’s eldest brother James Austen, and after the deaths of JA’s father, George Austen, and Mary's/Martha’s mother, Mrs. Lloyd, in 1805, Martha came to live with Mrs Austen, Cassandra and Jane at Southampton and again from 1809, at Chawton. Martha was a most well-beloved friend of Austen’s and dedicated Frederick and Elfrida to Martha. At the age of 62, Martha became Francis Austen’s second wife in 1828.[iii]

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The Jane Austen’s House Museum writes that

this leather-bound manuscript book contains recipes from many different members of the Austen family and their circle of friends. It was most probably begun by Martha in the late 18th century and she continued to add to it during her time in Southampton and at Chawton. We know that she also continued to collect recipes after her marriage to Frank, for one recipe is dated 1829.[iv]

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[i]   jfwakefield, 'Martha Lloyd’s Household Book'.

[ii]  Dining with Jane Austen, 'A Culinary Adventure

       Through the Author’s Life and Works'.

[iii] Dining with Jane Austen, 'A Culinary Adventure     

      Through the Author’s Life and Works'.

[iv] jfwakefield, 'Martha Lloyd’s Household Book'.

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The Knights' Cookbook. Source: Dining with Jane Austen

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The Martha Lloyd Household Book. Source: Jane Austen in 41 Objects:

Read more:

Dining with Jane Austen - http://diningwithjaneausten.org/the-project.html

The Jane Austen Detectives - https://www.janeaustendetectives.com/blog/recent/history-of-the-knight-family-cookbook

Jane Austen in 41 Objects: 35. 'Martha Lloyd's Recipe Book' - https://www.jane-austens-house-museum.org.uk/35-martha-lloyds-recipe-book

The Jane Austen's House Museum Blog - https://janeaustenshousemuseumblog.wordpress.com/2012/03/25/martha-lloyds-household-book/

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