Food Fashions - an Overview

by Marion Watson

What we like to eat and how we eat it are influenced by fashion. A few years ago it was all lasagne and cheesecakes, then we had to suffer (or starve on) nouvelle cuisine sometimes described as ‘graphics on a plate’. The illustrations in Mrs. Beeton show dishes which are outrageously over-garnished and elaborate but even pictures in cookery books of the fifties and sixties often seem to have an old-fashioned look about them.

Historically, fashions in food have evolved through a variety of factors - availability, cooking facilities, equipment, skills and even religion. For the poor, economic restraints limited their choice. The farm worker’s diet was mainly vegetables, bread, dripping and tea with a few pennyworth of meat once a week if he was lucky. The servant working in a large house, whilst earning very little money, at least had his keep and was in most cases reasonably fed. With the industrial revolution and the move from country to town the situation became very much worse. Many of the lowest paid workers rented rooms by the day and with no cooking facilities were forced to live on products of pie shops and other such ‘fast food’ establishments of the day. But for the wealthy food was a statement of their position in society and as such it was necessary to keep up with the fashion. Not only did the food itself matter but how and where it was eaten was an important reflection of status.

Middle Ages

In these times eating was a very serious and ceremonial business. Royalty were watched by their courtiers who often remained on their knees for many hours while their sovereign ate in solitude.

Life centred round the great hall where the family sat at the high table placed furthest away from the draughty doorway. Everyone else sat at long tables in diminishing rank towards the door. There were no forks and sometimes not even knives so food had to be prodded and pulled apart. By the time it reached the poor souls at the bottom of the table it must have been in a very unappetising state.

In the wall at the far end of the hall were three doors, one leading to the buttery where butts of ale and wine were stored under the supervision of the butler. Only the top ranks would drink imported wine. Another led to the pantry where bread and salt were stored under the care of the panter or pantler. The middle door opened onto a passage going to the kitchen which would be as far away from the hall as possible because of fire risk and also to keep smoke, steam and malodorous smells at bay. Even so the great hall must have been a very noisy and smelly place and gradually the family took to dining in a small room where they could have more peace and privacy. Called the parlour, because it was a place where one could talk, at first it was situated beyond the great hall but later was placed upstairs often reached by a very narrow and twisting staircase. The family would only dine in the great hall on special occasions when food was paraded in with great ceremony, often preceded with trumpeters and sometimes carried in on horseback. Constructing a screened passage across the bottom of the hall protected diners from the worst of the draught and provided a minstrels gallery above where music could be played to entertain the diners. Later more grand and ceremonial staircases were built to reach the dining room.

Tudor Times

By the reign of Henry VIII life was becoming more sophisticated although standards in the kitchen had not improved. Henry is reputed to have visited his kitchens and been so horrified by what he saw that he drew up a set of rules which amongst other things specified that cooks should wear clothing! Kitchens were built with high ceilings to provide ventilation. The development of overseas trade led to the introduction of sugars and spices which were made into sweetmeats such as quince jelly and fruit in ginger syrup. These concoctions were served with sweet wine after the meal when the table had been cleared. They were called desserts because the table had been deserted. Soon a special room, called a banquet, was being set aside for eating these delicacies.

In some very grand houses such as Lacock Abbey there were two banquets, one for fine weather where beautiful views could be enjoyed and one for when it was wet. Bess of Hardwick had one at Hardwick Hall and she even went one better with her dining room. Whilst it was fashionable to eat on the first floor she placed hers on the second, a light, airy room with more glass than wall.

Seventeenth Century

By this time long dining tables were considered old fashioned and rooms with plenty of space were in demand. This led to a vogue for folding furniture which could be set out as required. The gateleg table was ideal for this and chairs were placed along the walls when not required.

With the Georgian period came Palladian-style architecture. The first floor was the centre of family life and the ground floor was used for domestic offices. The kitchen was often housed in a smaller detached wing to one side of the main house. While light and airy the windows were set high up so that the servants could not look out on their employers and they did not have to see their retainers. At Calke Abbey the owner had a tunnel built under his lawn so that he did not have to see his staff passing in front of his windows.

It has been said that the British aristocracy grew up never knowing what hot food was since it always had to make such a long journey from kitchen to dining room. However, dining at this period was a very splendid affair. Each guest had his own servant whose only responsibility was to see that he received the food and drink he required. It was fashionable to have all the courses served at once so it was probably a necessity but it must have been rather disconcerting to have a servant standing behind you watching every mouthful being swallowed.

In the late seventeenth century the practice of ladies withdrawing to leave the men to their port began. Thus the drawing room became very feminine in style whilst the dining room became more masculine.

Nineteenth Century

By the nineteenth century the fashion for individual servants had given way to dining ‘a la Rousse’. This economised on staff since food was passed round. No longer were the dishes paraded to the diners, instead they went in procession to the food. Strict etiquette decreed who led whom to the dining room and the more great archways and rooms they passed through the better. If there was a grand staircase to be ascended then it was even more satisfactory.

Two world wars and smaller houses have had their effect. Sociologists tell us that family meals are becoming a thing of the past. A teacher colleague of mine discovered that a third of one of her classes did not sit down with their families for a meal even on Christmas Day. ‘Grazing’ or eating on the run seems to be the trend yet at the same time eating out, formal celebration meals and entertaining at home is as popular as ever although it is now socially acceptable to admit that your sweet came from Marks and Spencer who have replaced the kitchen staff that once slaved away in the background.

I wonder how historians will view the eating habits and fashions of the twentieth century and where do we go from here?

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