Well, I don’t know nothin’ about fancy stuff, but I heard some folks talkin’ ’bout old-timey recipes, you know, from back when them Victorian folks was around. I reckon they ate some strange things back then, not like the stuff we get at the grocery store now.
Them fancy meats
I heard tell they ate all sorts of critters – antelopes, swans, even eagles! Can you believe that? I ain’t never seen an eagle, let alone ate one. Guess they was just used to different things back in them days. We stick to good ol’ chicken and pork mostly, maybe some beef if we’re feelin’ fancy. But eagles? That’s just plain weird. Now, they also had some more regular meats, like beef. They’d roast it, stew it, or even make a pie out of it. Heard tell of some dish called beef Wellington – sounded mighty complicated. And shepherd’s pie, that was another one. But mostly, they just cooked what they had, nothin’ too special.
- Antelopes – I ain’t ever seen one of these.
- Swans – Them birds are pretty, but I ain’t eatin’ one.
- Eagles – My goodness, they ate eagles!
- Beef – Roast beef, stew, that’s more like it.
Them plain ol’ vegetables
They didn’t have no fancy supermarkets back then, so they ate what they grew. Lots of potatoes, carrots, turnips, that sort of thing. They’d mash ’em up, or throw ’em in a stew. No freezers or nothin’, so they had to eat what was in season. Asparagus, peas, they ate them too when they could get ’em. But mostly, it was root vegetables. Nothin’ wrong with that, mind you. Good, solid food. They’d put some fancy sauces on it sometimes, I reckon, if they had the money for it. But if you was poor, you just ate your vegetables plain.
Sweet treats
Now, everybody likes a little somethin’ sweet, even them Victorian folks. They had puddings and cakes galore. Bread puddin’, trifle, all sorts of stuff. I ain’t never made a trifle, but it sounds mighty rich. Probably had lots of cream and fruit and stuff in it. And them cakes, I bet they was good, but not like the box cakes we got now. They had to make everything from scratch, you know. Beatin’ the eggs, stirrin’ the batter. Hard work, but I bet it tasted good.
Cookin’ it up
Them rich folks, they had all sorts of pots and pans, different sizes for different things. But the poor folks, they just had a few pots, maybe a fryin’ pan if they was lucky. They had to make do with what they had. They roasted their meat over the fire, or stewed it in a pot. They boiled their vegetables or mashed ’em up. Nothin’ fancy, just good, plain cookin’. Times was hard back then, I reckon. You didn’t have no fancy gadgets to help you cook. You just had your hands and your fire and your pots. But they made it work. They had to.
I tell you what, it’s interestin’ to think about how them folks ate back then. It makes you appreciate the food we got now, that’s for sure. We got so much choice, so many different things to eat. And we don’t have to hunt for our food or grow it all ourselves. We can just go to the store and buy it. But I reckon there was somethin’ good about the old ways too. They ate fresh food, they cooked it from scratch, and they didn’t waste nothin’. Maybe we could learn a thing or two from them.
So what’s the deal?
Now, I don’t know why I started thinkin’ ’bout this stuff. Maybe I’m just feelin’ old, like the world’s movin’ too fast. Sometimes I just want things to be simple again, like they was back then. But I reckon that ain’t gonna happen. The world keeps changin’, and we gotta change with it. But it’s still nice to remember the old ways, and the old recipes, even if we ain’t never gonna eat an eagle.
Wrap up
So, there you have it. A little bit about what them Victorian folks ate. It ain’t much, but it’s all I know. Maybe you can find some fancy recipes online, if you want to try makin’ some of that stuff. But I’ll stick to my chicken and potatoes, thank you very much.
Tags: [Victorian Recipes, 19th Century Food, Historical Cooking, Old Time Recipes, Vintage Food]
