Have you ever wondered what they would have eaten at the turn of the 20th century and in the years leading up to World War I? Then wonder no more. I will be preparing a menu, with recipes, for each day of the year. The menus and recipes are designed for use in ordinary households* where they would have combined a variety of foods economically, and will hopefully inspire you to eliminate waste by using foods that would normally end up in the trash. Keep in mind that these are old recipes and for many of the menu items you may need to do an internet search until you have written a new book with all the recipes.
*an ordinary household back then would have understood a housekeeper and other servants, so we include the servants’ dinner on our menus.
A menu for June 2:
Breakfast
Beef Kidney
Fried eggs
Lunch
stuffed cucumber
cold lamb
cold rolled beef
peach trifle
eton pudding
Dinner
Cold Clear Soup
curried eggs
Cold Stuffed Pigeon
Monte Carlo cherries
cabinet pudding
Parmesan Sandwiches
servants dinner
Cold meat
cold lamb
Rhubarb Meatballs
Prescriptions
stuffed cucumber
It can be hot or cold. If hot, boil cucumbers until tender, cut into 3-inch pieces, remove seeds, and slice lengthwise through center. Fill with some fried prawns and garnish with coral pepper. If it is cold, cut the cucumber into slices in the center, remove the seeds and fill with prawns or shrimp and pour a good mayonnaise sauce on top.
eton pudding
Boil a large cup of rice in enough milk to cover it. Add an ounce and a half of butter and boil for ten minutes. let’s chill Add two well-beaten eggs. Line a cake pan with batter and top with a layer of rice. Just cover the rice with jam and fill it with rice, again putting some jam on top. Bake for three quarters of an hour. Serve with a beaten egg white on top and brown in the oven.
peach trifle
Canned peaches, liquor, biscuits, apple jelly. Melt the apple jelly. Mix with the liquor and soak the cakes in it. Place the soaked cakes in the bottom of a plate. Arrange peaches on top and pour over remaining liqueur and jelly. Cover with whipped cream and decorate with some peaches cut into strips.
curried eggs
Boil some eggs for 15 minutes. Cut in half and arrange on a plate standing on the uncut side. Pour the following sauce and pile coconut mounds on the plate. Slice an onion in a pan with melted butter (1 oz), add a sliced apple and fry for 20 minutes. Add a tablespoon of coconut, an ounce of curry powder, a little salt, the juice of one lemon, herbs and a pint of broth. Cook for half an hour and go through a tammy. For overeggs.
Monte Carlo cherries
Put two pounds of pitted cherries in a saucepan with three-quarters of a pound of bread sugar and half a glass of water. When the sugar has melted, simmer for a few minutes. While they are boiling mix a dessert spoon of arrowroot in a little cold water until smooth. Add the cherries and mix well. At the last moment pour over a glass of kirsch liqueur and send to the table burning.