A Cult of Roast Beef: Politics and Food in 18th Century England

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — A University of Arkansas researcher serves up tastes of the past and reveals 18^th century British sentiment toward the French in her most recent book.

English professor Sandra Sherman wrote "Fresh from the Past: Recipes and Revelations from Moll Flanders' Kitchen," which will be published in October by Taylor Trade Publishing.

The book is a cultural history of 18^th century food. It includes 120 recipes from original sources, updated for modern cooks.

During her extensive research Sherman learned the way British politics affected food preparation during the battle with the French.

"Food was the stalking horse for much deeper issues involving national character," she said.

According to Sherman, 18^th century British cookbooks tended to attack the French as being extravagant, but then they also included French recipes with new names that looked English. The British prided themselves on eating a "strong He-man diet," while the French ate little tiny pieces of meat chopped up in ragouts.

"The politics of the time were wrapped up in a cult of roast beef, which the British ate and the French didn't," Sherman explained. "The British generalized the weakness, daintiness and femininity of the French, while saying the British were strong and virile because of their diet."

The British even put out tracts criticizing the French and their foods, saying British food was better for British physiology.

"This is the kind of argument you find throughout the 18^th century," Sherman said. "You see it even in the cartoons of the period."

The researcher was also amazed at how highly developed greenhouse technology had become by the mid-18^th century. Greenhouse technology started developing after 1740, when the thermometer was still relatively new. The technology provided the British with pineapples, melons and oranges throughout the year.

"Pineapples were the epitome of luxury," Sherman said. "You couldn't have a banquet without bringing out your own pineapple."

Sherman came up with the idea for her book after writing "Imagining Poverty: Quantification and the Decline of Paternalism," about Britain's food crisis in the late 18^th century. For her research, she compared cookbooks for the middle-class and the wealthy.

"I was astonished at what they ate, which was immensely rich and somewhat strange," she said.

Later Sherman spent a year at Lucy Cavendish College in Cambridge, England. She read hundreds of cookbooks written from 1660 to 1820 and wrote several scholarly articles on culinary history.

"When I got back, I realized that this stuff was so interesting, I needed to 'translate it' for a broader audience," she said.

"Fresh from the Past" includes photos of 18^th century porcelain and silver, as well as prints from the period. The book will be used by food history societies, as well as a model for 18^th century dinners hosted by academic societies and restaurants

Sherman lectures all over the country on the topic of culinary history. She was recently quoted in The Wall Street Journal. Her next project is a book on Barbados cookery, which overlaps modern recipes with the origins of foods in the Caribbean.

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