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outsmartyourshelf's review
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
Jane Austen wrote & published most of her works during the Regency Period (1811-1820) & this book gives us a snapshot of the type of food that those who were quite well off would have been eating in this period. With recipes taken from the time, alongside quotations & short sections on different aspects of Georgian dining, this is a pleasant accompaniment to Austen's novels.
I enjoyed leafing through this one evening although it left me feeling a bit peckish. I quite liked the sound of syllabub (basically whipped cream flavoured with sherry or wine & fruit), & Bath buns, but being vegetarian, I wasn't so enamoured of the 'sweetbreads' or 'ox cheeks' recipes. Yuck! One thing that really stood out to me though was how late into the evening/night they would eat - sometimes 1am. Seems like a recipe for indigestion & acid reflux to me. It's a light, fun read but I'm not sure that I will be attempting any of the recipes.
I enjoyed leafing through this one evening although it left me feeling a bit peckish. I quite liked the sound of syllabub (basically whipped cream flavoured with sherry or wine & fruit), & Bath buns, but being vegetarian, I wasn't so enamoured of the 'sweetbreads' or 'ox cheeks' recipes. Yuck! One thing that really stood out to me though was how late into the evening/night they would eat - sometimes 1am. Seems like a recipe for indigestion & acid reflux to me. It's a light, fun read but I'm not sure that I will be attempting any of the recipes.
emilydiane8's review
4.0
More than a cookbook- a history and lens through which to view Austen and her work! I will be in need of four partridges to make Mr. Woodhouse’s favorite dinner.
octavia_cade's review
informative
relaxing
slow-paced
3.0
I picked this up at a library sale, because I enjoy cooking and because Pride and Prejudice is one of my favourite books. It's an interesting idea... snippets of Georgian food history interspersed with examples from Austen's novels, and modernised recipes contrasted with their contemporary inspirations. (I now know what a peck of flour is, but there's no way I'm beating a sponge batter for an hour, sorry.) There are quite a few things here that I wouldn't mind making, although the terrifying marzipan hedgehog isn't one of them, and I note that the author clearly recommends that readers don't sit it in a sea of jelly, as the original cook instructed - though I'm curious to know what disaster would occur!
One thing did irritate me a bit, which dropped the book down a half-star. The original recipes are all in this thin, handwritten font, and I understand it's a stylistic choice, but screw that: one of the reasons type has become so predominant is that it's easily readable. If a font choice slows me down, and this one does, I end up annoyed by it. Still, I suppose I never planned to try the original recipes anyway... but I've always wanted to give caudle a go. I don't know why, it strikes me as something which sounds quite revolting, sort of a boozy porridge drink for invalids, but it's just weird enough I want to try it. Not weird like the hedgehog, though. That's one disgusting marzipan step too far.
One thing did irritate me a bit, which dropped the book down a half-star. The original recipes are all in this thin, handwritten font, and I understand it's a stylistic choice, but screw that: one of the reasons type has become so predominant is that it's easily readable. If a font choice slows me down, and this one does, I end up annoyed by it. Still, I suppose I never planned to try the original recipes anyway... but I've always wanted to give caudle a go. I don't know why, it strikes me as something which sounds quite revolting, sort of a boozy porridge drink for invalids, but it's just weird enough I want to try it. Not weird like the hedgehog, though. That's one disgusting marzipan step too far.
kellycoburn37's review against another edition
4.5
I really enjoyed this book! While, yes, it has recipes in it, I loved the history behind everything. Each recipe had a blurb about why or how it was made. My favorite parts were the pages where it described different aspects of life in Austen times. My personal favorites were the seating charts and picnic sections.
elizabethcaneday's review against another edition
5.0
I read this for fun, and not for the recipes; I learned a great deal about cooking in the late Regency Era. (As an aside, the YouTube series The Victorian Way by English Heritage is another a fun and educational way to learn about previous methods of cookery.) That being said, The recipes looked fairly straightforward. The author modernized the recipes and included photos for most, as well as the original receipts. But I cannot testify to the flavor of the food, though no doubt it would have been usual fare back then and thus strange to our palates today, so perhaps it is just as well I did not try any of the recipes.
The book also did an excellent job explaining the context of the food; when it would have been served and to whom, as well as where in her novels Austen mentioned it (or something like it; food has a minimal but important role in her novels, Emma and Pride and Prejudice for example).
The book also did an excellent job explaining the context of the food; when it would have been served and to whom, as well as where in her novels Austen mentioned it (or something like it; food has a minimal but important role in her novels, Emma and Pride and Prejudice for example).
crinolinelaphroaig's review against another edition
Beautiful Book. Interesting Historical context. Some of recipes look a bit more difficult than I'm willing to try. Loved the Seasonal Menus.
thereallilycooper's review against another edition
5.0
If you know me, you know how much I love Jane Austen. It is just one of a few of the stereotypes of being an English major that I inhabit. From the Pride and Prejudice movie to owning multiple copies of the same book, I can’t seem to get away from those classics.
So of course, it is natural for me to find a cookbook based on Jane Austen novels and her letters. CICO books were lovely and offered to send me the cookbook Dinner with Mr. Darcy by Pen Vogler in exchange for an honest review.
Pen Vogler has written about food history for the press and edited Penguin’s Great Food series. She has recreated recipes from the past for BBC television and is the author of Dinner with Mr. Darcy, Tea with Jane Austen, and Dinner with Dickens. From the detail of the cover to the gold letter lining, I am obsessed. It is a cookbook that I want to both display on my shelves and also use constantly. Inside the cookbook contains many updated recipes for authentic 19th-century dishes along with excerpts from Jane Austen’s novels and photos.
Check out my blog post where I made one of the recipes from the cookbook!
http://thereallilycooper.com/dinner-with-darcy-a-review/
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7qmuXHgLx7/
So of course, it is natural for me to find a cookbook based on Jane Austen novels and her letters. CICO books were lovely and offered to send me the cookbook Dinner with Mr. Darcy by Pen Vogler in exchange for an honest review.
Pen Vogler has written about food history for the press and edited Penguin’s Great Food series. She has recreated recipes from the past for BBC television and is the author of Dinner with Mr. Darcy, Tea with Jane Austen, and Dinner with Dickens. From the detail of the cover to the gold letter lining, I am obsessed. It is a cookbook that I want to both display on my shelves and also use constantly. Inside the cookbook contains many updated recipes for authentic 19th-century dishes along with excerpts from Jane Austen’s novels and photos.
Check out my blog post where I made one of the recipes from the cookbook!
http://thereallilycooper.com/dinner-with-darcy-a-review/
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7qmuXHgLx7/
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