Read The Unofficial Downton Abbey Cookbook Online
Authors: Emily Ansara Baines
The Unofficial Downton Abbey Cookbook (2 page)
In a world where appearance is key, it’s no surprise that each meal served at Downton Abbey is a gargantuan display of opulence. The sumptuous offerings cooked by Mrs. Patmore, served by Mr. Carson, and enjoyed by the Crawleys and their guests are meant to showcase the grandeur and generosity of the great estate and, subsequently, the people themselves. Everyone at Downton Abbey, from kitchen maid Daisy to the Countess of Grantham herself, takes pride in their food. Indeed, while the upstairs elite of Downton may seem miles — rather than feet — away from the downstairs inhabitants, servants and aristocrats alike share a nearly fanatic appreciation for rich food, a fact that quickly becomes apparent once you begin flipping through
The Unofficial Downton Abbey Cookbook
.
Armed with these recipes, you will be able to sample delicious upper-class delights such as Guard of Honor Lamb with Mint Sauce, Crispy Roast Duck with Blackberry Sauce, and Regal Veal Prince Orloff. All of which are delicious on their own, but which turn into a feast for the senses when paired with butter- and cream-filled favorites like Potatoes Lyonnaise,
Pommes de Terre Sarladaise
, Creamed Carrots, Cucumbers
à la Poulette
, and Baked and Buttery Balsamic Asparagus with Sea Salt. You’ll also find the sweetest of many desserts offered at Downton such as Treacle Tart, Mr. Bates’s Bread and Butter Pudding, Grand Gougère, and Fancy French Meringues.
And just as there is social hierarchy in Edwardian England, the dining experience for the upper crust at Downton Abbey necessitates a hierarchy of dishes — all prepared by the servants downstairs. The average meal during the early 1900s was served in the coveted French version of
Service à la Russe
, which required the butler and the footmen to bring out each course sequentially rather than all at once. Depending on the occasion and time period, the number of courses could range from a modest eight to a filling thirteen. A full
Service à la Russe
consisted of the following courses:
- Hors d’oeuvres variés
(often oysters or caviar) - Two soups (one thick, one clear)
- Two kinds of fish (one boiled, the other fried)
- An entrée
- The joint, AKA a large piece of meat cooked in one piece
- Roast and salad
- Vegetables
- A hot dessert
- Ice cream and wafers
- Fresh and dried fruits
- Coffee and liqueurs
Often, additional “removes” or “refreshers” (such as sorbet) were added in between the heavier courses. Cheese was often served with the fruits and before the coffee and liqueurs.
Each of the courses in the
Service à la Russe
are represented in this book with a chapter full of recipes that you can serve at your own dinner party — with or without Carson and Thomas. You’ll also find a chapter for that most British of all meals, afternoon tea, that includes recipes for dishes like British Battenberg Cake, Clotted Cream, and Mixed Berry Scones, and finger sandwiches like Classic Cucumber Sandwiches, and Mrs. Isobbel Crawley’s Smoked Salmon Tea Sandwiches. While the food might come in smaller sizes, that doesn’t negate the afternoon tea’s importance as a venue for negotiation! Throughout the first season of
Downton Abbey
, for example, often when the Dowager Countess would visit the Countess of Grantham to scheme to put an end to the entail, they’d often have tea served to them. At least those sugary treats would add some sweetness to their machinations!
In addition, many of the recipes in Part 1 will be accompanied by a suggested course pairing. You’ll also find historical facts, tips for table seating, and etiquette guidelines, which will give you the tools you need not only to host a realistic Edwardian dinner service but a successful party as well.
Meanwhile, though the servants are not granted extravagant meals with the
Service à la Russe
, they are allowed a very filling breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with perhaps a tea thrown in for good measure. In Part 2 you’ll find a sampling of the filling dishes that Mr. Carson, Mr. Bates, Anna, Daisy, and the rest of the staff at Downton Abbey enjoyed, including dishes such as Classic Steak and Kidney Pie, Shepherd’s Pie, or Tom Branson’s Colcannon. While not as fancy, these dishes are certainly filling and ones both you and your family could enjoy before, during, or after a long workday.
Cooking these beloved dishes may be bittersweet, as you know something those residing at Downton Abbey do not: that this period before the World Wars was the last hurrah of British gastronomy, and soon many of Downton’s beloved dishes would be taken away due to war rationing and a changing marketplace. Yes, the world of
Downton Abbey
no longer exists; its time has past. Yet with these recipes you can re-create it and live one day as a lady, the next as a lady’s maid. As the saying goes, you are what you eat.
Enjoy! And bon appétit! (Just don’t forget your manners or you’ll be sure to hear about it from the Dowager Countess.)
D
INING WITH THE
C
RAWLEYS
For the Crawleys, dining at Downton Abbey was done with a sense of sophistication and style — even if the family was dining alone — and, in this part, you’ll learn how to dine like those living “upstairs.” Each chapter denotes a specific course featured in a typical
Downton Abbey
dinner, granting you the freedom to mix and match courses and their recipes to your — and your guests’ — palates. You’ll also find step-by-step guidance for and recipes to serve at a proper afternoon tea. All chapters offer etiquette tips, to which you should pay great heed before hosting your first event. After all, you don’t want to offend any prospective suitors!
H
ORS D
’O
EUVRES
V
ARIÉS
The hors d’oeuvres, or appetizers, set the scene and subsequently the entire mood of a formal dinner party. Thus, it should come as no surprise that both Mrs. Patmore and the Countess of Grantham would take their hors d’oeuvres very seriously — as would their guests. If the dinner invitation suggested an 8
P.M.
dinner, it was expected that guests would arrive a half-hour early so they could take part in idle chitchat and share news while drinking cocktails and munching on these offerings. After all, many an episode of
Downton Abbey
begins with the Crawleys fighting or insinuating or laughing among themselves as they drink and snack before Carson announces dinner. An entire argument or proposal could occur in the time it would take for the Dowager Countess to finish her caviar.
Hors d’oeuvres started to become more of an expected and accepted offering in the early to mid 1900s. Indeed, the idea of eating food as a way to whet the appetite started in Russia, where guests partook of caviar, herring, anchovies, and other salty food in a separate room before dinner. Russia was also the birthplace of the
Service à la Russe
(AKA, “in the Russian style of dining”). While the Earl of Grantham might not like to be associated with Russia, he would not balk at the chance to show off his opulence and his ability to provide not just an extravagant meal but an extravagant array of snacks (expensive caviar and decadent oysters were standard offerings). Sometimes, however, depending on the number of people and the lateness of the hour, hors d’oeuvres would be served at the dinner table with the guests already seated. But no matter where the hors d’oeuvres were served, they would be served with Chablis — and at Downton Abbey you know they’d also be served with a wry sense of humor and plenty of witty repartee.
As oysters and caviar were the most common appetizers offered before a large meal, the Earl and Countess of Grantham — along with their children — would know not to eat oysters with their fingers but with a fork. After all, one incorrect move and the Dowager Countess would have a field day complaining about her family’s manners.
1
1
⁄
4
cups unsalted butter
2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon finely grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1 tablespoon minced parsley leaves
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon lime juice
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon minced chives
1 teaspoon minced shallot
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1
⁄
2
teaspoon cayenne pepper
25 shucked oysters, half of each shell reserved and washed
- Mix together all ingredients other than oysters in a large bowl, then place mixture on a piece of plastic wrap, rolling it to form a stiff log. Freeze until firm.
- Move oven rack to middle of oven. Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Place washed oyster shells on a baking sheet. Top each shell with one oyster. Remove the butter log from the freezer and unwrap, slicing it into 25 rounds. Place each round on top of an oyster.
- Put oysters in oven and cook about 10–15 minutes until they are cooked through, curled around the edges with bubbling butter. Do not overcook. To test for doneness, tap oyster shell. If hollow-sounding, then the oyster is done.
In the decade preceding World War I, Lady Jeune, Baroness St. Helier, a well-known socialite and self-proclaimed “modern woman,” revolted against what she saw as extravagance and outdated customs. She proclaimed, “No dinner should consist of more than eight dishes: soup, fish, entrée, joint, game, sweet, hors d’oeuvres, and perhaps an ice; but each dish should be perfect of its kind.” Luckily, this dish counts as an hors d’oeuvre and makes the cut!
A more “modern” appetizer that the Dowager Countess would both detest for its modernity and enjoy for its taste, this is a take on the better known dessert mousses and jellies. However, we can rest assured that Mrs. Patmore would not offer this modern mousse on the night that the Dowager Countess first meets Matthew Crawley — the dear Dowager Countess is in a bad enough mood already.