Cooking Cheap Meals Like A Victorian | Food History

In this week's food history video, I'm digging out a 19th century cookbook to find out how the Victorians cooked cheap meals to feed a family on a budget.

Delving into food history, I'm learning how one of the first celebrity chefs made a beef soup to feed 20 people: with very little beef, and a LOT of salt!

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00:00 – Intro
00:32 – Alexis Soyer
01:29 – Beef Soup
06:04 – Tasting

Recipe from Soyer's Shilling Cookery Book for the People, 1845:
“I first put one ounce of dripping into a sauce-pan (capable of holding two gallons of water), with a quarter of a pound of leg of beef without bones, cut into square pieces about half an inch, and two middle-sized onions, peeled and sliced.

“I then set the saucepan over a coal fire, and stirred the contents round for a few minutes with a wooden (or iron) spoon until fried lightly brown.”
I had then ready washed the peeling of two turnips, fifteen green leaves or tops of celery, and the green part of two leeks (the hole of which, I must observe, are always thrown away.

"Having cut the vegetables into small pieces, I throw them into the saucepan with the other ingredients, stirring them occasionally over the fire for another ten minutes; then added half a pound of common flour (any farinaceous substance would do), and half a pound of pearly barley, mixing all well together.

"I then added two gallons of water, seasoned with three ounces of salt, and a quarter of an ounce of brown sugar, stirred occasionally until boiling, and allowed it to simmer very gently for three hours, at the end of which time I found the barley perfectly tender. The above soup has been tasted by numerous noblemen, members of Parliament, and several ladies, who have lately visited my kitchen department, and who have considered it very good and nourishing.”
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Cooking the history books to taste weird and wonderful food from the past. New episodes every fortnight.

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[troystallard]

He specified peelings and green tops of vegetables because he was making his charity soup from the leavings that were otherwise being thrown away in well-to-do kitchens. Waste not, want

[MissLMND]

very glad this popped up in my recommended, i'm always looking for more food history content. your production is great for a smaller channel - keep it up!

[nadsozinc]

Great video, great vibes. Lovely to be in the kitchen with you and looking forward to more

[carolleeloodiva]

It’s NOT WASTEFUL! The Good Chef Soyer was making a ‘leftover’ type soup. He likely meant to encourage folks to use bits they would likely throw away.

[moniquem]

So with the if this recipe was intended for people who were starving, they would also be dangerously lacking in electrolytes. I have a disorder in my adrenal glands and my body doesn't hold onto electrolytes properly. I now take capsules full of salt (and others full of potassium) every day, but I used to try to get what I needed from salting foods and it was nuts how much I could have before it would begin to taste even a little bit salty. I'm not saying that 3oz of salt definitely wasn't an error, but if that was 20 servings, 3oz converted to grams and then divided would be 4.25g of salt per serving, which is actually less than the recommended maximum today which is 5-6g of salt (2000-2400mg sodium). So given they had no other food providing any electrolytes, this was probably delicious to them and not at all salty. Maybe.

[paladonis]

So I had to see just what 3 oz of salt looked like. I did 2 shot glasses (1.5oz standard) into a bowl and YIKES that is a lot of salt indeed. Perhaps that was why it was just the peelings of the radish instead of the whole thing. Probably would have toned down the radish spice, but not the salty. Wow to that whole thing, and props to braving tasting it!

[carolleeloodiva]

It tasted like TURNIP because you used too much turnip, instead of just the peel as directed.

[KC-gyxw]

I had one of Alexis Soyer's books for the working classes recipes. pretty good stuff, I have to say, even if I wouldn't touch most of it with a bargepole in today's times... I hope I still have it because you never know.. I have to say though, I prefer his recipes to the ones from WW2.

I suppose he would have meant to use the leftover bits of the celery/leeks, which of course you wouldn't get cleaned up like we do today.. The longer dark bits of leek would be tasty... not sure about the turnips (are those the ones he would have had? Couldn't they have been called something else then?) I think this should be left over bits and pieces soup!

[oddboddz]

Maybe it was a third of an ounce of salt. Would make more sense.

[mairimmh]

Maybe the recipes stretch that much further if they taste so bad nobody can bear more than a spoonful or two 😮😅

[Electroceratops]

Did you actually sever your finger?! (Hope the cause has been neutralised!)
Pity the recipe overdid the salt; maybe serving it with bread or peas might soften that? Possibly? Probably not, actually.

[ShellyS]

Maybe the working class folks needed the salt to replenish electrolytes? Or, its just a bad recipe...