Food in England: A Complete Guide to the Food That Makes Us Who We Are
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First published in 1954, Food in England has been influencing food writers and historians ever since. It is back in print, and it holds up.
Dorothy Hartley wrote the way she thought: by accumulation of vivid, specific detail. Her discussion of pork pies veers into the Cornish Pasty, then into something called The Cheeky Pig of Leicestershire, and something called The Lancashire Foot. Her illustrations are equally specific: the various forms of mutton, the correct way to cut sandwiches thin for tea.
The coverage runs from prehistory through the modern era, but the book gains real strength from the Norman era forward, touching on foodstuffs, household organization, and technique. Her interest was always in how people actually lived, and that shows on every page.
Significant and entertaining, if not definitive: this book helped set many other histories in motion.
Hardcover. Line illustrations.
Published on 2021
