This post is named after Susan
Spungen's work on hosting a party. I will compare the Victorian Dinner Party of
Isabella Beeton with Spungen's What's a
Hostess to do? (2013)
As we have seen
from my previous posts, the dinner party was a way a host presented their
wealth. Gilly Lehmann states "From Mid-century onwards, women authors
dominated cookery book production as they dominated in the houses of the gentry
and the wealthy middle-classes." (qtd.Walker:131) which is why I have
concentrated on two women authors in this post. To exhibit your wealth, Beeton
suggests you cook a large amount of impressive food. In comparison, Spungen
suggests that the idea of food at a dinner party "is to cook simple food
and present it in an appetizing way." (126). Spungen suggests that her
audience cook one dish that their guests will eat rather than making lots of
food. This illustrates how cooks are less interested in showcasing their wealth
nowadays.
Where Beeton
uses table plans, Spungen uses lists:
It is clear that
Spungen's food is not as varied as Beeton (shown right) because she is not
concerned with making many dishes. Spungen’s 'Bibb salad with shallot vinegar'
in comparison to Beeton's 'Pigeon Pie', is more concerned with something light
to garnish the main dish of lamb which everyone will eat. However, Beeton's
foods are all adequate main courses because she allows her guests a choice.
The language
used by both authors is French, this illustrates that there is still an
interest in making the dish sound appealing and exotic.
That Salad
Spungen's first recipe for a dinner
party is headed "The Art of a Salad".
This salad 'feeds
the eye' with the exotic colours and illustrates Spungen’s interest in
creativeness and colour. Unlike Spungen, Beeton does not include a picture of
the final dish unless it is a dish of high interest and class, like the beef
dishes (right). Beeton states these are high class because a “loin of beef is
said to have been knighted by King Charles II.” (169) The newly middle-class wives
would have been interested in these types of food as before they were only
fantasy.
Throughout
Spungen's recipe she illustrates what she is doing at each stage:
This salad is
quick, easy and done in 5 pictures. The use of the pictures at each stage in
Spungen's recipe, help her audience get the correct outcome at each stage
leading to the correct final dish.
In comparison,
Beeton does not offer any pictures:
As Eric Griffiths’ suggests in The Times Literary Supplement “Cook-books [were] fairy-tales for grown-ups”. Beeton’s lack of interest in the final image of dishes such as Mock Turtle Soup show how some of her food is simply fantasy.This recipe lacks accurate timings and pictures which suggests that Beeton
would not have made this recipe and does not expect her audience to. Lehmann
states "In an attempt to assert their own claims to status, the women
cooks were keen to present themselves as ‘professed cooks’ with years of
experience." (qtd.Walker:131) This recipe suggests that she is asserting ‘status’
because this dish is difficult and would only be made by a ‘professed cook’.
The main changes
between Beeton’s recipes and Spungen’s recipes regard the context of which they
were written. The modern day cookbook writer like Spungen is interested in her
audience ending with the correct dish which is a reason why she uses pictures.
Beeton’s recipes having been written in the Victorian era means she is less
likely to be interested in this, instead she is interested in illustrations
with regards to the economies of food and picturing the dishes of wealth and
importance.
Works Cited
Beeton, I. Mrs Beeton’s Book of
Household Management. New York: Oxford University Press Inc. (2008)
Google eBook Image “’What’s a
Hostess to Do?’ Book Cover” Accessed 03/03/2015
Google eBook Image “Spungen’s List”
Accessed 03/03/2015
Google eBook Image “Spungen’s
Salad” Accessed 03/03/2015
Google Image “Beeton’s Beef”
Accessed 03/03/2015
Griffiths, E. "Hegel's Winter Collection: Defending Delia fairytale cookery and the art you cannot eat" "Times Literary Supplement" (1996)
Project Gutenberg Image “Beeton’s
Mock Turtle Soup” Accessed 03/03/2015
Spungen, S. What's a Hostess To Do?
USA: Artisan. (2013) Google eBook Accessed 03/03/2015
Walker, H (ed.). Food in the Arts. Devon,
England: Prospect Books (1999)
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