Suprised people don't realise the British have eaten curry for over 200 years - huge numbers of Britons worked in India, fought in foreign wars, India was one of the most influential parts of the Empire, think of the Brighton Pavilion's domes. Heavily spiced dishes, such as Christmas pudding, are more likely to be Victorian than modern, spices are a preservative and a way of shishing up poor quality ingredients. The British have also been eating things like spaghetti in mass market terms since before 1900. It was the Second World War and the Labour government's inability to get out of food rationing until 1953 that gave people in the second half of the 20th century the mistaken image that the British diet was limited and not well cooked. All the top chefs worked in London in Edwardian times, it was the richest city on earth.
I'm sorry this series has come to an end, it was idyllic in some ways yet revealing of how out of touch we are with proper hard work, how we don't relate to our old festivals, the seasons or the landscape as we are mostly urban. Though I'm glad they didn't show it, it was a bit cleaned up though glossing over the slaughter of most of the animals, as they said, that's the point of farming.
The three presenters were excellent, loved all of them, and all the experts and helpers. Shame to think that this was a contrivance and they don't actually live on Glebe Farm!
I am so sad this show is over. I looked forward to it every week. A whole hour of informative pleasure. When I am paying my licence fee later this year and feel that twinge I get just as I send the money I will remember this show and it will make the whole process less painful...:)
Such an absorbing, well-presented series, I will miss it enormously. I was totally amazed at the efficacy of the reaper-binder. Do you think another series may be in the pipeline given the popularity of this one?
Suprised people don't realise the British have eaten curry for over 200 years - huge numbers of Britons worked in India, fought in foreign wars, India was one of the most influential parts of the Empire, think of the Brighton Pavilion's domes. Heavily spiced dishes, such as Christmas pudding, are more likely to be Victorian than modern, spices are a preservative and a way of shishing up poor quality ingredients. The British have also been eating things like spaghetti in mass market terms since before 1900. It was the Second World War and the Labour government's inability to get out of food rationing until 1953 that gave people in the second half of the 20th century the mistaken image that the British diet was limited and not well cooked. All the top chefs worked in London in Edwardian times, it was the richest city on earth.
I'm sorry this series has come to an end, it was idyllic in some ways yet revealing of how out of touch we are with proper hard work, how we don't relate to our old festivals, the seasons or the landscape as we are mostly urban. Though I'm glad they didn't show it, it was a bit cleaned up though glossing over the slaughter of most of the animals, as they said, that's the point of farming.
The three presenters were excellent, loved all of them, and all the experts and helpers. Shame to think that this was a contrivance and they don't actually live on Glebe Farm!
Just wanted to add to the thread to say that I too really enjoyed this series. Sometimes history can be presented in a dry fusty way, but seeing people experience Victorian life first hand is rather facinating.
Re: the comments about Victorians eating curry. I wasn't surprised so much by the fact curry was eaten, more that it would have percolated down to the working classes. I would have thought it would have been more the preserve of upper class or army types who had travelled etc, so yes it was a bit of a surprise in that respect.
Also, I don't think they were allowed to live on the farm for H&S reasons. I'm not sure what they would have been.
Such an absorbing, well-presented series, I will miss it enormously. I was totally amazed at the efficacy of the reaper-binder. Do you think another series may be in the pipeline given the popularity of this one?
Lets hope so it was fab- really compelling watching!
Though I'm glad they didn't show it, it was a bit cleaned up though glossing over the slaughter of most of the animals, as they said, that's the point of farming.
I think they glossed over this because there is no way they could have done it 'the Victorian way'. No point showing them taking the animals to a modern slaughter house.
Very good program but have you thought of the food they ate? You wouldn't get things like 'calf's udders', 'pig's heads','cow heels', 'cow palete's' past a modern family today! Ruth was using a book called The Family Save All to prepare a meal which gives an eye opener into Victorian fare .... nothing was wasted in those days but today we only accept it as sausages providing we don't know what's in them. Treat your family to some good old pigs trotters or brains and see the response!! The Family Save All can be found at www.lukiebooks.com and it is full of household tips as well as recipes. A great book to help you re-serve leftovers to the old man!
The book can be downloaded free on Google, as can the farming book they use - see this post from the Money Saving forum:
For anyone that's going to miss watching this series try The Coal House at War. It starts on Tuesday at 19.30 on BBC4. It's a follow up to The Coal House which was on last year and was also really good. It's already been shown on BBC Wales and I believe it went down just as well as the first series.
Cheers,
Ian.
Just wanted to add to the thread to say that I too really enjoyed this series. Sometimes history can be presented in a dry fusty way, but seeing people experience Victorian life first hand is rather facinating.
Re: the comments about Victorians eating curry. I wasn't surprised so much by the fact curry was eaten, more that it would have percolated down to the working classes. I would have thought it would have been more the preserve of upper class or army types who had travelled etc, so yes it was a bit of a surprise in that respect.
Also, I don't think they were allowed to live on the farm for H&S reasons. I'm not sure what they would have been.
As mentioned earlier preserving food with spices is a very old method...or rather disguising the taste/colour of rather old/green tinged meat well before the days of refridgeration is a very old method...certainly going back to the 16th century for the upper classes at least. As the British empire expanded we snatched some of the best spice growing bits of the world from the local inhabitants and therefore no longer had to trade with them to get spices as they were now technically our own ! Hence lower prices, spices more widely available, even wider use for touching up dodgy meat. I believe there were even wars fought by colonial powers over who should 'own' particular spice islands in the far east.
By the way, I loved this programme and am really sad it's over. Very interesting and informative TV. Congrats to all involved in its making.
Very good program but have you thought of the food they ate? You wouldn't get things like 'calf's udders', 'pig's heads','cow heels', 'cow palete's' past a modern family today! Ruth was using a book called The Family Save All to prepare a meal which gives an eye opener into Victorian fare .... nothing was wasted in those days but today we only accept it as sausages providing we don't know what's in them. Treat your family to some good old pigs trotters or brains and see the response!! The Family Save All can be found at www.lukiebooks.com and it is full of household tips as well as recipes. A great book to help you re-serve leftovers to the old man!
I'm not sure if it's still there but Preston Market had a stall which sold Cow Heels, Tripe, Elder and all sorts of stuff like that. I last went there about 10 years ago to pick up a Cow Heel for my Mum. It is one of the most delicious things you can eat, seriously! It's really sticky, we used to say it stuck to your ribs on the way down, probably because of gelatine or something. My Mum used to eat Black Tripe which was Pigs stomach. She also liked Chaps, which are Pigs Cheeks (Facial not backside, lol). Elder is a cows udder and makes great sandwiches. My Mum regularly made Brawn, it stunk the house out. I remember the sheeps heads waiting to be boiled up, My kids would leave home!. We regularly had Pigs Trotters too, Mmmmm delicious, just ignore the hairs.
Also from the Cow Heel stall I used to buy Neats Foot Oil to treat my Leather bike saddles, I still have some somewhere as you could buy a big bottle for 35p. It's a by-product of tripe making if I remember right.
I could go on for ages!
Watched it and thoroughly enjoyed it. Loads of my favourite shows have disappointed me this year (SCD, The Restaurent ) bit Victorian Farm is never a let down.
I watched it with my usual admiration for the people who lived that hard hard life. The historians are excellent as always, informative and entertaining. A great great show.
I can't get over how ingenious the Victorians were - that thing that picked up the hay and dumped it on the cart was amazing.
I did feel sorry for the horse that had to pull it all though.
I was surprised that Ruth melted the suet for soap in the washing copper, it must have taken hours of scrubbing the fat off it afterwards before doing the next lot of washing.
I find Mr Acton Sr really good value, I don't know why.
Clumper didn't look as healthy as he did last time.
What a lovely 'new' garden Mr Acton Jr had for Ruth.
I don't know if Ruth had help with the Dough, but 4 hours work, my hands would be in severe pain after half an hour.
A lot of machinery and work involved in the hay making.
More drinking and filthy songs as expected.
First episode is repeated at 20:05 tonight btw.
For anyone that enjoyed the Victorian Farm, have a look on Yesterday (Freeview 12) and watch The Wartime Kitchen and Garden. It's on all this week with the whole lot being repeated on Saturday and Sunday. A great programme, although IMO not as good as The Victorian Kitchen garden, and I was surprised to see it was made 17 years ago.
Oh that might be good, looks like they went for it too with one of the participants buying food 'under the counter', the name Ruth Mott rings a bell too.
Comments
YES! Please!
I'm sorry this series has come to an end, it was idyllic in some ways yet revealing of how out of touch we are with proper hard work, how we don't relate to our old festivals, the seasons or the landscape as we are mostly urban. Though I'm glad they didn't show it, it was a bit cleaned up though glossing over the slaughter of most of the animals, as they said, that's the point of farming.
The three presenters were excellent, loved all of them, and all the experts and helpers. Shame to think that this was a contrivance and they don't actually live on Glebe Farm!
Ooooh...that would be great...though I may be a little shy...:o
But at the very least pass on to him how much we all loved it
Just wanted to add to the thread to say that I too really enjoyed this series. Sometimes history can be presented in a dry fusty way, but seeing people experience Victorian life first hand is rather facinating.
Re: the comments about Victorians eating curry. I wasn't surprised so much by the fact curry was eaten, more that it would have percolated down to the working classes. I would have thought it would have been more the preserve of upper class or army types who had travelled etc, so yes it was a bit of a surprise in that respect.
Also, I don't think they were allowed to live on the farm for H&S reasons. I'm not sure what they would have been.
Lets hope so it was fab- really compelling watching!
I think they glossed over this because there is no way they could have done it 'the Victorian way'. No point showing them taking the animals to a modern slaughter house.
The book can be downloaded free on Google, as can the farming book they use - see this post from the Money Saving forum:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1474131
Cheers,
Ian.
As mentioned earlier preserving food with spices is a very old method...or rather disguising the taste/colour of rather old/green tinged meat well before the days of refridgeration is a very old method...certainly going back to the 16th century for the upper classes at least. As the British empire expanded we snatched some of the best spice growing bits of the world from the local inhabitants and therefore no longer had to trade with them to get spices as they were now technically our own ! Hence lower prices, spices more widely available, even wider use for touching up dodgy meat. I believe there were even wars fought by colonial powers over who should 'own' particular spice islands in the far east.
By the way, I loved this programme and am really sad it's over. Very interesting and informative TV. Congrats to all involved in its making.
Also from the Cow Heel stall I used to buy Neats Foot Oil to treat my Leather bike saddles, I still have some somewhere as you could buy a big bottle for 35p. It's a by-product of tripe making if I remember right.
I could go on for ages!
Ian.
Thoroughly engrossing and educational. Like a Victorian version of River Cottage.
I'm so glad they used historians with a passion for the task rather than reality tv wannabees complaining that they missed their nintendos!
I'm loath to say anything is worth the license fee, so I'll just say it's good educational telly.
I watched it with my usual admiration for the people who lived that hard hard life. The historians are excellent as always, informative and entertaining. A great great show.
I did feel sorry for the horse that had to pull it all though.
I was surprised that Ruth melted the suet for soap in the washing copper, it must have taken hours of scrubbing the fat off it afterwards before doing the next lot of washing.
Clumper didn't look as healthy as he did last time.
What a lovely 'new' garden Mr Acton Jr had for Ruth.
I don't know if Ruth had help with the Dough, but 4 hours work, my hands would be in severe pain after half an hour.
A lot of machinery and work involved in the hay making.
More drinking and filthy songs as expected.
First episode is repeated at 20:05 tonight btw.
Ian.
Coal House at War is another favourite of mine.
Only just spotted this post. Set your recorders before it goes.
Coal house at war was indeed a very good programme. I hope they do a third series of it.
Ian.