“But Mutton! Thou most nourishing of Meat! Whose single joint may constitute a treat, When made a Pudding you excel the rest As much as that of other food is best.”
This ode to mutton is quoted in Dorothy Hartley’s wonderfully comprehensive book, ‘Food in England’. Lucy Worsley presented an account of her life on BBC4 recently. I specially enjoyed the archive film showing an elderly Dorothy digging up some potatoes for her lunch.
Mutton, the staple of Victorian cooking, is now very hard to find, as we rather feebly prefer the milder taste of lamb. But if you do find some mutton, here’s an idea from Dorothy on how to use up some of that fat.
‘ If you use mutton fat for cake-making (and it makes farmhouse gingerbread, apple cake and the homelier kinds of cake very well), beat it to a cream with the lemon juice, or a spoonful of cider, till it whips like snow.’
For more foodie titbits, join my walk this Saturday, November 18. West End Foodies starts at 10.45 am - meet me at Green Park tube, park exit - by the fountain.