Dinner with Dickens: Recipes Inspired By the Life and Work of Charles Dickens

Dinner with

by Pen Vogler

Recipes and menus from the novels and the household of Charles Dickens, one of the world's favorite authors.

Recipes and menus from the novels and the household of Charles Dickens, one of the world's favorite authors.

Dinner with Dickens celebrates the food of Victorian England by recreating dishes the author wrote about with such gusto, and enjoyed in real life. Food in the novels not only creates character and comedy, but is also a means of highlighting social issues. A grand wedding breakfast skewers ostentation in a wealthy household. A bread-and-butter tea conjures honesty and companionship. The gruel given to hungry children exposes a cruel and unjust regime.

The characters who throng Dickens novels are forever offering one another punch or seed biscuits; arranging a nice little supper of pickled salmon, salad and tea; showing concern with a roast fowl; or sisterly love with a painstakingly made beefsteak pudding. And, of course, there is the great feast of Christmas, celebrated in glorious style even by the impoverished Cratchits. At home, Dickens’ wife Catherine helped him entertain, and published (under a pseudonym) her own book, What Shall We Have for Dinner?, with pages of menus or “bills of fare” for different sizes of party and the changing seasons.

In Dinner with Dickens, Pen Vogler has fully updated recipes from contemporary Victorian cookbooks, including Catherine’s own book. Clear instructions enable you to recreate mutton stuffed with oysters, Betsey Prig’s Twopenny Salad, Dickens’ own recipe for punch, and the Dickens family’s Twelfth Cake. In addition there are features on topics such as Dickens Abroad, Shopping for Food, and Eating Out, with fascinating insights into housekeeping, entertaining, and social history.

Genres: Cookbooks, History, Cooking, Food and Drink, Classics, Nonfiction, Victorian

176 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2017

Reviews

[Rosemary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very repetitive and formatting for a cookbook is confusing. Did not find many recipes I would want to make. The unofficial Downton Abbey cookbook is better.

[Tess · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed thumbing through this book. The one recipe I tried to make (brown bread) didn't turn out great, but maybe it did just taste that plain back in the day and that's the point? Regardless, it's a beautiful book, well-researched, and the context provided in blurbs alongside the recipes is priceless. Any Dickens fan should check it out.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read in regards to the recipes that shaped the Victorian era. Some food recipes are still relevant, but others are not in vogue. Neverless, interesting read for someone who is curious about the cuisine of that era. As well, Charles Dickens novels often feature food or dishes in his novels as he is a " foodie " like myself.

[Miss Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book. It is recipes centered around Charles Dickens books. I don't think I would make any of these UK recipes though.

[Melinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I need to read some more Dickens now to connect the dots with the recipes and stories in this cookbook. This book makes me hungry!

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

A trip back in time, this cookbook blends food and its preparation with Dickens’ novels and his 19th century life in England and abroad. There are glossy photos and social commentary. I liked that it included the 19th century version of a recipe as well as a modernized equivalent, for those of us now fortunate enough not to have to put a tongue to an egg to check for freshness, or throw sawdust in an oven to see how fast it burns up, to check temperature! I haven’t tried making the recipes…yet 😁
Edit: I made the batter pudding and pudding (custard) sauce from this book and they were delicious.

[Teri Reck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely fascinating cookbook with recipes adapted from Dickens' time to work in our modern kitchens. With each recipe is the older recipe from the mid 1800s. Very interesting reading to compare how things were done "back when." Some of the recipes are from Dickens' wife, who wrote a cookbook at the time under a surname. There is also some interesting insights into the food in Dickens' writing and what it represents. Dickens himself liked to shop at the food markets and prepare food himself--unusual for a man at the time. He loved to entertain and often his wife had to set an extra plate or two for the friends that he would bring to sup with the family on the spur of the moment. A wonderful glimpse at real life in Dickens' England.