The Unofficial Poldark Cookbook: 85 Recipes from Eighteenth-Century Cornwall, from Shepherd's Pie to Cornish Pasties

by Tricia Cohen, Larry Edwards

Celebrate PBS Materpiece's hit series Poldark with authentic recipes for your manor and boarding house. From Demelza's Cornwall kitchen to the majestic Warleggan Mansion; from the oak dining room of Trenwith Manor to the rustic ambiance of the Red Lion Boarding House--food is everywhere in Ross Poldark's Cornwall, England.

Celebrate the magic that is PBS Masterpiece's Poldark with the unofficial kitchen companion to the award-winning series that everyone is watching. Featuring authentic recipes from Georgian England that have been modernized for the contemporary palate, The Unofficial Poldark Companion Cookbook also includes the history behind the show, references to its characters and events, and tips on how to recreate meals from eighteenth-century Cornwall in the modern day.

Divided into boarding house or manor, and complete with dishes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert, these classic recipes featured on the show include:
Poldark Shepherd's Pie Steamed Lobster Pudding Red Lion Chowder Bread Demelza's Mutton Pie Aunt Agatha's Orange Cream Custard Cornwall Honey Spiced Morning Bread And more!
Learn to cook and eat like a miner, a ruthless banker, a scullery maid, or an heiress, and recreate the spirit of Poldark in your homely kitchen or dining hall!

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food

192 pages, Hardcover

Published May 1, 2018

About the author

Food lover and recipe creator Tricia Cohen grew up in the town of Plainville, Massachusetts, on a street where neighbors were considered relatives and her family welcomed people with fresh, homemade foods.

Her family’s house, filled with love and laughter, had two kitchens – one for her grandmother and one for her parents. Friends and family who gathered to share meals knew they would find good conversation and tasty recipes made from organic produce harvested from the garden her grandfather lovingly tended.

In her own home, Tricia continues to share love of family and food as a skilled hostess and gourmet cook. She teaches others the traditions she learned and engages her guests with culinary art, using fresh, local produce and interesting spices.

Tricia sharpens her craft by reading cookbooks, attending cooking classes, and occasionally assisting an acclaimed professional chef as sous-chef.

She and husband Michael live with their four dogs in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and North Truro, Massachusetts.

Reviews

[Elizabeth Cole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Original review can be found at: http://www.nerdprobs.com/books/book-r...

:


I absolutely love the TV show Poldark. Yes, I am now 3 seasons behind, I was 4 until recently, but I still love the show. I have young children so sometimes watching my shows fall by the wayside. I have also read 3 of the books in the series. I was trying to read them then watch the show which is also part of why I got behind, I finally just gave up trying to find time to fit them into my reading schedule and just went ahead and watched. So when I saw that there was an Unofficial Poldark Cookbook I got super excited, and when the price got down to my level I said SOLD!! I couldn’t wait to start cooking from it.


I was so excited to start cooking from this book. I picked out 8 recipes to cook. I have made all of them except for 1 but I am definitely still going to make it. My family absolutely loved this book. They have declared several of the recipes needed to be made into regular dinners. They included the Cornish Lamb Loaf and the Ale-Battered Fried Fish just to name a few. My kids (husband too)moaned and groaned about me making “meatloaf” for dinner. However, this Cornish Lamb Loaf is NOT your Grandmother’s meatloaf. This loaf is absolutely amazing I couldn’t believe how delicious it was. I did tweak the recipe slightly. I only picked up two pounds of ground lamb since it is expensive and the recipe called for 1.5 pounds. I had another recipe I wanted to try that also called for 1 pound so I just did 1 pound of lamb but used a full pound of pork even though it called for .5 pound. I honestly don’t think it changed the recipe much. My whole family licked their plates clean!


There are also several bread recipes in here that I tried including the Herb Curd Cheese Bread made with cottage cheese that is absolutely amazing and am making again the next time we have soup for dinner because it is the perfect bread for soup. There is also the Cornish Rye Bread. I was a bit hesitant to make this because of how little flour you put in and then as you make the dough it doesn’t look like a ton. However, once you make it and let it rise the proper amount of time I was enough for our family of 5 to have at least two pieces of bread. I will say however with this Rye Bread to make sure you start it well in advance it has to rise for 3.5 hours so it’s not something you can do an hour or two before dinner like some bread.


All in all this cookbook is amazing. I did as I said cooked more than just these out of the book however these are the ones that my family raved about even into the next day. I will certainly be cooking more of the recipes out of this book and definitely adding a few to my daily dinner routine. One a side not before I finish…..WHY does lamb have to be so expensive!!???

[Ermione · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comprato in un piccolo negozio (un po' caffetteria, un po' ristorante, un po' frutta-verdura, un po' negozio di souvenir) quasi nascosto in un vicoletto di Truro. Unica copia disponibile. Insomma, per me ha soprattutto un valore affettivo, perché mi ricorda una meravigliosa vacanza nella meravigliosa Cornovaglia. Ho deciso di scrivere due righe oggi, dopo averlo spostato dal mio comodino, dove sostava da mesi e mesi...
Al di là di questo, carino, con belle foto e una serie di ricette tradizionali (ma riproducibili) divise in due grandi blocchi: la cucina delle manor houses (più raffinata, la cucina dei ricchi) e delle taverne (più robusta, la cucina dei piccolo-borghesi...non dei poveri, visto all'epoca di Poldark i poveri quasi non mangiavano). La maggior parte delle ricette presentate sono corredate da storie e aneddoti, ma anche di rimandi ad espisodi, personaggi e situazioni della serie tv.
Prima o poi, comunque, ci proverò a fare le Cornish pasties!

[Melissa Halbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

For those looking for more upscale recipes for their menu, then this is definitely one of those books I would recommend. I found several of the recipes appealing, but not cost effective for traditional families on a budget, but you will also find some overlap of the traditional recipes mixed within (including those you would find in the traditional pub). Overall, these recipes are a lot of fun to read through, and I have saved a few of them. The only downfall in my opinion is not enough pictures to match each dish. I love cookbooks that are immersed in photos of the actual recipes. I had higher hopes for this, but it is definitely worth getting if you love 18th Century cuisine to adorn your table.

[Jo · Rating 2 out of 5]

The recipes look and sound delicious but I found the writing repetitive, the most repeated passages reminding us that only the rich could afford citrus fruit at that time. Much of the repetitive explanations could have been taken care of in an introduction. There were also some factual errors relating to corresponding scenes in the series. there was also a lack of pictures in the boarding house section and I sometimes found the recipe directions unclear and confused. This book gives us a glimpse of the greatness it could have been but falls exceedingly short. I was also shocked by the lack of hot water crust pies which would have been a staple in that era.

[Diann · Rating 4 out of 5]

At any rate, although I've only seen a few episodes of this rather great TV series, the reason I bought the book is that I'm very interested in Colonial cooking - much of which was derived or at least influenced by the menus of Great Britain. There are 85 mostly-intriguing recipes, along with historical information or asides about 18th century Cornwall and food. And, happily, the shepherd's pie is made with LAMB. Recipes are divided up as to what might be served in the manor house, or what the peasants might be eating. Directions are easy and straightforward.

[Janis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful to page through, the glossy pictures with recipes may be Cornish at their roots, but certainly are appealing to today's palate.
Having made several of the main dishes and soups, I can confirm that these are tasty examples of eighteenth century cuisine and not the bland, pale foods reflected in other cook books of the time.
I only wish I had a manor house or an inn in which to do the cooking!

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice complement to the books and television series. A lot of recipes that could be easily made, although some of them are more difficult than I would want to try. Nice pictures of the food, which is very important for me in a cookbook, and references to the Poldark books.

[Judith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful cookbook

Wonderful cookbook looking forward to trying many of the recipes , good format and easy to read , follow directions from each recipe I found I read the entire book and chose which recipes I would like to try

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is interesting reading for Poldark fans, as well as a cookbook, and explains some of the food mentioned in the books that I'd never heard of (syllabub?). I really want to try some of the recipes too, especially the breads and soups.

[L · Rating 4 out of 5]

This cookbook makes for charming reading for Poldark novel and PBS fans, and for Cornwall fans. The recipes I tried over the holidays were wonderful.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting

[Debra Ramage · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few mistakes, like making pasties with "mince" (ground beef.)