English Food: A Social History of England Told Through the Food on Its Tables

by Diane Purkiss

‘An absolute gem’ Sunday Times ‘A mouthwatering history’ The Guardian In this delicious history of Britain’s food traditions, Diane Purkiss invites readers on a unique journey through the centuries, exploring the development of recipes and rituals for mealtimes such as breakfast, lunch, and dinner, to show how food has been both a reflection of and inspiration for social continuity and change.

Purkiss uses the story of food as a revelatory device to chart changing views on class, gender, and tradition through the ages. Sprinkled throughout with glorious details of historical quirks – trial by ordeal of bread, a fondness for ‘small beer’ and a war-time ice-cream substitute called ‘hokey pokey’ made from parsnips – this book is both an education and an entertainment.

English Food explores the development of the coffee trade and the birth of London’s coffee houses, where views were exchanged on politics, art, and literature. Purkiss introduces the first breeders of British beef and reveals how cattle triggered the terrible Glencoe Massacre. We are taken for tea, to the icehouse, the pantry, and the beehive. We learn that toast is as English as the chalk cliffs. We bite into chicken, plainly poached or exotically spiced. We join bacon curers and fishermen at work. We follow the scent of apples into ancient orchards.

A rich and indulgent history, English Food will change the way you view your food and understand your past.

The table is set, have a seat, and tuck in.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Food, Audiobook, Cooking, British Literature

551 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2022

About the author

Purkiss also writes children's books with her son, Michael Dowling, under the pseudonym Tobias Druitt.

Reviews

[K.J. Charles]

Huge and terrifically informative tome covering every aspect of English food you can think of, including Indian food as it is now the best part of English food. (Not Chinese, though I'd have thought there was a strong argument for there being a specific AngloChinese cuisine, but this book is already massive.) Lots of really interesting stuff focusing heavily on the effects of poverty and wealth (no top down measures to make the poor eat healthily have ever worked, because when you can't afford much food you max out calories, not vitamins.) Tons on techniques, some of which are terrifyingly labour intensive, and the evolutionn of recipes, and the way set meals have changed, and the way our favoured meats have changed and...pretty much everything you can think of. My copy is dog eared to hell, rendering dog-earing completely pointless, but luckily it is intelligently divided into essays on the various foods, meals etc, so should be easy to find what you need.

It's written with strong opinions and a lot of personality. I think that's exactly right: one of the lessons you draw from this book is how easily we assume our food standards to be normal. Nobody's objective, everyone's coming from their own experience and culture and history, and the smokescreen of academic neutrality has covered up a great deal of opinionated or biased writing over the years. The book finished with an unexpectedly moving essay on the author critiquing her mother's food cupboard which...is a good reminder about a lot of things, including the things food makes us hope for.

Highly recommended, although don't try to read it in a sitting, you'll be stuffed.

[Alex Gravina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a hard one to review. Clearly a lot of research has gone into this book, and it's a long book! However, there were a fair few points where it did feel a bit like it was rambling / off topic / regurgitating everything the author knew. There wasn't much in the way of links between the food stuffs and so each one felt a little like starting over again. Finally, there are a couple "essays on" which are a bit odd as they seem no different to the rest of the chapters.

A good summary of information, but not an especially good read.

[Magdalena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too many facts in a row, all really good facts

[Molly Coulthard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mere 4+ months since I started this I have finished it! It was really interesting and I feel as if I have learnt loads. It’s very dense with information though, and sometimes I found that a chapter would seem to jump from fact to fact and I couldn’t quite follow exactly how the two things were linked. I’d definitely recommend it if interested in food and social history.

[M D Stevenson · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a poorly written and inaccurate book

Pemmican is not the same as corner beef. The prose is rambling and lacks logic or brevity

The author has c!early hoovered up as much material as she could find in other sources, and was unwilling or unable to make a coherent arguement

[Rhianwen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating. Widely researched and because of this, unlike some other niche history books, this one is able to comment on the wider society of the time and how food has shaped England, and the wider UK, over the past 1000 years.

The author makes connections that I had never thought of: such as before modern dentistry people didn’t want crunchy food! Once pointed out it’s so obvious. People complain about the over-boiled vegetables of dinners in the mid to late 20th century, but it had never occurred to me that might be because the women cooking them had painful teeth, and were brought up to cook for people with painful teeth. This joins the dots between two things I knew of and never connected.

Loads of research about ingredients in the mediaeval period as well, which I thoroughly enjoyed as much food history I’ve read generally only goes back as far as the 18th century, presumably due to ease of research (?).

There is a bit of rambling here and there, but generally thoroughly enjoyable.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredible amount of information on history, food, literature… But I ended up feeling as though I had read too many Wikipedia articles in one go.

[aliya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love eating. I love anything to do with food -- laying the table, washing the dishes, organising the fridge, recipe creating, foraging, jam making. (Not baking, though. That shit sucks.) This book made me very hungry. This book made me want to try goose. Yum.

Purkiss, wonderfully, took down the implications and the holdovers of colonialism, attacked our current class views tied up with food, the intricacy and ritual and bloody song-and-dance shall-I-be-mother that is so uniquely English. The gold of the nugget, the hunting of the beast, the endless beat on of the seasons dictating how we eat and what we cook; cornucopia of food info and a delightful amuse bouche to any meal I ate after.

Minus one star for making me even more insufferable and insisting on pointing out all the facts about the food laid on the table. Sorry.

[Alaina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, wow. I was initially a little put off by her language- a little too personal, which I associate with poorly researched non-fiction. And the book is organized by topic rather than my preferred method, chronological. Despite that I have been talking about this book to anyone who will listen. The research is prodigious. The book is sweeping, opinionated, densely sourced. I don't now feel like I have a comprehensive understanding of English history through food, but I do feel like I have a much greater understanding of English economics and culture. I also have a seemingly endless source of trivia with which to bore people at parties.

English food has a (deserved) reputation for being boring, but the TOPIC of English food is fascinating. 100% must read.

[Victoria · Rating 2 out of 5]

I want to love this, but it's words, big quote, more words and nothing brings it to life? I mean I expected like old school recipes (for example in 'How To Be A Renaissance Woman', there's recipes on how to make makeup (safely) from the period) but nothing, not even a marmalade.

It really does cover every corner though, and I respect this book for that but when I saw on Everand the next chapter was 147 pages, I wasn't overjoyed.

[George Fairhurst · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never thought a book would have me rattling off to my nearest and dearest about the origins of toast, the plight of apple species long extinct or thinking about how traumatic WW2 had been for the posh dining clubs. Sensational read

[Nicola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting and informative book, definitely worth the time.

[Melissa]

5 Books

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book - very well researched, and engaging to read, it explores every facet of our food traditions.

[molly · Rating 1 out of 5]

i actually couldn’t finish this, some chapters were such a struggle to get through (the pigs) n maybe there’s a reason i’ve never explored food history before

[Soph · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved every single page.

[Jake R · Rating 3 out of 5]

Packed with information, but it is certainly not a "people's history", and it could have done with a much harsher editor.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love the topic but found the narrative and focus lacking. I often felt drowned in factoids.

[Pamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some bits were good but some were a bit boring. Or maybe it was way too long.

[Maria Rosanna Ioannou · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am reading this book and, though it has good points, I do not like it that the author tries to make us feel guilty for everything we eat. Look at the bread! Poorly paid servants used to make it. Look at breakfast! Hard toiling servants used to make it for the greedy rich! I am faaaaar from being rich myself. But I don’t like it at all when a writer tries to make the reader feel guilt. Update: I stopped reading because the message is: “the poor are hungry. You have bought this book, so you must belong to the moneyed classes. YOU MUST FEEL GUILTY you rich swine”!!!!!!