Barbara asked Martine Bailey:

Have you tried to cook any of the old receipts you shared in the book? We love the book! What fun! B. Frost, Arkansas

Martine Bailey Many thanks for taking time to send your question. A few of the dishes in An Appetite for Violets were straightforward to make such as Chocolate Ice Cream, Fig Tart, Soul Cakes and of course Christmas Minced Pies (though the authentic ones include minced meat). For other recipes I needed help.

I was fortunate to learn about Georgian cookery with food historian Ivan Day. With Ivan I found not only Taffaty Tart in his library, but some beautiful sugarwork that also features in A Taste for Nightshade. The secret to making the tiny ‘devices’ like the bed and cradle were carved moulds that allowed sugarpaste to be pressed out and constructed. I also love making moulded gingerbread and more familiar recipes like Apple Pie, Pease Pudding, Cherry Trifle, and Fat Rascals.

In both books there are recipes I would never try, from the life-size figure made in marzipan to vipers drowned in wine and sleep inducing Poppy Drops. In A Taste for Nightshade there are quite a few intoxicating and dangerous foods I wouldn’t recommend! I wanted to look at the darker aspects of food and explore the secret ‘remedies’ and elixirs peddled by criminal quacks and charlatans.

Some book clubs and libraries have bravely had a go at making historic recipes and I’d say the most successful are the Fig Tarts and gingerbread and 18th century favourites like seed and madeira cakes. To make a Georgian meal the most successful have been dishes like salamagundy salad, soup, toasted cheese, potted meats, chicken fricassee, pheasant or venison stewed, and a nice boiled pudding or fruit pie. Good luck if you have a go yourselves over in Arkansas! Martine x

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