0:00:04 > 0:00:07Forget about the stories you've read in history books,
0:00:07 > 0:00:13our food customs are our most direct connection to the world of the past.
0:00:15 > 0:00:19This is history that you can touch, smell and above all, taste.
0:00:20 > 0:00:21It's lovely.
0:00:21 > 0:00:25The rituals of breakfast, lunch and dinner
0:00:25 > 0:00:27are something I think we take for granted,
0:00:27 > 0:00:32as if they have always existed as they are now.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34I think I'd have preferred it fried.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37You would have a heart attack by lunchtime!
0:00:37 > 0:00:41But unpick the stories of our three main meals and you discover
0:00:41 > 0:00:46gastronomic revolutions, technological leaps
0:00:46 > 0:00:49and sometimes gruesome realities.
0:00:49 > 0:00:51Decay is also going to cause really bad breath.
0:00:51 > 0:00:53Yes, I think I've had boyfriends like that!
0:00:55 > 0:01:00I never miss a good meal, but food is about more than just filling up.
0:01:00 > 0:01:05There's a rich and complex history to our daily meal times
0:01:05 > 0:01:09and that's what I'm setting out to explore.
0:01:11 > 0:01:13Right, dig in!
0:01:31 > 0:01:35I believe lunch is the most important meal of the day.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39It's the work horse meal, the one we use to refuel.
0:01:41 > 0:01:45But for most of us, it's just a quick pit stop
0:01:45 > 0:01:48squeezed between two slices of our work day.
0:01:50 > 0:01:57People eat it in a speedy average of 12 minutes, 49 seconds,
0:01:57 > 0:01:59barely even noticing their food.
0:02:00 > 0:02:04You certainly won't find me eating like that.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07I believe passionately in proper cooking
0:02:07 > 0:02:10and taking time over a decent meal.
0:02:12 > 0:02:15We've lost our relationship to food
0:02:15 > 0:02:19and the time it takes to prepare and eat it.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25In the not-so-distant past, we respected lunch
0:02:25 > 0:02:28as we had done for centuries.
0:02:30 > 0:02:32In the 19th century, chop houses like this one
0:02:32 > 0:02:35in the heart of the City of London
0:02:35 > 0:02:39were where hungry urban workers came for refreshment.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45This is one of the last remaining authentic chop houses,
0:02:45 > 0:02:49still serving traditional Victorian food.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55I've come to sample it with historian
0:02:55 > 0:02:58and fellow lunch enthusiast, AN Wilson.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02DINERS CHATTER
0:03:02 > 0:03:06- Look at that.- Oxtail.- Fantastic.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09- Red cabbage to share. - Very nice, thank you.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12And a chump chop.
0:03:12 > 0:03:16- Oh, I say!- This will keep us out of mischief, won't it? Well, me anyway.
0:03:16 > 0:03:18You've got about four times what I've got.
0:03:20 > 0:03:24Why did chop houses start emerging all over London?
0:03:24 > 0:03:26In the 19th century,
0:03:26 > 0:03:32London is becoming more and more the commercial centre of Britain.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35- The Empire.- And Britain is becoming the centre of
0:03:35 > 0:03:39this enormous empire throughout the world, so there were more and more
0:03:39 > 0:03:43people crowding into London just to work, who hadn't had breakfast
0:03:43 > 0:03:46or hadn't had very much breakfast and it was a long time till dinner.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49They were working in London for long hours, and by the middle of the day
0:03:49 > 0:03:54your tummy was rumbling, so you wanted a chop, as I jolly well do
0:03:54 > 0:03:57- today actually, I'm enjoying it.- And it would have been a mutton chop
0:03:57 > 0:03:59- rather than...- It would have been mutton. This is a lamb chop,
0:03:59 > 0:04:02but you can't have everything in this life, Clarissa.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05I mean, a chump chop in mutton terms would be a much bigger...
0:04:05 > 0:04:07It would have been a much bigger thing, both sides of the bone.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10All the same, this is extremely good.
0:04:14 > 0:04:19By the mid-19th century, the Industrial Revolution had triggered
0:04:19 > 0:04:24a gigantic social upheaval. Suddenly the big city beckoned
0:04:24 > 0:04:27with new kinds of labouring and clerical jobs.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33People responded by adopting new living and working patterns.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38Many of the people who worked in the City came here from the suburbs
0:04:38 > 0:04:42or even out of London by train every day. They could come on the railway
0:04:42 > 0:04:45- for the first time, commuting up and down.- Of course.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51The Victorian chop house lunch focused heavily
0:04:51 > 0:04:56on generous portions, and quite right too. A belly full of protein
0:04:56 > 0:04:59would get you through the afternoon.
0:04:59 > 0:05:01Victorian office workers
0:05:01 > 0:05:05were allocated a full hour for their lunch break.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08I had the same when I worked at the Inns of Court
0:05:08 > 0:05:11and provided the restaurants are efficient, it's enough time
0:05:11 > 0:05:17for a relaxed meal, and far preferable to eating at one's desk.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23- That sausage looks very magnificent. - Would you like some?
0:05:23 > 0:05:25- I'll take a little off.- Have some.
0:05:27 > 0:05:32Chop houses served an ordinary or fixed price menu,
0:05:32 > 0:05:35with little or no choice.
0:05:35 > 0:05:39Nose to tail eating - that's eating every part of the entire animal -
0:05:39 > 0:05:42was very common for the cheaper dishes on offer.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47What I'm having would have been probably one of the ordinaries
0:05:47 > 0:05:51of the day in one day of the week, because oxtail and offal,
0:05:51 > 0:05:55- you know, it's very cheap. - And delicious.
0:05:55 > 0:05:59- It is absolutely beautiful.- I mean, the thing about these places is they
0:05:59 > 0:06:03are for the middling sorts of folk, as Josiah Wedgwood called them,
0:06:03 > 0:06:06and lower classes, lower middle classes really.
0:06:06 > 0:06:13'The speciality of the house is a secret recipe of stewed cheese.'
0:06:13 > 0:06:15Bring on the cheese!
0:06:15 > 0:06:17- Oh, I say.- There we go.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21'This dish was a chop house staple and a version of what we now know
0:06:21 > 0:06:23'as Welsh rabbit.'
0:06:23 > 0:06:27I think this is a very, very old way of eating cheese,
0:06:27 > 0:06:30I mean, they'd have mixed it up with a bit of beer and a bit of cream
0:06:30 > 0:06:33or something, you know... Some mustard.
0:06:37 > 0:06:39- Absolutely delicious.- Very nice.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44And of course, the funny thing is, here we are having a reconstruction
0:06:44 > 0:06:47of a 19th century lunch, but one thing that
0:06:47 > 0:06:52you probably wouldn't have had at a Victorian lunch would be a woman!
0:06:52 > 0:06:56Wonderful as it is to be having lunch with you, I'm afraid if we
0:06:56 > 0:06:58were having an authentic Victorian experience, Clarissa,
0:06:58 > 0:06:59you wouldn't be here.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01But I might have squeaked through
0:07:01 > 0:07:05because I was a barrister, and barristers are gentlemen by statute.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08You're a gentlemen in every sense of the word, if I may say so.
0:07:08 > 0:07:09Ah, so kind!
0:07:15 > 0:07:19The Victorian chop house was drawing on a long tradition of eating well
0:07:19 > 0:07:22in the middle of the work day.
0:07:26 > 0:07:32In medieval times, food was, by necessity, prepared and eaten
0:07:32 > 0:07:34during daylight hours.
0:07:37 > 0:07:41The main meal dividing the work day was then called dinner,
0:07:41 > 0:07:47and was taken earlier - around 10:00am, after five hours of work,
0:07:47 > 0:07:49followed by a light supper at 4:00pm.
0:07:52 > 0:07:56The word "lunch" at that time didn't even exist.
0:07:59 > 0:08:04Daily life revolved around the time-consuming demands of hunting,
0:08:04 > 0:08:06growing and cooking food.
0:08:08 > 0:08:12I've come to the Weald and Downland Museum in Sussex
0:08:12 > 0:08:16to meet historical food specialist, Caroline Yeldham.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18She's cooking me up a selection of dishes
0:08:18 > 0:08:21from a typical medieval dinner menu.
0:08:23 > 0:08:28- Hello, Caroline! How nice to see you, how are you?- Lovely to see you.
0:08:28 > 0:08:30- I love your set up. - Thank you.- Brilliant.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33And what have we got cooking here?
0:08:33 > 0:08:36We've got a pottage. Pottage just means something cooked in a pot,
0:08:36 > 0:08:41and it's got onions and garlic and carrots, mustard seed and pepper
0:08:41 > 0:08:43in there at the moment and also a ham hock.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46Delicious. And they would have eaten pottage most days?
0:08:46 > 0:08:52Yes, of all ranks of society. If you're poor and it's your main dish
0:08:52 > 0:08:57of the day, then a very basic one, up to very refined, elegant pottages
0:08:57 > 0:09:00made with wine and almond milk and saffron.
0:09:00 > 0:09:04- And we've also got a joint of mutton. - Oh, good.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07Being poached or boiled as it was called.
0:09:07 > 0:09:09Oh, look at that!
0:09:09 > 0:09:12And of course it would have been mutton and not lamb, wouldn't it?
0:09:12 > 0:09:16Absolutely, sheep were the wealth of this country
0:09:16 > 0:09:18but you raised sheep primarily for wool,
0:09:18 > 0:09:21that's a dominant clothing throughout Western Europe -
0:09:21 > 0:09:24the wool churches of the Cotswolds and Suffolk show
0:09:24 > 0:09:27just how much money was made from the wool -
0:09:27 > 0:09:30so you didn't want to slaughter your animals too young.
0:09:30 > 0:09:32It smells delicious.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34Good.
0:09:35 > 0:09:39There's a common belief that people in the Middle Ages ate badly,
0:09:39 > 0:09:42which included not eating vegetables.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44This is complete nonsense.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50It may come from the fact that there are no vegetable recipes
0:09:50 > 0:09:52from this time - I think that's simply
0:09:52 > 0:09:55because people took cooking them for granted.
0:09:57 > 0:10:00I mean, my mother used to keep a dinner party book
0:10:00 > 0:10:04and you never found what vegetables they ate with whatever was served
0:10:04 > 0:10:07- because it was what came out of the garden.- Absolutely.
0:10:09 > 0:10:14People in medieval times relied on a bountiful living larder.
0:10:14 > 0:10:18They foraged for plants we consider weeds
0:10:18 > 0:10:23and grew a range of vegetables, including garlic and purple carrots.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27Carrots weren't orange then, were they?
0:10:27 > 0:10:29There are various kinds of carrots.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32There are white ones, which were for animal feed,
0:10:32 > 0:10:34purple ones, which we've got here
0:10:34 > 0:10:38and there are also what were referred to as red roots.
0:10:39 > 0:10:43We know they had access to spices to flavour their food
0:10:43 > 0:10:47but that's given rise to another popular misconception.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52I mean, there's this ludicrous idea that crops up as well,
0:10:52 > 0:10:56that, you know, they used all these spices because the meat was rotten.
0:10:56 > 0:11:01Spices cost a fortune, they cost shillings a pound,
0:11:01 > 0:11:04and the only spice that actually will cover up
0:11:04 > 0:11:07the taste of rotting meat properly is chilli.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09Which we didn't have.
0:11:09 > 0:11:11Which we didn't have because it's an American spice.
0:11:11 > 0:11:13It's, it's an absurdity for people
0:11:13 > 0:11:15who haven't really thought about food.
0:11:15 > 0:11:17These are rather nice.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23I don't really like orange carrots but these are rather nice.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26They're less sweet, aren't they? And they're a wonderful colour.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29Medieval people loved colour.
0:11:30 > 0:11:35The basic rhythms of life, including what you ate and at what hour,
0:11:35 > 0:11:39were ordained on high by the Catholic church.
0:11:40 > 0:11:45Meat was only permitted on half the days of the year.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48Otherwise, if it wasn't a fast day,
0:11:48 > 0:11:52the popular substitute for meat was fish,
0:11:52 > 0:11:55which was eaten in great quantities.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00The wealthy ate it fresh from fish ponds and rivers
0:12:00 > 0:12:04while the poor mostly relied on salted fish.
0:12:06 > 0:12:12Food wasn't considered just nourishment, it was also medicinal.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15People believed the body was composed of humours, which needed
0:12:15 > 0:12:20balancing, by both herbal remedies and the way food was cooked.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24There were four humours, weren't there?
0:12:24 > 0:12:27There are earth, air, fire and water, which are reflected in
0:12:27 > 0:12:31black bile, yellow bile, phlegm and blood in the human body.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34So part of a cook's job, as well as a physician's job,
0:12:34 > 0:12:38is to provide somebody with the food that will balance their humours
0:12:38 > 0:12:40and bring them to perfect health.
0:12:40 > 0:12:45Fish should be roasted to balance out the wateriness of the fish,
0:12:45 > 0:12:50so you want to make it hotter and drier, whereas mutton, being earthy,
0:12:50 > 0:12:55you need to make it more watery, so it's being boiled or poached.
0:12:57 > 0:13:01A cooked meal at 10:00 in the morning would be so welcome
0:13:01 > 0:13:04after a good five hours of physical labour.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08If you've ever had builders in,
0:13:08 > 0:13:12you'll know that many still follow this tradition, by downing tools
0:13:12 > 0:13:16mid-morning to disappear for some egg and chips after an early start.
0:13:20 > 0:13:24The wealthy would enjoy eating several courses
0:13:24 > 0:13:27but the poor would probably only have one.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31I don't believe in holding back, I'm going to try all of them.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35So begin with the pottage.
0:13:35 > 0:13:37Begin with the pottage.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41Smells lovely.
0:13:45 > 0:13:47Mmm. It's good, isn't it?
0:13:47 > 0:13:49Obviously, we've got the ham hock,
0:13:49 > 0:13:52which would have been a bit of a luxury, wouldn't it?
0:13:52 > 0:13:57Not really, most people could afford to keep some pigs
0:13:57 > 0:14:00so they would have meat available, cured meat, over most of the year.
0:14:02 > 0:14:04'There were official lunch breaks for labourers -
0:14:04 > 0:14:09'meals were eaten communally and lasted over an hour.
0:14:09 > 0:14:13'As a former Trade Union official, I thoroughly approve of that.'
0:14:15 > 0:14:18If you wanted sea fish, it was a luxury
0:14:18 > 0:14:21and people went to extraordinary lengths to get it.
0:14:21 > 0:14:26It was landed on the coast and transported around the country.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31There was a contract between the merchants of Whitby
0:14:31 > 0:14:34and the merchants of York in the 15th century
0:14:34 > 0:14:39to get fresh fish to York within 24 hours of being landed in Whitby,
0:14:39 > 0:14:45which meant they set up relay stations for ponies and carts
0:14:45 > 0:14:48- going over the North York Moors to get down into York.- Good Lord.- Yes.
0:14:48 > 0:14:52The labour and the work was worth it for the premium prices
0:14:52 > 0:14:54being paid for fresh fish in York.
0:14:54 > 0:14:59And the fish were transported wrapped in moss, and probably alive.
0:15:00 > 0:15:02- That's amazing.- It is.
0:15:02 > 0:15:06It's really very nice, and I love your green sauce.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09I do try and convince people medieval food is good.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12You don't need to convince me but this is particularly nice.
0:15:12 > 0:15:16And I'm right in that you wipe it on the tablecloth?
0:15:16 > 0:15:20If you must! You would normally have... How about my apron?
0:15:20 > 0:15:22No, I was only joking.
0:15:22 > 0:15:26'The meal would always end with something sweet that was
0:15:26 > 0:15:28'considered medicinal,
0:15:28 > 0:15:31'a way to close the stomach and aid digestion.'
0:15:32 > 0:15:35So, the pears...
0:15:35 > 0:15:41So these have been cooked in some water and a little honey,
0:15:41 > 0:15:44and some sweet cicely to stretch the honey
0:15:44 > 0:15:46because that was quite expensive stuff.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50'I think this diet based on fresh wholesome food
0:15:50 > 0:15:53'is how we should all aspire to eat.'
0:15:53 > 0:15:57Instead of saying grace, I will just thank you
0:15:57 > 0:16:01for a really delicious feast. The benefits are all mine.
0:16:01 > 0:16:03Thank you.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10This large main meal we then called dinner
0:16:10 > 0:16:14was eaten in the late morning, the middle of the work day,
0:16:14 > 0:16:16for the next couple of hundred years.
0:16:19 > 0:16:23I'm leaping ahead in my lunchtime journey to the early modern period
0:16:23 > 0:16:26of the late 17th century.
0:16:30 > 0:16:35The Catholic strictures were replaced by Protestant puritanism,
0:16:35 > 0:16:40but with the restoration of Charles II to the throne in 1660,
0:16:40 > 0:16:43Britain enters a period of great social change.
0:16:44 > 0:16:49Food becomes more about taste and style than balancing humours.
0:16:52 > 0:16:56The middle classes are emerging
0:16:56 > 0:16:59and although most people still live on and eat off the land,
0:16:59 > 0:17:05more people are embracing city life and consequently new work patterns.
0:17:07 > 0:17:11By this time, the main meal is creeping later in the day,
0:17:11 > 0:17:15eaten anytime from 11:00 in the morning to 2:00 in the afternoon.
0:17:18 > 0:17:23Samuel Pepys, one of my favourite historical figures,
0:17:23 > 0:17:25was a civil servant in London.
0:17:27 > 0:17:31He was a gourmand, a man after my own heart,
0:17:31 > 0:17:34and his diaries shine a fascinating light
0:17:34 > 0:17:38onto what a man of the middling sort enjoyed eating.
0:17:40 > 0:17:47In January 1660, he writes "My wife had got ready a very fine dinner -
0:17:47 > 0:17:52"viz. a dish of marrow bones, a leg of mutton, a loin of veal,
0:17:52 > 0:17:57"a dish of fowl, three pullets and a dozen of larks all in a dish."
0:18:04 > 0:18:09But it was venison that was the prized meat of the age.
0:18:11 > 0:18:13Nobility had a total monopoly on it,
0:18:13 > 0:18:16owning all the parks in which the deer were hunted.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19To eat it, you had to have connections.
0:18:21 > 0:18:25Pepys revels in his access to it,
0:18:25 > 0:18:29mentioning it in his diary 76 times.
0:18:32 > 0:18:36I've come to Cumbria to join food historian Ivan Day,
0:18:36 > 0:18:40who's going to bring some of the dishes from Pepys' diary to life.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48Ivan, hello. It's been a long time. How are you?
0:18:48 > 0:18:51It has, too long, I'm very well, thank you.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54Wow, that's a smashing bit of meat. What you got there?
0:18:54 > 0:18:58- It's a bit I've cut off a haunch. - Of?- Of venison, of course.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01It's the choice cone of meat of the period of Pepys.
0:19:01 > 0:19:05Everybody wanted it, particularly the merchant class who were aspiring
0:19:05 > 0:19:10to be like the social superiors, and this is a particularly fine piece.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13I'm going to bake it in pastry, in what was called a pasty.
0:19:15 > 0:19:20'A pasty at this time wasn't the cheap small snack we know today
0:19:20 > 0:19:22'but a large elaborate creation.'
0:19:22 > 0:19:24- Can you see how tender that is? - Isn't it beautiful?
0:19:24 > 0:19:26It's absolutely wonderful.
0:19:26 > 0:19:31In the 17th century, people weren't fussy eaters so, for instance,
0:19:31 > 0:19:34bones were left in, the modern chef would probably remove that sinew,
0:19:34 > 0:19:37I'm going to leave it for the diner to sort out themselves.
0:19:37 > 0:19:40But also, I mean, if you're going to cook it, you know, so slowly,
0:19:40 > 0:19:44presumably all the skins will melt down and help with the juice.
0:19:44 > 0:19:46Absolutely, yeah.
0:19:46 > 0:19:48What type of pastry is this?
0:19:48 > 0:19:52Well, this is pasty paste, and it's quite a strong pastry
0:19:52 > 0:19:57because it's got to stand up to two and a half hours baking
0:19:57 > 0:19:59and it mustn't leak either.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02If we lose all the gravy, our pasty is ruined.
0:20:02 > 0:20:04Ruined, ruined!
0:20:04 > 0:20:07- So it's really got to be sealed in. - Yeah.
0:20:07 > 0:20:09'From the medieval period,
0:20:09 > 0:20:15'pie and pasty cases were rather wonderfully called coffins
0:20:15 > 0:20:16'and by Samuel Pepys' time
0:20:16 > 0:20:19'intricate designs were all the rage.'
0:20:22 > 0:20:25This is what we're going to make.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27Good Lord.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30This is a design for a venison pasty.
0:20:30 > 0:20:32It's magnificent.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35Isn't it wonderful? By a pastry master who had various schools
0:20:35 > 0:20:39in the City, and he claims to have taught 10,000 ladies how to make
0:20:39 > 0:20:41wonderful pies and pastry.
0:20:41 > 0:20:45You know, this is the 17th century equivalent to designer trainers.
0:20:45 > 0:20:47I mean, everybody wanted food like this.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49THEY LAUGH
0:20:49 > 0:20:52I'm just going to trim this round so that we have our base.
0:20:55 > 0:21:00Everyone wanted to eat venison but it was so exclusive
0:21:00 > 0:21:03that cookery books offered recipes to fake it
0:21:03 > 0:21:07by either soaking mutton in blood or marinating it in red wine.
0:21:09 > 0:21:14The ingenuity in these recipes leaves me gasping,
0:21:14 > 0:21:17though I can't condone hoodwinking people into believing
0:21:17 > 0:21:21they're eating something better than they actually are.
0:21:25 > 0:21:27This is more typical of the sort of pasty
0:21:27 > 0:21:32that Mrs Pepys and her maid would have made in their London kitchen
0:21:32 > 0:21:37but we know that they didn't have an oven so they sent it out to be baked.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40That was often where the problem started because some bakers
0:21:40 > 0:21:43might have a lot of different people's things to bake.
0:21:43 > 0:21:44You wouldn't get your own back.
0:21:44 > 0:21:47You might not have got your own back or they would burn it
0:21:47 > 0:21:50or they would undercook it, so you were taking a bit of a risk,
0:21:50 > 0:21:52but in London, not that many people had ovens,
0:21:52 > 0:21:54they sent it to the bakery.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57- I suppose fire risks. - Well, exactly, yeah.
0:21:57 > 0:21:59- There we are.- Look at that.
0:21:59 > 0:22:01The thing that these people had,
0:22:01 > 0:22:04which we don't give ourselves nowadays, is time.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07To produce something like that,
0:22:07 > 0:22:11it's going to take quite a few hours of whittling away in a cold room,
0:22:11 > 0:22:15away from the heat of the fire so the pastry doesn't spoil.
0:22:17 > 0:22:20Nothing of the slaughtered deer would be wasted.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23The offal, known as umbles, was traditionally given to
0:22:23 > 0:22:27the chief huntsman to distribute among the beaters and peasants,
0:22:27 > 0:22:30being deemed far too inferior for a noble palate.
0:22:34 > 0:22:39It was turned into "umble pie", a dish which didn't acquire
0:22:39 > 0:22:44its derogatory meaning, "humble pie", until the 19th century.
0:22:45 > 0:22:47Fantastic.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51It's a mark of Pepys' ability to move through social classes,
0:22:51 > 0:22:56that he happily eats the best cuts of meat along with the offal.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00In July 1662 he writes,
0:23:00 > 0:23:04"I having some venison given me a day or two ago,
0:23:04 > 0:23:08"and so I had a shoulder roasted, another baked,
0:23:08 > 0:23:14"and the umbles baked in a pie, and all very well done."
0:23:14 > 0:23:15- Marvellous.- Perfect.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21Much as he loved venison, Pepys also ate more modest tavern food
0:23:21 > 0:23:27such as dried neat's tongue, a neat being any kind of bovine.
0:23:29 > 0:23:31The neat's tongues that were the most favoured
0:23:31 > 0:23:34were the ones from the young animals.
0:23:34 > 0:23:38Stuart diners were in fact serial infanticides.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41They loved anything young so they ate suckling pig,
0:23:41 > 0:23:45and suckling pig was a pig that was still at the mother's teat.
0:23:45 > 0:23:48They ate baby pigeons, of course, peepers,
0:23:48 > 0:23:51they ate baby rabbits but everyone ate tongue.
0:23:51 > 0:23:56But they also ate lips and noses and palates and all sorts of other bits
0:23:56 > 0:23:59of the animal which now just go into dog food.
0:24:01 > 0:24:04Nose to tail eating was common then,
0:24:04 > 0:24:07as was preservation of the slaughtered animal
0:24:07 > 0:24:10if it couldn't be eaten all at once.
0:24:10 > 0:24:14Very early on, people realised that salt was something which you
0:24:14 > 0:24:15could preserve meat with.
0:24:15 > 0:24:19The recipe we're using is incredibly fundamental,
0:24:19 > 0:24:21it just involves three ingredients.
0:24:21 > 0:24:25One is the tongue itself of the beast,
0:24:25 > 0:24:29saltpetre, which was either potassium or sodium nitrate,
0:24:29 > 0:24:31- used in the gunpowder industry. - Indeed.
0:24:31 > 0:24:36But it was discovered that this prevents you from getting botulism
0:24:36 > 0:24:39but what it does also, it creates an incredible bacterial phenomenon
0:24:39 > 0:24:41where it makes the meat go red.
0:24:41 > 0:24:46So that red colour that you associate with bacon and tongue and ham,
0:24:46 > 0:24:48is created by this stuff.
0:24:49 > 0:24:55The final ingredient is salt, which gets rubbed in over 19 days.
0:24:55 > 0:25:00The tongue is then left to hang over smoke to dry.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05What you end up with is something that looks like a cross between
0:25:05 > 0:25:10a kipper, and one of those shoes that they find in archaeological sites.
0:25:10 > 0:25:12Absolutely, it does!
0:25:12 > 0:25:16- And it's a wonderful mahogany colour. - It's a lovely colour.
0:25:16 > 0:25:19And they're called dry neat's tongues cos they are really dry,
0:25:19 > 0:25:21and they're quite hard.
0:25:21 > 0:25:26Now, what we have here is one that I cooked for 40 minutes.
0:25:26 > 0:25:27I just boiled it.
0:25:27 > 0:25:29We're going to cut that up into little dice.
0:25:29 > 0:25:31In the original recipe -
0:25:31 > 0:25:35which is from Robert May's Accomplisht Cook of 1660,
0:25:35 > 0:25:41so perfect for the Restoration - this has to be cut up into little pieces
0:25:41 > 0:25:44about the size of a threepenny piece.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52Robert May worked as a cook for noble families
0:25:52 > 0:25:55and his book was a compendium of popular recipes
0:25:55 > 0:25:59offering many suggestions for midday meals.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07Our diet was strongly influenced by
0:26:07 > 0:26:11the British East India Trading Company, established in 1600,
0:26:11 > 0:26:15whose reach made cloves, pepper, mace and nutmeg
0:26:15 > 0:26:19imported from the Indonesian spice islands cheaper and more available.
0:26:23 > 0:26:24Let's get this over here.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27- I'll bring the caudle.- Yeah.
0:26:27 > 0:26:32And we're instructed by the master cook Robert May
0:26:32 > 0:26:34to rub some garlic onto the plate.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37Garlic was not a common ingredient in 17th century cookery.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41That will make a nice background flavour on the plate.
0:26:42 > 0:26:47While only a small section of society had access to venison,
0:26:47 > 0:26:51everyone on the social scale would have eaten dishes like this
0:26:51 > 0:26:54that were much cheaper and easier to prepare.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00I always think we are far too fussy nowadays
0:27:00 > 0:27:03in rejecting less obvious cuts of meat.
0:27:05 > 0:27:09Wealthier people would accompany their meal with a salad
0:27:09 > 0:27:13to show off ingredients imported from afar.
0:27:24 > 0:27:29The London Pepys knew was a world in flux.
0:27:30 > 0:27:34He saw both the Great Fire and the plague.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39He was also part of a dynamic time
0:27:39 > 0:27:42when men could rise through patronage.
0:27:45 > 0:27:49Taverns were where deals were brokered
0:27:49 > 0:27:52and life played out over a midday meal.
0:27:53 > 0:27:57Pepys came here in April 1668.
0:27:58 > 0:28:03"To the Cock ale-house and drank, to eat a lobster and mighty merry."
0:28:05 > 0:28:08It was moved here from across the road
0:28:08 > 0:28:10to make way for the new law courts,
0:28:10 > 0:28:14a former professional stamping ground of my own.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18They brought the fireplace with them
0:28:18 > 0:28:21and Pepys remains one of their most famous diners.
0:28:22 > 0:28:26From his writings, we know what Pepys ate at home
0:28:26 > 0:28:28and what he ate while out networking.
0:28:30 > 0:28:33Have a look at the stag. He's magnificent.
0:28:33 > 0:28:34Oh, it's beautiful.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37See his antlers, and there's his body, and he's sort of bursting
0:28:37 > 0:28:40through the greenery getting away from the dogs.
0:28:40 > 0:28:41That's terrific.
0:28:41 > 0:28:43'Historian Lisa Jardine and I
0:28:43 > 0:28:48'are tucking into the pasty Ivan baked for us.
0:28:48 > 0:28:52'She's going to tell me more about Pepys' dining patterns
0:28:52 > 0:28:56'and the business lunch culture of 17th century London.'
0:28:56 > 0:28:59That's a fairly intimidating bit of venison there.
0:28:59 > 0:29:02- You don't have to eat it all. - I don't have to eat it all.
0:29:04 > 0:29:06There you are.
0:29:06 > 0:29:10Good. Now, I think that's what Pepys' plate would have looked like.
0:29:10 > 0:29:12- None of your salad rubbish. - None of your salad.
0:29:15 > 0:29:17Mmm. Now, that's really good, isn't it?
0:29:17 > 0:29:19That's really good and that's benefited
0:29:19 > 0:29:21so much from being cooked in its coffin,
0:29:21 > 0:29:25because venison can get so dry but that's not even slightly dry.
0:29:25 > 0:29:31And it's had, you know, it was cooked for a good couple of hours
0:29:31 > 0:29:34and then transported and then heated through. I mean, it's delicious.
0:29:34 > 0:29:37Mmm, it's fantastic.
0:29:39 > 0:29:42So Pepys eating venison -
0:29:42 > 0:29:46you know, you had to be well connected, didn't you?
0:29:46 > 0:29:52He's by birth related to aristocracy and in a patronage society,
0:29:52 > 0:29:54that's enough to get you going.
0:29:54 > 0:29:57I think the reason that Pepys' diary has so much about food in it
0:29:57 > 0:30:03is that the dinner, this three hour gap in the middle of the day,
0:30:03 > 0:30:07is part of his social aspiration and his mobility,
0:30:07 > 0:30:11it's also part of his working life, he works for the Navy office,
0:30:11 > 0:30:14he's close to aristocracy
0:30:14 > 0:30:19and what they eat is a sign of how elevated they now are.
0:30:19 > 0:30:23The whole of Pepys' life is about connections,
0:30:23 > 0:30:27and the food is part of the connections to people
0:30:27 > 0:30:30with the ability to move you higher on up the scale.
0:30:32 > 0:30:35And Pepys never missed an opportunity
0:30:35 > 0:30:37to name-drop his fellow diners.
0:30:38 > 0:30:44In July 1666, he writes, "At noon to dinner at the Pope's Head
0:30:44 > 0:30:48"where my Lord Bruncker and his mistress dined
0:30:48 > 0:30:52"and Commissioner Pett, Dr Charleton and myself,
0:30:52 > 0:30:56"entertained with a venison pasty by Sir W Warren."
0:31:00 > 0:31:06The behaviour of this group, to which Pepys is enormously proud to belong,
0:31:06 > 0:31:10is very much, I think, the City in Britain
0:31:10 > 0:31:13and the Civil Service in the 1980s.
0:31:13 > 0:31:17So it's the long lunch, it's the expense account lunch,
0:31:17 > 0:31:21it's the... I'm sorry I'm calling it lunch
0:31:21 > 0:31:23because of course it's dinner in Pepys' terms.
0:31:23 > 0:31:26I mean, lunch is a much later idea.
0:31:26 > 0:31:31The meal will be shared with other people in the same sort of business.
0:31:31 > 0:31:35It will be in a location that they all rate, a classy restaurant,
0:31:35 > 0:31:39you can only go to the places that are known by name to your colleagues.
0:31:39 > 0:31:45That's a brilliant point, that the long City lunch of the 1980s
0:31:45 > 0:31:48was the dinner of Pepys' day. Yes, I love that.
0:31:48 > 0:31:50Actually, if you go to certain restaurants
0:31:50 > 0:31:53around the Houses of Parliament now at lunchtime,
0:31:53 > 0:31:56it hasn't changed all that much.
0:31:56 > 0:31:58I think that's really why we love Pepys.
0:31:58 > 0:32:03He seems so recognisable to us in all of his attitudes and aspirations
0:32:03 > 0:32:07and even the pleasure he takes in food, the pleasure
0:32:07 > 0:32:09he takes in company, the pleasure he takes in reporting back
0:32:09 > 0:32:12that he's met somebody frightfully grand
0:32:12 > 0:32:14and sat down to a meal with them.
0:32:15 > 0:32:17Pepys lived at a turning point
0:32:17 > 0:32:22when our eating habits were about to change dramatically.
0:32:24 > 0:32:26During the mid-1700s,
0:32:26 > 0:32:31the midday meal, still known as dinner, slid later and later,
0:32:31 > 0:32:36positioning itself in an early evening slot familiar to us today.
0:32:37 > 0:32:41The reason why is connected to windows and light but that's
0:32:41 > 0:32:46a whole other matter, and I'll deal with it when I investigate dinner.
0:32:50 > 0:32:53A large gap opened up in the middle of the day
0:32:53 > 0:32:57when people were getting hungry, a brand-new meal came to the rescue
0:32:57 > 0:33:02and rather confusingly there were several different names for it.
0:33:03 > 0:33:08For some it was "noonings", whilst others called it "nuncheon"
0:33:08 > 0:33:13from an old Anglo-Saxon word meaning "noonday drink".
0:33:14 > 0:33:18But it finally settled as "luncheon",
0:33:18 > 0:33:22and with its own entry into Dr Johnson's Dictionary,
0:33:22 > 0:33:24lunch is officially born.
0:33:28 > 0:33:31And as is so often the case,
0:33:31 > 0:33:35the ever-fashionable Jane Austen provides us with the evidence.
0:33:36 > 0:33:40In 1813, in Pride And Prejudice,
0:33:40 > 0:33:44the two Bennet sisters purchase food for a luncheon,
0:33:44 > 0:33:47"and triumphantly displayed a table set out
0:33:47 > 0:33:52"with such cold meat as an inn larder usually affords."
0:33:55 > 0:33:58The leisured classes would make social calls
0:33:58 > 0:34:00during the middle of the day.
0:34:00 > 0:34:02Luncheon was served
0:34:02 > 0:34:05and you could eat as little or as much as you wanted.
0:34:09 > 0:34:16So here we have a table set out as if for a luncheon in 1813,
0:34:16 > 0:34:18Regency period.
0:34:18 > 0:34:23You've got your salad, which is lettuce, cucumbers and melon.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26They were very keen on melons, which they grew here
0:34:26 > 0:34:27so they never got very sweet.
0:34:27 > 0:34:34And this is your dressing, which is made with pounded hard-boiled eggs,
0:34:34 > 0:34:41and if you taste it, what you actually have is salad cream.
0:34:41 > 0:34:45I love the thought of the elegant Regency eating salad cream.
0:34:45 > 0:34:48We've got your cold meats that the inn larder would afford,
0:34:48 > 0:34:52pheasant legs - devilled pheasant legs were a very popular thing -
0:34:52 > 0:34:56and here we've got one of my favourite dishes of the period,
0:34:56 > 0:35:02a sefton of herrings, which is herring roes cooked in butter,
0:35:02 > 0:35:08and this dish was invented by the Regency sportsman and rakehell,
0:35:08 > 0:35:13the Earl of Sefton, who developed it for his wife
0:35:13 > 0:35:16because she enjoyed poor health, as they said at the time,
0:35:16 > 0:35:23and you would put that on a water biscuit.
0:35:23 > 0:35:26And you've got a bit of cayenne pepper.
0:35:26 > 0:35:30Cayenne pepper was a new "in thing" at the time
0:35:30 > 0:35:33and you get these wonderful little holders with a spoon in
0:35:33 > 0:35:37for serving your cayenne pepper, which were known as lucifers,
0:35:37 > 0:35:40because it's so hot it's like the devil
0:35:40 > 0:35:45and I really can't resist this one.
0:35:47 > 0:35:52But of course luncheon wasn't just for high society,
0:35:52 > 0:35:55working people also had to eat at midday.
0:35:59 > 0:36:03No sooner had lunch officially taken off, than it had to react
0:36:03 > 0:36:09to one of the biggest social upheavals we've ever experienced.
0:36:10 > 0:36:12As the Industrial Revolution took its grip
0:36:12 > 0:36:14throughout the 19th century,
0:36:14 > 0:36:18mass migration into cities on an unprecedented scale
0:36:18 > 0:36:22broke down our connection between cooking and eating,
0:36:22 > 0:36:26radically affecting how we consumed our meals.
0:36:29 > 0:36:32Many poor workers now living in the city
0:36:32 > 0:36:34had lost the ability to grow food
0:36:34 > 0:36:38and had neither a kitchen nor the time to prepare a proper meal.
0:36:42 > 0:36:48Thousands of street stalls sprang up to sell them cheap fast food.
0:36:50 > 0:36:51For millions of people,
0:36:51 > 0:36:55lunch became a giant open air buffet on the street.
0:36:58 > 0:37:03Baked potatoes were the staple, but for a variety there was tripe,
0:37:03 > 0:37:06sheep's trotters, udder and even penis.
0:37:09 > 0:37:15I've eaten both of the latter, and perfectly nice they were too.
0:37:19 > 0:37:22Seafood was extremely popular.
0:37:22 > 0:37:25Whelks, winkles, prawns and jellied eels
0:37:25 > 0:37:27were consumed in great quantities.
0:37:30 > 0:37:34You can still find these snacks in places like Borough Market
0:37:34 > 0:37:37in south-east London.
0:37:40 > 0:37:43I've come to see an old friend of mine,
0:37:43 > 0:37:45Les Salisbury, here at his fish stall.
0:37:46 > 0:37:47Les, hello.
0:37:47 > 0:37:50- Hello, Clarissa.- How are you? - I'm fine thanks, yes.
0:37:50 > 0:37:53- Great to see you. All looking lovely.- Yes, thank you.
0:37:53 > 0:37:55This lobster's trying to enter the Derby.
0:37:55 > 0:37:58Yes, it's a long way to go if he wants to go home.
0:37:58 > 0:38:01So, whelks. Can I have a whelk?
0:38:01 > 0:38:04These are off the Morecambe Bay coast. North of Morecambe Bay.
0:38:04 > 0:38:06- Oh, really?- Yes.
0:38:06 > 0:38:08A nice looking whelk.
0:38:09 > 0:38:11And they've just been boiled this morning.
0:38:11 > 0:38:13Mmm, that's really nice.
0:38:13 > 0:38:16There's no salt and vinegar on them cos some people like it, some don't.
0:38:16 > 0:38:19Putting it in vinegar, that comes from Tudor times.
0:38:19 > 0:38:20Right, preserving.
0:38:20 > 0:38:23When they started getting glass containers.
0:38:23 > 0:38:26Preserve it in the glass, the vinegar wouldn't eat the glass.
0:38:26 > 0:38:29But, I mean, the Victorians and the Edwardians loved all this.
0:38:29 > 0:38:33- These are the Irish silver eel. - The best eel.- The best eel, yes.
0:38:33 > 0:38:35You always used to have them at the shows
0:38:35 > 0:38:38- and I'd come across and buy a tub for my lunch.- That's right.
0:38:38 > 0:38:42Jellied eels originated in the East End of London
0:38:42 > 0:38:46and eels were still fished in the Thames when I was a girl.
0:38:46 > 0:38:48I remember our cook buying them
0:38:48 > 0:38:51and she would skin and prepare them herself.
0:38:53 > 0:38:55I much prefer to eat them from a stall like this
0:38:55 > 0:39:01and I'll happily buy jellied eels or a pint of shellfish for my lunch
0:39:01 > 0:39:02if I can find them.
0:39:04 > 0:39:06- Good?- Very good.
0:39:09 > 0:39:14Victorian street food kept the poor from starving,
0:39:14 > 0:39:17providing convenient basic fuel
0:39:17 > 0:39:20that made their industrious lives possible.
0:39:21 > 0:39:26Some portable foods were designed for specific jobs.
0:39:26 > 0:39:32The Cornish pasty, eaten by tin miners, had a crimped pastry handle
0:39:32 > 0:39:35which was discarded because their hands could contain
0:39:35 > 0:39:38highly poisonous arsenic from the tin.
0:39:44 > 0:39:48Of course, all of these snacks are dwarfed by England's greatest gift
0:39:48 > 0:39:51to convenience food, the sandwich.
0:39:54 > 0:39:58Lord Montagu, the Fourth Earl of Sandwich, made history
0:39:58 > 0:40:03by calling for a slice of beef between two slices of bread
0:40:03 > 0:40:06because he didn't want to get up from the table.
0:40:06 > 0:40:10He was either gambling or working,
0:40:10 > 0:40:13depending on which version of the story you believe.
0:40:14 > 0:40:17I'm leaning in one direction but sandwich expert
0:40:17 > 0:40:21and food writer Bea Wilson is going to enlighten me.
0:40:22 > 0:40:25Sandwich was said to be not a gambling man
0:40:25 > 0:40:28but what he was in the habit of doing was working extremely long hours.
0:40:28 > 0:40:31He was the First Lord of the Admiralty, which meant
0:40:31 > 0:40:33he was in charge of overseeing the whole British Navy
0:40:33 > 0:40:35and it's a far more likely explanation
0:40:35 > 0:40:39that actually he was stuck at his desk for hours upon end, and that was
0:40:39 > 0:40:42when he called for the piece of beef between two slices of bread.
0:40:42 > 0:40:46Dinner was very late, it was the only main meal of the day,
0:40:46 > 0:40:48Sandwich got up very early in the morning
0:40:48 > 0:40:51and he just needed something he could hold in one hand and eat
0:40:51 > 0:40:55while he was ruffling through his Navy papers with the other hand.
0:40:55 > 0:40:58The problem I see with that one is how would it have got out and about?
0:40:58 > 0:41:00I mean, if he was sitting in the gambling den,
0:41:00 > 0:41:02everybody would go "Oh, that's a good idea"
0:41:02 > 0:41:04whereas if he was in the confines of his office...?
0:41:04 > 0:41:06Well, that is the big question.
0:41:06 > 0:41:08I think that his valet or his butler or
0:41:08 > 0:41:11whoever was bringing him the sandwich probably spread the word about it.
0:41:11 > 0:41:15But the odds are that actually Sandwich was eating this snack
0:41:15 > 0:41:19in all kinds of settings, he did move in London club world.
0:41:19 > 0:41:20Which involved gambling.
0:41:20 > 0:41:23Which involved gambling, among other things.
0:41:23 > 0:41:27And the very first record we have of it being referred to as a sandwich
0:41:27 > 0:41:31comes in the diary of the historian Gibbon,
0:41:31 > 0:41:33who wrote The Rise And Fall Of The Roman Empire,
0:41:33 > 0:41:35and in 1762 he came back and wrote in his diary,
0:41:35 > 0:41:39"I went out to the theatre and then went on to the Cocoa Tree,"
0:41:39 > 0:41:41which was a kind of dining club,
0:41:41 > 0:41:44"and there were 20 or 30 of the sort of first men of the Kingdom
0:41:44 > 0:41:47"and they were all sitting at tables covered in a napkin
0:41:47 > 0:41:50"supping on a piece of cold meat or a sandwich."
0:41:50 > 0:41:51CLARISSA SHRIEKS
0:41:51 > 0:41:54Sandwich himself was probably one of these 20 or 30 men, wasn't he?
0:41:54 > 0:41:57And people would have said, "Oh, I'll have what Sandwich is having."
0:41:57 > 0:42:00Then it would have been, "Oh, I'll have a sandwich." Yeah.
0:42:00 > 0:42:03- Absolutely.- So why do you think it caught on so rapidly?
0:42:03 > 0:42:04Well, it's really a great invention.
0:42:04 > 0:42:09It's very rare to find a food which you can eat without any cutlery.
0:42:09 > 0:42:13It's portable, it's just a sort of ideal thing that people could
0:42:13 > 0:42:17eat very quickly on the run, take it with them while they're travelling.
0:42:19 > 0:42:23The sandwich was invented in the 18th century
0:42:23 > 0:42:27but came of age with the Victorians who had recipe books suggesting
0:42:27 > 0:42:32fashionable new fillings thanks to the availability of potted foods.
0:42:36 > 0:42:39Life was speeding up for the Victorians,
0:42:39 > 0:42:43they now had convenience food and they also had rail travel.
0:42:46 > 0:42:50So here we are on a modern, inconvenient, uncomfortable train
0:42:50 > 0:42:54but had we been travelling in the second half of the 19th century,
0:42:54 > 0:42:57we would have had the benefit of a railway hamper.
0:42:57 > 0:43:02These specially made hampers were served on 50 stations
0:43:02 > 0:43:07along the Great Western Railway and you would pay three and sixpence
0:43:07 > 0:43:12for your luncheon hamper or one and sixpence for your teatime hamper,
0:43:12 > 0:43:14and a boy would deliver it to your seat.
0:43:14 > 0:43:16And this is what it looked like,
0:43:16 > 0:43:21specially made in the East End of London for the railways.
0:43:21 > 0:43:23And let's see what we've got.
0:43:23 > 0:43:25Very exciting and much nicer
0:43:25 > 0:43:29than the sort of catering you get on railways nowadays, I suspect.
0:43:31 > 0:43:35First you have that wonderful new-fangled invention,
0:43:35 > 0:43:41the Thermos flask, invented in 1851 by Mr Dewar of Scotland.
0:43:41 > 0:43:46You'd have had your milk in a little bottle with a cork,
0:43:46 > 0:43:51you would have had a teacup and saucer and it's rather
0:43:51 > 0:43:55like the sort of picnic hamper in Wind And The Willows, isn't it?
0:43:55 > 0:43:59You've got ham, you've got a hard-boiled egg,
0:43:59 > 0:44:04butter and even salt and pepper.
0:44:04 > 0:44:10Your bread roll, so you would make up your own sandwich
0:44:10 > 0:44:13and when you'd finished, you'd just abandon the hamper at the end
0:44:13 > 0:44:17of your journey and somebody would come and pick it up.
0:44:21 > 0:44:24The Victorians had developed an interesting nutrition
0:44:24 > 0:44:28and with millions grazing only on street food,
0:44:28 > 0:44:33the realisation dawned that this was affecting the health of the nation.
0:44:34 > 0:44:39Around half of those who volunteered to fight in the Boer War
0:44:39 > 0:44:44in the early 1900s were rejected for being too short and malnourished.
0:44:47 > 0:44:51The British Empire might collapse, something had to be done.
0:44:53 > 0:44:58In 1906, the Government responded with a new law for the
0:44:58 > 0:45:03provision of school meals, which were free for the poorest children.
0:45:03 > 0:45:09All in an effort to promote the value of a proper balanced lunch.
0:45:09 > 0:45:11It changed the lives of millions
0:45:11 > 0:45:14and supplied the proof we had lost sight of,
0:45:14 > 0:45:20that a substantial meal in the middle of the day paid dividends.
0:45:20 > 0:45:25By the time World War II arrived, people were stronger
0:45:25 > 0:45:28but the onset of war triggered another major Government
0:45:28 > 0:45:32intervention in our diet, rationing.
0:45:34 > 0:45:39It was introduced in January 1940 when many basic items
0:45:39 > 0:45:44were in very short supply and the queues lasted for hours.
0:45:49 > 0:45:53Just acquiring the ingredients and preparing a decent lunch
0:45:53 > 0:45:56was suddenly far more of a challenge.
0:45:59 > 0:46:03This is Woldingham, my old school. I had plenty of school meals here.
0:46:07 > 0:46:10I was born shortly after World War II ended
0:46:10 > 0:46:12and I can just remember rationing.
0:46:15 > 0:46:20I've come back here to deliver some expertise on ration book recipes
0:46:20 > 0:46:25to a class of girls and their tender young palates.
0:46:31 > 0:46:36Serving a nutritious lunch during the war was a challenge
0:46:36 > 0:46:39solved only by a thrifty and clever use of resources.
0:46:43 > 0:46:45People reverted to foraging,
0:46:45 > 0:46:48making nettle soup, which is loaded with iron.
0:46:48 > 0:46:52They also had to make do with substitute ingredients
0:46:52 > 0:46:57like powdered egg and potato for pastry and pies.
0:46:59 > 0:47:03And they had their own fake recipes like these mock fish cakes
0:47:03 > 0:47:07with fish paste and dripping cake made from beef fat.
0:47:11 > 0:47:14Everyone was encouraged to produce their own food.
0:47:14 > 0:47:19My father raised pigs on a patch of land in St John's Wood,
0:47:19 > 0:47:21near our home.
0:47:23 > 0:47:26Ironically, in this time of great austerity,
0:47:26 > 0:47:31our nutrition as a nation was probably never better.
0:47:31 > 0:47:33So what do you think of this recipe so far?
0:47:33 > 0:47:36- It's really different.- It's odd.
0:47:36 > 0:47:39I mean, you wouldn't normally use potato in pastry.
0:47:39 > 0:47:42- Or dripping at all. - Yeah, you'd use butter
0:47:42 > 0:47:46but then I suppose they didn't have a lot of butter.
0:47:46 > 0:47:48There wasn't any...almost no butter.
0:47:48 > 0:47:52I have a cake recipe which is just potatoes and butter and eggs.
0:47:52 > 0:47:55- Wow.- And orange juice and a bit of marmalade,
0:47:55 > 0:47:57and it's really delicious.
0:47:58 > 0:48:02But not for wartime food.
0:48:02 > 0:48:05I think we'd all be quite glad we don't live in wartime.
0:48:05 > 0:48:08Yes. I quite like my life here.
0:48:08 > 0:48:11I quite liked my life when I was here, though I didn't
0:48:11 > 0:48:14like the food much but my mother used to send me food parcels.
0:48:14 > 0:48:17Give the big lumps to me because I've got stronger hands than you.
0:48:17 > 0:48:20OK, I'm just getting covered in it.
0:48:20 > 0:48:22- It washes off.- Yeah.
0:48:23 > 0:48:24Have you tasted it?
0:48:24 > 0:48:28- No, I haven't, not yet.- Mmm. Yep.
0:48:28 > 0:48:30- Any good? - Yeah, it's all right.
0:48:30 > 0:48:31Mind your fingers.
0:48:35 > 0:48:37THEY ALL LAUGH
0:48:37 > 0:48:39I think you've done a really good job here.
0:48:39 > 0:48:41You mixed all your flour and dripping together
0:48:41 > 0:48:43and you put the currants in
0:48:43 > 0:48:46and now you're just going to put it in the tin.
0:48:50 > 0:48:53Oh, gosh, I can't wait for it to be cooked.
0:48:54 > 0:49:00It's time to bring on the hungry lions and serve them up
0:49:00 > 0:49:02with these wartime recipes.
0:49:03 > 0:49:05Pie and vegetables, please.
0:49:06 > 0:49:08There you go, thank you.
0:49:08 > 0:49:11Many people struggled to eat during the war.
0:49:11 > 0:49:16The Ministry of Food set up canteens called British Restaurants
0:49:16 > 0:49:17for people in work.
0:49:19 > 0:49:23They served basic food such as shepherd's pie.
0:49:23 > 0:49:27It was famously dull but dependable.
0:49:27 > 0:49:31The Ministry of Food also allowed commercial restaurants to stay open
0:49:31 > 0:49:37but restricted them to charging no more than five shillings a meal.
0:49:39 > 0:49:43They found their own creative ways to work with limited ingredients.
0:49:43 > 0:49:48My mother recalled being served horse meat masquerading as steak.
0:49:48 > 0:49:54Her friend couldn't stomach it so my mother ate hers as well.
0:49:55 > 0:49:58Hmm, not bad. Not bad.
0:49:58 > 0:50:01- Do you like it? - It has a really bad aftertaste.
0:50:01 > 0:50:03THEY CHATTER
0:50:07 > 0:50:12I wonder if any of the simple food passes muster with these girls.
0:50:12 > 0:50:13Who had the nettle soup?
0:50:14 > 0:50:16What did you think of it?
0:50:16 > 0:50:19Well, I didn't like it at first but it grew on me.
0:50:19 > 0:50:21I really didn't like it.
0:50:21 > 0:50:22I can see that.
0:50:24 > 0:50:26And what did we think of the fish cakes?
0:50:26 > 0:50:28I liked it at first but like, it really...
0:50:28 > 0:50:30it had a really bad aftertaste so...
0:50:30 > 0:50:32And the pie?
0:50:32 > 0:50:34I thought the egg and the bacon was really nice
0:50:34 > 0:50:37but the pastry was a bit stodgy and it had a kind of weird texture
0:50:37 > 0:50:39but other than that, I ate the whole thing.
0:50:39 > 0:50:41I really liked the dripping cake.
0:50:41 > 0:50:44I thought maybe it wouldn't taste like, that sweet
0:50:44 > 0:50:46because it's from sort of beef, but I really liked it.
0:50:46 > 0:50:49It tastes a lot like mince pies as well, so I really liked it.
0:50:49 > 0:50:52So it seems to me that generally you thought it was better than
0:50:52 > 0:50:55you'd imagined it was going to be, even if you wouldn't rush
0:50:55 > 0:50:57to do it again, is that right?
0:50:57 > 0:51:00ALL: Yes.
0:51:00 > 0:51:02With the exception of the dripping cake,
0:51:02 > 0:51:05which seemed to be favourably received.
0:51:05 > 0:51:08Just think back to your grandmothers probably
0:51:08 > 0:51:13who were coping with such situations like that in wartime,
0:51:13 > 0:51:18and I think that we should all give the cooks a big round of applause.
0:51:18 > 0:51:21- THEY APPLAUD - Well done.
0:51:29 > 0:51:34Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when rationing ended in 1954.
0:51:36 > 0:51:41Our diets were then changed to buy a new import from overseas -
0:51:41 > 0:51:45not an ingredient but an idea, supermarkets,
0:51:45 > 0:51:49making lunch a much easier proposition.
0:51:51 > 0:51:55Sliced bread had first appeared in the 1920s
0:51:55 > 0:51:58but it was the Chorleywood baking process,
0:51:58 > 0:52:01devised in Britain in the early 1960s,
0:52:01 > 0:52:04that gave bread a longer shelf life
0:52:04 > 0:52:08and so fuelled the rise of the sandwich.
0:52:13 > 0:52:18Could the Fourth Earl of Sandwich have ever imagined
0:52:18 > 0:52:23his titanic culinary legacy when he wanted to speed up his work day?
0:52:23 > 0:52:26I've eaten my fair share of sandwiches
0:52:26 > 0:52:28but would never buy them pre-packaged.
0:52:30 > 0:52:35One in four of us buys a sandwich for lunch every day.
0:52:36 > 0:52:41We spend a staggering £6 billion on them a year.
0:52:41 > 0:52:46The most popular selling lines are anything with chicken
0:52:46 > 0:52:49and prawn mayonnaise.
0:52:49 > 0:52:55With so many options to choose from, sandwiches are big business.
0:52:57 > 0:53:02Sandwich designers compete to put new fillings on the shelves.
0:53:03 > 0:53:07There are even awards for the most inventive sandwiches.
0:53:07 > 0:53:10Tom Allen has won some of the top prizes.
0:53:14 > 0:53:19I'm meeting him at his sandwich research laboratory.
0:53:22 > 0:53:26- Hello, are you Tom? - Hi, Clarissa. Nice to meet you.
0:53:26 > 0:53:28- Hello, how do you do? - Good, thank you, good.
0:53:28 > 0:53:30Good. What are you up to?
0:53:30 > 0:53:33Today, I'm just working on a little upgrade on the classic
0:53:33 > 0:53:36New York deli sandwich to try and make it a bit more exciting,
0:53:36 > 0:53:39so I'm putting a bit of caraway seed into the mustard dressing.
0:53:39 > 0:53:41- May I?- Yes.
0:53:43 > 0:53:45That's nice.
0:53:45 > 0:53:49What's the most popular sandwich you've ever designed?
0:53:49 > 0:53:51One of the sandwiches that I've been involved in
0:53:51 > 0:53:56was generating £1 million of sales in a week for just one sandwich.
0:53:56 > 0:53:57No, what was that?
0:53:57 > 0:53:59It was a classic turkey stuffing.
0:53:59 > 0:54:02So, yeah, no, nothing complicated
0:54:02 > 0:54:04but it's just a good old classic, really,
0:54:04 > 0:54:06and some really good quality ingredients in there.
0:54:06 > 0:54:10I heard that you designed the world's most,
0:54:10 > 0:54:14how would you say it, amazing, exotic, favourite sandwich?
0:54:14 > 0:54:17I was in a competition which was held in Australia
0:54:17 > 0:54:21and I won the World's Greatest Sandwich.
0:54:21 > 0:54:22Right, show me. OK.
0:54:26 > 0:54:28So it's not all bad news.
0:54:28 > 0:54:31Even if lunch is mostly shrunk down
0:54:31 > 0:54:34to consuming convenience food in a hurry,
0:54:34 > 0:54:38I can see there's still plenty of room for creativity.
0:54:45 > 0:54:50Tom's award-winning sandwich is a clever take on the beef Wellington.
0:54:50 > 0:54:53We're just getting a nice bit of caramelisation there
0:54:53 > 0:54:56and the butteriness is supposed to be like
0:54:56 > 0:54:58the all-butter pastry in a beef Wellington.
0:55:00 > 0:55:03With beef as a primary ingredient,
0:55:03 > 0:55:06I'm sure the Fourth Earl of Sandwich would approve.
0:55:17 > 0:55:23And the secret winning ingredient is horseradish ice cream.
0:55:24 > 0:55:25This is how it would have been presented to
0:55:25 > 0:55:29the judges in the competition, with the ice cream just starting to melt
0:55:29 > 0:55:31over the caramelised shallot beetroot chutney
0:55:31 > 0:55:33and then the hot beef with the porcini.
0:55:33 > 0:55:36I think the ice cream is so clever.
0:55:37 > 0:55:39Hmm.
0:55:40 > 0:55:43Really interesting, I'm not surprised you won.
0:55:43 > 0:55:45Thank you.
0:55:45 > 0:55:47Well done.
0:55:47 > 0:55:50Despite his sandwich being the norm for many, there is,
0:55:50 > 0:55:52I'm happy to say,
0:55:52 > 0:55:57one day of the week when we give lunch its proper due.
0:56:00 > 0:56:03Sunday lunch, whether we eat it at home or in a restaurant
0:56:03 > 0:56:08like this one in North London, is not simply about refuelling
0:56:08 > 0:56:12but a relaxed communal experience centring on a well-cooked meal.
0:56:19 > 0:56:22When I was a child, my mother would always invite a guest
0:56:22 > 0:56:25and serve us a wonderful cut of meat.
0:56:29 > 0:56:34The Sunday roast is a cornerstone of our food culture.
0:56:34 > 0:56:38Some think it developed during the Industrial Revolution
0:56:38 > 0:56:42when Yorkshire families left a cut of meat in the oven before church
0:56:42 > 0:56:46to be ready to eat when they hurried back home.
0:56:51 > 0:56:55Or it may have derived from the much older medieval tradition
0:56:55 > 0:56:59of roasting an ox or some other animal on high days and holidays
0:56:59 > 0:57:03when religious feasts were regular events.
0:57:05 > 0:57:11Chicken was the most expensive thing you could buy for a Sunday lunch.
0:57:12 > 0:57:16- Absolutely delicious.- Isn't it? - Really good.
0:57:16 > 0:57:20I think Sunday lunch is a vitally important tradition because it
0:57:20 > 0:57:26reminds us of all that is best about our old food customs.
0:57:26 > 0:57:29Customs that once applied to every daytime meal,
0:57:29 > 0:57:32whatever we might choose to call it.
0:57:33 > 0:57:38This to me is very reminiscent of the medieval meal.
0:57:38 > 0:57:42It's local produce, cooked with care,
0:57:42 > 0:57:46people take the time to talk to one another,
0:57:46 > 0:57:48to enjoy one another's company,
0:57:48 > 0:57:53to share it with their families and just generally get together.
0:57:53 > 0:57:57Although this is possibly one of the very few times
0:57:57 > 0:57:59that we now eat this sort of lunch,
0:57:59 > 0:58:05I long for the day when it isn't quite such a special occasion.
0:58:05 > 0:58:10Our medieval ancestors knew the value of stopping to eat
0:58:10 > 0:58:13a proper meal in the middle of every day of the week,
0:58:13 > 0:58:17and I think we would be well advised to remember that.
0:58:17 > 0:58:20I'd urge everyone, whenever possible,
0:58:20 > 0:58:23to take time to enjoy a good lunch.
0:58:26 > 0:58:31Next week I'll be looking at dinner, our biggest meal of the day.
0:58:32 > 0:58:38It's not just about food, but social aspirations and showing off.
0:58:52 > 0:58:55Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd