0:00:02 > 0:00:03Meet the Robshaws - Brandon, Rochelle,
0:00:03 > 0:00:06Miranda, Ros and Fred.
0:00:07 > 0:00:10They've been back in time before...
0:00:11 > 0:00:14..and experienced the transformation in our diets from the 1950s
0:00:14 > 0:00:16to the 1990s.
0:00:16 > 0:00:19That is just amazing. Look at them!
0:00:20 > 0:00:22But this time they went further back,
0:00:22 > 0:00:25to the first half of the 20th century...
0:00:26 > 0:00:29..and discovered how changes in the food we ate...
0:00:29 > 0:00:31Oh, my good Lord. Is it brains?!
0:00:31 > 0:00:33..the way it was served,
0:00:33 > 0:00:34and how it was cooked...
0:00:34 > 0:00:37Yes, I'm cooking the pudding in the sink.
0:00:37 > 0:00:38Why?
0:00:38 > 0:00:40..helped to change the course of history.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44- Starting in the 1900s... - Oh, my goodness!
0:00:45 > 0:00:48..this Victorian house was their time machine...
0:00:48 > 0:00:51What is that? It looks like a giant hand grenade.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54..fast-forwarding them through a new year each day.
0:00:54 > 0:00:551941, everyone!
0:00:55 > 0:00:57From strict etiquette...
0:00:57 > 0:00:59I need to practise my bowing.
0:01:02 > 0:01:04..to new fads and flavours.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08It's not that bad. Dad!
0:01:09 > 0:01:12- From far too much... - I think I've got the meat sweats.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15- ..to not enough... - Doesn't look like a fried egg.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19- Argh! No! - Can you eat that?- No.
0:01:19 > 0:01:22..as they discovered how a revolution in our eating habits
0:01:22 > 0:01:25helped create the modern family.
0:01:26 > 0:01:29Now, at the end of their time-travelling adventure,
0:01:29 > 0:01:32I'll be exploring the impact it's had on the Robshaws...
0:01:32 > 0:01:34It's a taste explosion.
0:01:34 > 0:01:35..and discovering just how much
0:01:35 > 0:01:37their eating experiences of the past...
0:01:37 > 0:01:39- Oh, my...- Wow!
0:01:39 > 0:01:41It's bacon, isn't it?
0:01:41 > 0:01:43That's disgusting.
0:01:44 > 0:01:46..still live on today.
0:01:46 > 0:01:48That is really nice.
0:01:56 > 0:02:00It's 70 years since we left the Robshaws surviving on rations
0:02:00 > 0:02:03in 1949, and the way we live now, eating what we want,
0:02:03 > 0:02:07where we want, when we want, feels a lifetime away.
0:02:07 > 0:02:11I want to look more closely at the 50 years the family lived through
0:02:11 > 0:02:13because I think many of our modern eating habits
0:02:13 > 0:02:15actually have their roots in that period,
0:02:15 > 0:02:18and the knock-on effects of that time are still being felt
0:02:18 > 0:02:21in our kitchens and around our dinner tables today.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26I think what's interesting is that the Edwardians ate so much.
0:02:26 > 0:02:30I think there was a lot of show involved in what you were eating.
0:02:30 > 0:02:32It was so different.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35The formality of it, the stiffness of it.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38And as time progressed and things kind of relaxed,
0:02:38 > 0:02:41it started to feel more like modern family life.
0:02:41 > 0:02:43- Oh, my goodness.- Oh, wow.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46I think what was most interesting about going from the massive amounts
0:02:46 > 0:02:49of food to rationing was the short amount of time it took place in.
0:02:49 > 0:02:51Barely 40 years.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53- Tomatoes on toast.- Yes.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58The family have experienced first-hand the transformation
0:02:58 > 0:03:02in the way we lived and ate from 1900
0:03:02 > 0:03:04to 1949.
0:03:04 > 0:03:06- What?!- This is lovely!
0:03:06 > 0:03:08I can't believe it.
0:03:09 > 0:03:11'Throughout their 50 years of time travel,
0:03:11 > 0:03:13'cookery books and historical surveys
0:03:13 > 0:03:15'guided their entire experience...'
0:03:16 > 0:03:19I can't help noticing that the potatoes are measured in pecks.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22They are going to eat and eat and eat.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25'..revealing the dramatic changes to our diets and homes
0:03:25 > 0:03:27'through the period.'
0:03:27 > 0:03:31Probably the worst can-opening skills ever.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34Oh, my goodness me. I don't like the look of that.
0:03:34 > 0:03:36Is it an early form of a pressure cooker?
0:03:38 > 0:03:41I'm meeting social historian Polly Russell
0:03:41 > 0:03:43to chart the change the Robshaws experienced
0:03:43 > 0:03:45and see how the legacy of the past
0:03:45 > 0:03:47lives on in our kitchens today.
0:03:48 > 0:03:52It's amazing to think than when we last saw the Robshaws in the 1940s,
0:03:52 > 0:03:54they had nothing in terms of utensils and tools.
0:03:54 > 0:03:56It had all been sent off to be melted down
0:03:56 > 0:03:58to be turned into munitions.
0:03:58 > 0:04:00Here we are, 70 years on,
0:04:00 > 0:04:02and the kitchen is now full of stuff.
0:04:02 > 0:04:03Yeah, absolutely.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07The kitchen now is such a place of convenience and ease.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10But I think we shouldn't think that before the war
0:04:10 > 0:04:13was a sort of dark ages of cooking in the kitchen.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16In fact, what our experiment has shown is that lots of things
0:04:16 > 0:04:19that happened in the 1920s and 1930s in particular
0:04:19 > 0:04:21have links with what we do now.
0:04:21 > 0:04:23This sort of thing is completely new, isn't it?
0:04:23 > 0:04:26This whizzing machine for turning kale and cabbage
0:04:26 > 0:04:27into a green smoothie?
0:04:27 > 0:04:29It's a new piece of technology, certainly,
0:04:29 > 0:04:33but the reason it's popular is the same reason that something like
0:04:33 > 0:04:37the Easiwork health cooker in the 1930s was popular -
0:04:37 > 0:04:40because it was promising to make you more healthy.
0:04:44 > 0:04:45Ooh!
0:04:46 > 0:04:48As the Robshaws discovered,
0:04:48 > 0:04:50our desire to embrace the latest gadgets
0:04:50 > 0:04:53and food fads isn't something new.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56"Oh, I am a festive chafing dish.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59"I foam and froth and bubble.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02"I sing the song of meat and fish..."
0:05:02 > 0:05:04That's a good song.
0:05:04 > 0:05:05"..and I'm a great deal of trouble."
0:05:05 > 0:05:07- "Save"! - "I save a great deal of trouble."
0:05:07 > 0:05:10Oh, it's like a magic pot.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14It wasn't just about the latest cookery kit.
0:05:14 > 0:05:16Eating the right food was another way
0:05:16 > 0:05:19for middle-class Edwardian families to show off their status -
0:05:19 > 0:05:21and more was always more.
0:05:22 > 0:05:24Quail, sir.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26The courses just keep coming and coming!
0:05:26 > 0:05:30As a family, there is no way that we would think
0:05:30 > 0:05:34of consuming the amount that we ate during the Edwardian period.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36They couldn't have eaten like this every night, could they?
0:05:36 > 0:05:38Blimey.
0:05:38 > 0:05:40People would think we'd gone absolutely mad
0:05:40 > 0:05:42or we're turning into weightlifters.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44Meaty, meat-meat.
0:05:44 > 0:05:48It's a meat heavy meal, isn't it? I think I've got the meat sweats.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52On average, a middle-class Edwardian
0:05:52 > 0:05:55ate a monstrous 3,500 calories every day.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58That's way over today's recommended daily allowance.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01How would you feel if you had to eat a meal like this every day?
0:06:01 > 0:06:04- How would you feel? - I think I'd feel ill.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06There was nothing green.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08There was no vegetables, there was no salad.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13There's just so much meat. Meat after meat after meat.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15Get out of here! What...?
0:06:15 > 0:06:18- That is just... - Is it steak?- Incredible.
0:06:18 > 0:06:19Steak? It's a whole cow!
0:06:19 > 0:06:22- Anything else?- An ambulance, please.
0:06:25 > 0:06:28Such a meat-heavy diet meant that the Robshaw women
0:06:28 > 0:06:32wholeheartedly welcomed the radical food trend of the 1910s,
0:06:32 > 0:06:35when they tried a vegetarian dinner popularised by the suffragettes.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38Feels almost like a relief to be cooking something
0:06:38 > 0:06:40without any meat in it.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43I really enjoyed the vegetarian food.
0:06:43 > 0:06:45I don't feel absolutely full.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48I don't feel greasy,
0:06:48 > 0:06:53like I have done when we've eaten, sort of, six-course meat dinners.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58In the 1920s, the Robshaws' Virginia Woolf-inspired dinner party
0:06:58 > 0:07:00followed a new, aspirational trend
0:07:00 > 0:07:03for exotic dishes and flavours from abroad.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05It's an expensive menu.
0:07:05 > 0:07:07You've got something like fennel,
0:07:07 > 0:07:09there's saffron, which was an expensive spice.
0:07:09 > 0:07:11All very sophisticated.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13It tastes different.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17It doesn't taste like roast beef and Yorkshire pudding today.
0:07:17 > 0:07:22We have that same fascination with groups of people who we perceive
0:07:22 > 0:07:25as being better than us and have a better lifestyle than us.
0:07:25 > 0:07:27Ooh-la-la! What have we got here?
0:07:27 > 0:07:29This is a risotto.
0:07:29 > 0:07:31- Oh, I say.- Lovely!
0:07:31 > 0:07:33Doesn't that look delicious?
0:07:35 > 0:07:38By the 1930s, food fashions had moved on again
0:07:38 > 0:07:40and it was all about eating healthily,
0:07:40 > 0:07:42with vegetables and salads at the top of the menu.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45- It's all sort of very fresh. - Mmm.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48The thing that I was most surprised about was the salads
0:07:48 > 0:07:51and the folk tradition of English food in the 1930s,
0:07:51 > 0:07:53using fruits in salads.
0:07:53 > 0:07:57It's something that you would associate with modern cooking.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01I was just surprised that that was something that went so far back.
0:08:01 > 0:08:06The nasturtium salad has a dressing with nasturtium pods in it.
0:08:06 > 0:08:11This seems like very, sort of, light, sophisticated food.
0:08:12 > 0:08:16The '30s did strike me as a very modern decade.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18There's an abundance of vegetables,
0:08:18 > 0:08:23there was an interest in health and being, sort of, fit.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28As the middle classes of the '30s became body conscious...
0:08:28 > 0:08:32'Clap, swing, clap, swing, clap, swing.'
0:08:32 > 0:08:35..magazines and books promoted new ways of eating,
0:08:35 > 0:08:38like the glamorously named Hollywood diet.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40- Take one.- Do I have to? - Yes, you have to.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44I guess it was called the Hollywood diet,
0:08:44 > 0:08:46because the idea was that you would emulate
0:08:46 > 0:08:48these beautiful stars of Hollywood,
0:08:48 > 0:08:52so people were becoming body conscious back in the 1930s.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54- Do you not like grapefruit? - I detest grapefruit.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57- Do you?- Because they are so tart! They are so sour.
0:08:58 > 0:09:00Urgh!
0:09:00 > 0:09:02It's not that bad. Dad!
0:09:02 > 0:09:05It is. I'd rather be fat, to be honest.
0:09:08 > 0:09:12We're still surrounded by healthy food fads and fashions today.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15But, as in the past, following the latest culinary trend
0:09:15 > 0:09:18is a luxury reserved for those who can afford
0:09:18 > 0:09:20to buy the right ingredients.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23From Atkins to raw food, even the blood group diet,
0:09:23 > 0:09:25it seems we're fascinated with finding new ways
0:09:25 > 0:09:28to eat ourselves healthier.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31We've got Eat Dirt, we've got The Gut Makeover.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34Even Gluten Attack.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37With so many new food fads to choose from,
0:09:37 > 0:09:41I'm sending the Robshaws to find out more about some of the most popular
0:09:41 > 0:09:44health trends of today with dietician Laura Clark.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46Welcome to the modern kitchen.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49So, there are lots of people now who write about nutrition,
0:09:49 > 0:09:53tweet about nutrition and everybody has an opinion about nutrition,
0:09:53 > 0:09:55because everybody eats.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58Today, we're going to look at some popular trends
0:09:58 > 0:10:00and you are going to delve into three of them
0:10:00 > 0:10:02and see what you make of them.
0:10:02 > 0:10:07First up, the girls try out one of Google's most searched-for diets.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12So, the Paleo diet is based on what our ancestors would have eaten.
0:10:12 > 0:10:162.5 million years ago, they would have been hunting, fishing,
0:10:16 > 0:10:18gathering, foraging for stuff.
0:10:18 > 0:10:22So out of the diet comes any processed food,
0:10:22 > 0:10:24anything which has got lots of sugar in it.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28I think as the decades went on, people became more and more aware
0:10:28 > 0:10:32of...what they were putting in their bodies.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35I think that's something that carries through to today,
0:10:35 > 0:10:37when you see...
0:10:37 > 0:10:39When everybody's looking for the next new diet,
0:10:39 > 0:10:41the next new fad, the superfood.
0:10:42 > 0:10:46On the menu is wild salmon with spinach, broccoli and courgette.
0:10:47 > 0:10:49With a modern twist.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52- Oh, my God.- Wow.
0:10:52 > 0:10:54Isn't that the best?
0:10:54 > 0:10:57The spiralizer is an up-to-the-minute kitchen gadget,
0:10:57 > 0:11:00promising to create a version of off-limits pasta
0:11:00 > 0:11:02from virtuous vegetables.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05I knew that courgetti spaghetti was a thing,
0:11:05 > 0:11:07- but I've never had it. - It's clever, isn't it?
0:11:07 > 0:11:11Much of the Paleo's popularity is based on being low in carbohydrate
0:11:11 > 0:11:13and high in protein.
0:11:13 > 0:11:16So, the tablespoon of avocado oil.
0:11:16 > 0:11:18- What side down does it go? - Skin-side down.
0:11:18 > 0:11:24It kind of makes sense to me that you would only eat natural foods.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27There's something kind of ironic about the fact
0:11:27 > 0:11:31that back in the '40s, we were, sort of, forced to do without
0:11:31 > 0:11:34certain foods and had to eat what whatever was there
0:11:34 > 0:11:36and now we're in a position where we have so much
0:11:36 > 0:11:38that we actually have to restrict ourselves.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41- A+ presentation.- Thanks.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44THEY LAUGH
0:11:46 > 0:11:48First of all, we want a cup of milk.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51Meanwhile, Brandon and Fred investigate fermenting.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54A diet that is high in friendly microbes
0:11:54 > 0:11:56is said to help develop a healthy gut.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00Then we want one teaspoon of this stuff.
0:12:01 > 0:12:06First up is kefir, a drink made of milk and live bacterial grains
0:12:06 > 0:12:08that originally comes from eastern Europe.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11Don't put a lid on, otherwise it will blow up.
0:12:11 > 0:12:13Will it actually blow up?
0:12:13 > 0:12:16If you put a lid on, there will be a build-up of carbon dioxide
0:12:16 > 0:12:19as it ferments and it could cause the jar to burst.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22- So is it fizzy?- Yeah. - It becomes fizzy?- Yeah.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24- Fizzy milk?- Yeah. Fizzy milk.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27Now we just put that in a cool, dark place.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30Leaving the drink to ferment allows bacteria to grow
0:12:30 > 0:12:33which are believed to help our bodies absorb nutrients
0:12:33 > 0:12:35and break down food more easily.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39I suppose we tend to think of dieting
0:12:39 > 0:12:42as quite a modern, faddy idea.
0:12:42 > 0:12:44In an affluent society, people have too much food to eat,
0:12:44 > 0:12:46and therefore they need to go on diets.
0:12:46 > 0:12:49But people were already becoming health conscious
0:12:49 > 0:12:52and followed specific diets in the 1930s.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54Right, kimchi.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57Two-and-a-half pounds of cabbage.
0:12:57 > 0:13:01Korea's favourite dish is gaining popularity in the UK.
0:13:01 > 0:13:05It's fermented cabbage with radish, ginger, spring onions and garlic.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08High in fibre, calcium and iron.
0:13:09 > 0:13:11It smells good, though, doesn't it?
0:13:11 > 0:13:14- Do you just eat it like that? - Well, that's now got to ferment.
0:13:14 > 0:13:17- Go mouldy?- Well, sort of, yeah.
0:13:17 > 0:13:19This seems a bit science-y,
0:13:19 > 0:13:22putting things away to have chemical reactions
0:13:22 > 0:13:24over a certain period of time,
0:13:24 > 0:13:27which is calculated to have a certain kind of chemical effect
0:13:27 > 0:13:29upon the bacteria in your gut.
0:13:29 > 0:13:30But I think we're lucky -
0:13:30 > 0:13:32thanks to the work of the scientists,
0:13:32 > 0:13:35we know a lot more than we did and we can benefit from that.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39Such a scientific approach isn't a new thing,
0:13:39 > 0:13:42as Rochelle found out with her state-of-the-art pressure cooker
0:13:42 > 0:13:43in the 1930s.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46They look like they're in a laboratory,
0:13:46 > 0:13:48working away on some sort of secret...
0:13:49 > 0:13:51..sort of, meal.
0:13:51 > 0:13:53"Clamp on the lid of the cooker."
0:13:53 > 0:13:56Although perhaps not so user-friendly,
0:13:56 > 0:13:57it promised to make you healthier
0:13:57 > 0:14:00by preserving the nutrients in your food.
0:14:00 > 0:14:02I can't remember how it went on.
0:14:02 > 0:14:03Ah, that's it.
0:14:04 > 0:14:07WHISTLING
0:14:07 > 0:14:09It's whistling.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14Today's modern health gadget also claims to keep all the goodness
0:14:14 > 0:14:16in your food, but this time, in liquid form.
0:14:17 > 0:14:21I haven't really juiced much, so I'm...
0:14:22 > 0:14:24..assuming you just put it in one at a time.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47I think once a fad becomes born,
0:14:47 > 0:14:51with the fad comes a gadget.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55We saw, in the '30s, there was an abundance of fruit and vegetables
0:14:55 > 0:14:57in the middle-class diet.
0:14:57 > 0:15:01I can certainly imagine somebody getting their hands on a juicer
0:15:01 > 0:15:03and thinking this is a...
0:15:03 > 0:15:09This is...an exciting, modern way to, sort of...become healthy.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14Experimentation over, it's time to judge the results.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17So, shall we start with the kimchi?
0:15:17 > 0:15:20Obviously, fermenting is a bit of a long process,
0:15:20 > 0:15:22so this is one that we've previously prepared.
0:15:23 > 0:15:25Mmm!
0:15:25 > 0:15:27- It's really nice.- So nice.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30- It's like pumped-up sauerkraut. - This is absolutely lovely, I think.
0:15:30 > 0:15:34- It's delicious.- I want to get this in my guts as much as possible.
0:15:34 > 0:15:36We better try this kefir now, then.
0:15:36 > 0:15:38You're pouring it very...kefir-ly.
0:15:38 > 0:15:39LAUGHTER AND GROANING
0:15:43 > 0:15:45Tastes like milk.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47- Smells like yoghurt.- It's nice.
0:15:48 > 0:15:50So, let's try the Paleo diet.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52A caveman wouldn't have had that though, would he?
0:15:52 > 0:15:56This is taking principles from our ancestors, but obviously,
0:15:56 > 0:16:01courgetti would be absolutely unheard of 2.5 million years ago...
0:16:02 > 0:16:04..to say the least!
0:16:05 > 0:16:09I think as this market for eating healthily,
0:16:09 > 0:16:14sort of, like, gathers force, food becomes something else.
0:16:14 > 0:16:16A food isn't just to make you live,
0:16:16 > 0:16:20it's to help you live a certain way.
0:16:23 > 0:16:25There was little interest in eating healthily
0:16:25 > 0:16:28at the start of the experiment and all the food had to be produced
0:16:28 > 0:16:31from the Robshaws' very basic Edwardian kitchen.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33It's proper old.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35Oh, my goodness!
0:16:36 > 0:16:38- It is totally wooden.- Oh, wow.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41There's lots of wiry gadgets.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45With no electricity and rudimentary equipment,
0:16:45 > 0:16:48cooking was a long and labour-intensive process.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52Luckily for Rochelle, she didn't have to do any of it.
0:16:54 > 0:16:56Like all aspirational middle-class families
0:16:56 > 0:16:58set on establishing their status,
0:16:58 > 0:17:01the Robshaws had a maid to create the elaborate meals
0:17:01 > 0:17:04that demonstrated their impeccable taste.
0:17:04 > 0:17:07I've done the aspic jelly, I've done the mayonnaise.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10The chicken is in, poaching.
0:17:10 > 0:17:12I need to do green butter.
0:17:12 > 0:17:15Green beans, boiled potatoes, chicken sauce, roasted quail
0:17:15 > 0:17:17and then gravy.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20When I started this, I knew that I'd be doing a lot of work,
0:17:20 > 0:17:22but I didn't expect it to be so...
0:17:22 > 0:17:25I don't know, for them to eat so much food on a normal day.
0:17:25 > 0:17:30There's a lot. A lot to do for one person.
0:17:30 > 0:17:34However, as a modern family, having a servant took some getting used to.
0:17:35 > 0:17:39I don't think that I'm going to miss being in the kitchen.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42But when I was introduced to Debbie,
0:17:42 > 0:17:44I actually felt a little bit shocked.
0:17:44 > 0:17:48I really don't want to ring the bell.
0:17:48 > 0:17:49I can't bring myself to ring it.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53I just feel uncomfortable sounding a bell to call upon someone.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55She expects us to, doesn't she?
0:17:55 > 0:17:59Well, I'll ask her if she would like me to ring the bell...
0:17:59 > 0:18:02No, no... Don't ask them if you want them to ring the bell.
0:18:02 > 0:18:06I suppose I'd always dreamed of having a maid, you know,
0:18:06 > 0:18:08in my contemporary life.
0:18:08 > 0:18:10It thought that would be really quite nice.
0:18:10 > 0:18:15But actually having a physical, living being as your maid,
0:18:15 > 0:18:18that was quite an adjustment to make.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21- There's your mutton. - Lovely. Thank you very much.
0:18:21 > 0:18:25But when the time came for her to leave in 1915...
0:18:25 > 0:18:27You're handing in your notice, Debbie.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29..it made a big impact.
0:18:30 > 0:18:32Have we got to do the washing up now?
0:18:32 > 0:18:34It's not we.
0:18:34 > 0:18:35It's me.
0:18:35 > 0:18:40It's just the pan... It's just... I know she used a lot of pans...
0:18:41 > 0:18:44Servantless, Rochelle was left to find her way around the kitchen
0:18:44 > 0:18:46for the very first time.
0:18:49 > 0:18:51It's not the right one.
0:18:55 > 0:18:58Must be the wrong sort of candle.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01Once Debbie left, then, because I cannot cook like Debbie,
0:19:01 > 0:19:04the food becomes slowly, slowly more simplified.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07They're not quite poaching effectively.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11Debbie knows everything, but she's gone.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14And she didn't tell me how to poach an egg.
0:19:14 > 0:19:16I think they're done.
0:19:16 > 0:19:18Poached eggs, I say.
0:19:18 > 0:19:22They're not cooked. I can see the white liquid...
0:19:22 > 0:19:24You don't have to have that.
0:19:24 > 0:19:26Would you like some porridge?
0:19:27 > 0:19:30Life without servants left many 1920s housewives
0:19:30 > 0:19:32fending for themselves.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35But preparing meals was made much more convenient
0:19:35 > 0:19:37by one method of preserving food...
0:19:39 > 0:19:41Tins.
0:19:41 > 0:19:43I think having cans
0:19:43 > 0:19:47was an extraordinary time-saving liberation.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50But if you have problems opening them,
0:19:50 > 0:19:52then it's obviously not so great.
0:19:53 > 0:19:55Luckily, I could open the cans.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59Before the First World War, tinned food was a luxury.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02But as new canning factories opened in the 1920s,
0:20:02 > 0:20:05manufacturing techniques made it possible to preserve
0:20:05 > 0:20:09almost any food this way at a price that everyone could afford.
0:20:09 > 0:20:10It's fairly no-frills.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13As many former maids found new work after the war,
0:20:13 > 0:20:15this speedy way of cooking became a godsend
0:20:15 > 0:20:18for housewives with few culinary skills,
0:20:18 > 0:20:22which meant women like Rochelle could prepare a whole meal
0:20:22 > 0:20:24without breaking a sweat.
0:20:27 > 0:20:28Here you go.
0:20:28 > 0:20:32So this is all out of tins? Except the bread, I suppose.
0:20:32 > 0:20:33Yes.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36Tins was a blessing, much like we have takeaway food here
0:20:36 > 0:20:38in our contemporary lives.
0:20:38 > 0:20:40It's easy and it's convenient.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43And sometimes you wouldn't want to spend
0:20:43 > 0:20:45hours and hours and hours in the kitchen.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48What do people think about having a meal all out of tins?
0:20:48 > 0:20:50It's been quite nice.
0:20:50 > 0:20:54But I don't know if the tinned vegetables work quite so well.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57Though not the same as fresh produce,
0:20:57 > 0:21:00the brilliance of the can was its ability to preserve food
0:21:00 > 0:21:02in and out of season,
0:21:02 > 0:21:04and this popular '20s convenience food
0:21:04 > 0:21:06has been filling up Britain's shelves ever since.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16Since the 1940s, we've seen an explosion in convenience food.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19We've gone from humble cans to frozen food
0:21:19 > 0:21:21to microwaveable ready meals.
0:21:21 > 0:21:23Preserving food has never gone out of fashion,
0:21:23 > 0:21:26though convenience has developed a bit of a bad name.
0:21:26 > 0:21:30But have we forgotten the joys to be found in a simple tin?
0:21:31 > 0:21:34To show how they're often unfairly overlooked,
0:21:34 > 0:21:37Polly is bringing the Robshaws the ingredients for a modern take
0:21:37 > 0:21:39on a canned dinner.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41- Hello.- Hi. Welcome.
0:21:41 > 0:21:45I've brought you a bag of food that is going to be quite familiar to you
0:21:45 > 0:21:48from the 1920s, which is a bag of cans.
0:21:48 > 0:21:54Why do you think they do have quite a low status in the cooking world?
0:21:54 > 0:21:56Well, I think in our contemporary times,
0:21:56 > 0:21:59anything that's in a can is seen to be not fresh.
0:21:59 > 0:22:03We do use tinned tomatoes, we do have baked beans,
0:22:03 > 0:22:05we do use tinned pulses,
0:22:05 > 0:22:08but I'd rather buy it fresh if I can.
0:22:08 > 0:22:10There are some things that you want to have fresh
0:22:10 > 0:22:11because they taste nicer.
0:22:11 > 0:22:15And I think that fresh food is just perceived as being better quality,
0:22:15 > 0:22:17even though canned food is a fantastic way
0:22:17 > 0:22:22of preserving the flavour, and also the nutritional quality.
0:22:22 > 0:22:24And I think that, to some extent,
0:22:24 > 0:22:27we've forgotten how lovely food can be from a can.
0:22:27 > 0:22:29I'm going to try and persuade you of that
0:22:29 > 0:22:33with some maybe slightly more unusual ingredients.
0:22:33 > 0:22:37- There's a recipe in the bag, so have a nice evening.- Thanks.- Bye.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41OK.
0:22:41 > 0:22:43Smoked mussel and tomato spaghetti.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46I wouldn't want to smoke a mussel.
0:22:46 > 0:22:48I'm trying to give up!
0:22:53 > 0:22:55That's easy, isn't it?
0:22:55 > 0:22:58For their modern take on the convenience dinner,
0:22:58 > 0:23:01the main ingredients are chopped tomatoes and smoked mussels,
0:23:01 > 0:23:03both from cans.
0:23:03 > 0:23:07And this time, tin opening isn't the challenge it once was.
0:23:09 > 0:23:11That is just, like, modern design.
0:23:11 > 0:23:16Taken off with no fuss, no stress, no anxiety.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19And there they are, just ready to be used.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22You know, an idiot could do this.
0:23:22 > 0:23:26I do like mussels. I've never seen them in a tin like that before.
0:23:28 > 0:23:31No longer limited to Spam, peas and potatoes,
0:23:31 > 0:23:37we can now choose from over 1,500 different foods packaged in cans.
0:23:37 > 0:23:38PEAR-fect.
0:23:38 > 0:23:42For dessert, Miranda is sauteing two cans of pears
0:23:42 > 0:23:46with an ingredient that is less often found in a tin - chestnuts.
0:23:46 > 0:23:48They look a bit wrinkly and weird.
0:23:48 > 0:23:53But I think preparing chestnuts is kind of a fancyish dessert.
0:23:53 > 0:23:57It has got interesting flavours. Chestnuts, you don't see very often.
0:23:58 > 0:24:01- I think that's going to be nice. - I think so too.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05The latest trend for gourmet canned food like muscles and chestnuts
0:24:05 > 0:24:08means that the Robshaws can make an adventurous dinner in minutes,
0:24:08 > 0:24:12compared to the hours Debbie spent in their Edwardian kitchen.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15This is tinned mussel spaghetti...
0:24:15 > 0:24:18- Tinned?! - I think it looks rather good.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22- No, it's really nice.- Mmm. - No, I like this.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25I think in the '20s, they went overboard on it.
0:24:25 > 0:24:26It's like, everything, was tinned.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29But here, I think the tins have been used judiciously
0:24:29 > 0:24:32with fresh ingredients and it's nice.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36So I suppose, really, with a tin, you can make anything, can't you?
0:24:36 > 0:24:38Yeah, any time of year.
0:24:38 > 0:24:41Mussels have a season. You only eat them when there's an R in the month.
0:24:41 > 0:24:43But if they're in a tin, it doesn't matter.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46The thing is, now, we want food that is usually quick.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49When I come in from work, I don't want to wait three hours for a meal
0:24:49 > 0:24:52- and eat at ten o'clock, do I? - No.
0:24:52 > 0:24:54- This is pears and chestnuts. - Is it?
0:24:54 > 0:24:57And that's mascarpone.
0:24:57 > 0:25:00- That's a nice desert, isn't it? - It's so good.
0:25:00 > 0:25:01It's all entirely from tins?
0:25:01 > 0:25:03The fruit and the chestnuts are, yes.
0:25:03 > 0:25:05That is really nice!
0:25:05 > 0:25:09There's something about a chestnut in a tin that's acceptable.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12- That's posh, isn't it? - It's a luxury purchase, isn't it?
0:25:12 > 0:25:14It's a luxury purchase.
0:25:14 > 0:25:16I think if somebody had told me, before this meal,
0:25:16 > 0:25:20both courses will come out of tins, I probably would have groaned.
0:25:20 > 0:25:22But this started well and it got even better.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25# Everybody eats
0:25:25 > 0:25:29# When they come to my house. #
0:25:32 > 0:25:34In the early part of the experiment,
0:25:34 > 0:25:37there was one person for whom there seemed to be very little chance
0:25:37 > 0:25:39that things might get better.
0:25:39 > 0:25:40Oh, my goodness.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43Debbie began as the Robshaws' maid of all work
0:25:43 > 0:25:45and there was a lot of it to be done.
0:25:45 > 0:25:47This is going to be hard.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49Middle-class Britain in 1901
0:25:49 > 0:25:53employed a staggering 1.5 million domestic servants,
0:25:53 > 0:25:56many of whom found themselves in the same position as Debbie.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00It was strange for me to be away from home.
0:26:00 > 0:26:02It's the first time I've come so far away.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05Wow... Oh, no, what is all this?
0:26:05 > 0:26:08For someone actually in that position to leave home
0:26:08 > 0:26:11and not know when they're going back,
0:26:11 > 0:26:13I can imagine it to be really, really hard.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16This is mock turtle soup but using calf's head.
0:26:16 > 0:26:18A calf's head?
0:26:20 > 0:26:25I'm a bit shocked to see it like that - so, sort of, like...
0:26:26 > 0:26:28..heady.
0:26:28 > 0:26:30In its head-like way.
0:26:30 > 0:26:33Do you think it's going to be tasty, Debbie?
0:26:33 > 0:26:35I'm going to try and make it tasty...
0:26:35 > 0:26:36You do your best, yeah.
0:26:36 > 0:26:38- ..with what I've got.- Yeah.
0:26:38 > 0:26:40Debbie and Miranda are the same age.
0:26:40 > 0:26:44And yet, you know, the opportunities that were open to Miranda
0:26:44 > 0:26:46are so different from those that were open to Debbie,
0:26:46 > 0:26:49who obviously loves cooking and is brilliant at it.
0:26:49 > 0:26:51I think it's very nice.
0:26:51 > 0:26:53Maybe I should ring the bell and tell her it's nice.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56- No.- Shall I ring the bell? - No, no, no, no, no!
0:26:56 > 0:26:57I think I...
0:26:57 > 0:27:03- To tell her it's nice?- Yes, to tell her it's nice, because I want to.
0:27:03 > 0:27:05BELL RINGS
0:27:05 > 0:27:08Hi. I just wanted to say, it's very, very nice.
0:27:08 > 0:27:10- Oh!- It's delicious.
0:27:10 > 0:27:12While you're here, could we get some pepper?
0:27:12 > 0:27:13Yeah, yeah, of course.
0:27:13 > 0:27:15You just spoilt that.
0:27:15 > 0:27:17- Why?- Because.
0:27:17 > 0:27:19A hard first day indeed.
0:27:20 > 0:27:22How people did this every day, I don't know.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25With extravagant menus to prepare
0:27:25 > 0:27:27and little help in the way of kitchen appliances,
0:27:27 > 0:27:30the life of an Edwardian servant was tough.
0:27:31 > 0:27:33It was really, really shattering, to be honest.
0:27:33 > 0:27:35I was on my feet all day.
0:27:35 > 0:27:37It was really, really hard
0:27:37 > 0:27:39and I was really tired by the end of it.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43We were all really surprised when we got a maid.
0:27:43 > 0:27:45None of us were suspecting it.
0:27:45 > 0:27:47Someone that's staying in your house,
0:27:47 > 0:27:52getting up early for you to make your breakfast.
0:27:52 > 0:27:53It's warm!
0:27:53 > 0:27:55Despite the hard work,
0:27:55 > 0:27:57Debbie's skill and talent in the kitchen
0:27:57 > 0:27:59meant she was a great success.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02- Debbie, come in.- Debbie!
0:28:02 > 0:28:04Are you completely done in?
0:28:04 > 0:28:07Erm...yeah.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10I think my favourite thing was actually the eight-course meal.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13Erm, just the fact that I actually managed to do it.
0:28:13 > 0:28:14It was delicious.
0:28:14 > 0:28:16Fit for a king.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23But things were set to change as workers gained more rights
0:28:23 > 0:28:26and the First World War created new opportunities
0:28:26 > 0:28:28for working-class women.
0:28:28 > 0:28:30"As the war rages on,
0:28:30 > 0:28:34"the opportunity has arisen for you to escape the bonds
0:28:34 > 0:28:36"of domestic service."
0:28:36 > 0:28:38It's going to feel strange not being here
0:28:38 > 0:28:41and putting on this attire and cooking for this family.
0:28:41 > 0:28:43It was a very shocking moment
0:28:43 > 0:28:46when Debbie announced she was going to leave.
0:28:46 > 0:28:48I felt very sad actually.
0:28:48 > 0:28:52She'd really grown to become...a part of our family.
0:28:55 > 0:28:58Working as a land girl in the war brought a change of scenery
0:28:58 > 0:29:00for young working women.
0:29:01 > 0:29:04But after the war, employers were encouraged to give back jobs
0:29:04 > 0:29:06to returning men.
0:29:06 > 0:29:09Businessman, book-keeper, mechanic...
0:29:09 > 0:29:12..and the need to earn a living meant that the opportunities
0:29:12 > 0:29:15for working women were often limited.
0:29:16 > 0:29:20- Hello!- Can I have five large cods and chips, please?
0:29:20 > 0:29:22- OK.- That's it, thanks!
0:29:22 > 0:29:25- Do you feel, like, freer now? - Kind of freer, yeah.
0:29:25 > 0:29:26Here, I still get to cook.
0:29:26 > 0:29:29Like, before, I was just in your house all the time,
0:29:29 > 0:29:31on my own when you guys went out.
0:29:34 > 0:29:36In the 1930s, a decade of economic depression
0:29:36 > 0:29:39meant jobs were even harder to come by,
0:29:39 > 0:29:43and so the prospect of a culinary career for a young working woman
0:29:43 > 0:29:45was even further out of reach.
0:29:45 > 0:29:48I mean, it would be nice to cook in this kitchen.
0:29:48 > 0:29:51Most people like me wouldn't have even had a job.
0:29:51 > 0:29:53Like, especially from North Yorkshire,
0:29:53 > 0:29:55your family's in poverty,
0:29:55 > 0:29:59so for someone like me to actually have a job,
0:29:59 > 0:30:01I suppose that's a really good thing,
0:30:01 > 0:30:02even if it's just cleaning.
0:30:04 > 0:30:06For the 50 years of the experiment,
0:30:06 > 0:30:09the possibility of being a professional cook
0:30:09 > 0:30:12was virtually non-existent for someone like Debbie.
0:30:13 > 0:30:17But today, things have changed, and she's now an aspiring chef.
0:30:17 > 0:30:19Today, I've got endless options.
0:30:19 > 0:30:22It's nice to know that I can do what I want
0:30:22 > 0:30:26and that I'm not just stuck to, sort of, domestic service.
0:30:30 > 0:30:33To show her just how well women are doing
0:30:33 > 0:30:34in professional kitchens today,
0:30:34 > 0:30:37I'm giving her a taste of life in a restaurant kitchen
0:30:37 > 0:30:41run by one of London's most successful female chefs.
0:30:42 > 0:30:44Cheque on seven top.
0:30:44 > 0:30:46Four soups large...
0:30:46 > 0:30:49One small kale...
0:30:50 > 0:30:55At 29, Sabrina Gidda has won acclaim as a Roux scholarship finalist
0:30:55 > 0:30:58after working at the Dorchester and is now head chef
0:30:58 > 0:31:00at a modern Italian restaurant in central London.
0:31:03 > 0:31:06Sabrina's throwing Debbie right in at the deep end.
0:31:06 > 0:31:09Her first task is learning to prepare the hake dish
0:31:09 > 0:31:10on today's menu.
0:31:10 > 0:31:12So, we'll have a super hot pan on.
0:31:12 > 0:31:16So, fish, skin side down, away from you.
0:31:16 > 0:31:19We obviously want the skin to crisp up for us.
0:31:21 > 0:31:23So we just give it a little push down.
0:31:23 > 0:31:26Obviously you get used to the oil burns after a little while.
0:31:27 > 0:31:32So we just allow the fish to cook for another 30 seconds or so,
0:31:32 > 0:31:35- then we just pop the pan under the salamander.- OK.
0:31:35 > 0:31:39Two minutes and then we finish with a lovely, smooth celeriac puree.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42So, very seasonal, very tasty.
0:31:43 > 0:31:46It's lovely to work with Sabrina. She's really good. She's helping me.
0:31:46 > 0:31:50It's a lot faster being here than when I was in the Edwardian period.
0:31:50 > 0:31:52I'm not on my own any more. I've got people to work with.
0:31:52 > 0:31:55So it's quite a nice atmosphere.
0:31:55 > 0:31:56Away five, please.
0:31:56 > 0:31:58Four hake, one tag, large.
0:31:58 > 0:32:00Four hake whenever you're ready, Debbie.
0:32:00 > 0:32:02Uh, yes, Chef.
0:32:02 > 0:32:04With camaraderie and the chances of promotion,
0:32:04 > 0:32:06working in a modern professional kitchen
0:32:06 > 0:32:08is a world away from the life of a maid.
0:32:11 > 0:32:15What I'd love for you to do for me is just to blanche off some kale
0:32:15 > 0:32:16and some fine beans.
0:32:16 > 0:32:18Little pinch of butter
0:32:18 > 0:32:21- and then bring them over to the pass and we can plate together.- Right.
0:32:21 > 0:32:23Lovely.
0:32:30 > 0:32:33- Are they OK?- Oh, excellent. Great.
0:32:35 > 0:32:37In the 1920s, my only really high prospect
0:32:37 > 0:32:39was to work in a fish and chip shop,
0:32:39 > 0:32:42which obviously isn't as skilful as working here.
0:32:42 > 0:32:45There's a lot more opportunities for me now
0:32:45 > 0:32:47than there would have been back then.
0:32:47 > 0:32:49OK, plate them.
0:32:50 > 0:32:53As elegantly as you possibly can.
0:32:53 > 0:32:54I'll try.
0:32:59 > 0:33:01Perfect. Lovely.
0:33:01 > 0:33:04So, sea herbs, and we're going to clean over here.
0:33:04 > 0:33:07- Just...?- That is perfect. Just the right amount.
0:33:07 > 0:33:09Lovely. That's it.
0:33:09 > 0:33:11We are service on two hake.
0:33:11 > 0:33:13Nice. Very nice.
0:33:18 > 0:33:20Sabrina is such an inspiration.
0:33:20 > 0:33:23Obviously, she knows a lot about food.
0:33:23 > 0:33:26I'm so grateful that I get to do things like this.
0:33:26 > 0:33:29Now I can do pretty much anything. I could even become a head chef.
0:33:33 > 0:33:36Trying dishes and flavours from around the world
0:33:36 > 0:33:38is part of our everyday life today.
0:33:38 > 0:33:41But, as the Robshaws discovered,
0:33:41 > 0:33:43Britain's love of foreign food goes back a long way.
0:33:44 > 0:33:48It did surprise me that people were eating foreign foods
0:33:48 > 0:33:49as early as the 1900.
0:33:49 > 0:33:52Having started the last experiment in the 1950s
0:33:52 > 0:33:54and the food being quite bland,
0:33:54 > 0:33:56I guess I'd assumed that, going back a further 50 years,
0:33:56 > 0:33:58the food would be even more bland.
0:33:58 > 0:34:00But a lot of it was really delicious.
0:34:00 > 0:34:03One up to the Belgians for providing us with this.
0:34:04 > 0:34:07- These are your apple fritters. - Thank you very much.- Wow!
0:34:08 > 0:34:12I think we've got a distorted view of culinary history,
0:34:12 > 0:34:16because we tend to think of the 1950s, which was very bland,
0:34:16 > 0:34:18and you couldn't get hold of foreign ingredients.
0:34:18 > 0:34:21But people tend to forget that for decades before the war,
0:34:21 > 0:34:24people had been cooking foreign foods with foreign ingredients.
0:34:26 > 0:34:29The first foreign food the Robshaws tasted
0:34:29 > 0:34:31came from across the Channel in 1901,
0:34:31 > 0:34:34with the introduction of French haute cuisine.
0:34:34 > 0:34:38It's lovely. It's like the sort of food that angels would eat.
0:34:38 > 0:34:41Everything we've eaten has been brown because it's been meat.
0:34:41 > 0:34:46This is just, sort of, pale and sort of pretty.
0:34:46 > 0:34:48Oh, my goodness, that looks fantastic.
0:34:48 > 0:34:51And our love of French food continues to this day.
0:34:51 > 0:34:54We have such a lot to thank the French for.
0:34:54 > 0:34:57I think this haute cuisine thing will really catch on.
0:34:57 > 0:34:59Do you think we could trust Debbie to have a go at it?
0:34:59 > 0:35:01Yes. I have 'igh 'opes for her.
0:35:02 > 0:35:06- You've been working on that for a while, haven't you?- Yes.
0:35:07 > 0:35:10But where some cuisines have stayed in fashion,
0:35:10 > 0:35:12others have fallen out of favour.
0:35:12 > 0:35:14Prost!
0:35:15 > 0:35:18That is a serious amount of sausage, isn't it?
0:35:18 > 0:35:20Before the First World War,
0:35:20 > 0:35:22we enjoyed German bread, meat and beer
0:35:22 > 0:35:25brought to us by the 50,000 Germans
0:35:25 > 0:35:27living in Britain at that time.
0:35:27 > 0:35:30That is good. That is a good sausage.
0:35:30 > 0:35:33But as war came, many German restaurants and bakeries
0:35:33 > 0:35:35were forced to close for good.
0:35:35 > 0:35:37It seems kind of strange to think that German restaurants,
0:35:37 > 0:35:39Germans cuisine was so popular
0:35:39 > 0:35:42because it seems so remote now, doesn't it?
0:35:46 > 0:35:50But that didn't stop our desire to taste other new flavours,
0:35:50 > 0:35:52reflected by the opening
0:35:52 > 0:35:55of Britain's longest-running Indian restaurant in 1926.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58You can imagine that you're in some kind of
0:35:58 > 0:36:00gentleman's club in Calcutta, sitting here.
0:36:02 > 0:36:04The hotter the curry you can eat,
0:36:04 > 0:36:07the more of a man you are, and that is true.
0:36:07 > 0:36:11I think that curry must have seemed like a taste
0:36:11 > 0:36:14that was completely different for the middle classes
0:36:14 > 0:36:18and just this...this...whole taste of the exotic.
0:36:18 > 0:36:20- Cheers!- Thanks a lot.
0:36:20 > 0:36:25I think it is a surprise that there was this abundance of...
0:36:26 > 0:36:30..different tastes and flavours and interests in food
0:36:30 > 0:36:33and so early in the century.
0:36:34 > 0:36:36British food has never been simply British.
0:36:36 > 0:36:39Each new immigrant community that has settled here
0:36:39 > 0:36:42has always brought with it new flavours to embrace...
0:36:43 > 0:36:45These are whoppers!
0:36:45 > 0:36:48..like the Jewish food the Robshaws enjoyed in the 1930s.
0:36:48 > 0:36:51I just remember, as a kid, never being a fan of gefilte fish.
0:36:51 > 0:36:54My heart always sank when I saw it on the table.
0:36:54 > 0:36:56Especially with its little carrot hat.
0:36:56 > 0:36:59This tastes like non-sweet cookie dough.
0:37:01 > 0:37:06Nowadays, we're able to enjoy food from all over the world,
0:37:06 > 0:37:10and it's something that you scarcely even think about now.
0:37:10 > 0:37:12You might go out to a shop and see a falafel wrap
0:37:12 > 0:37:15and think, "Oh, I'll have that", and then just take it,
0:37:15 > 0:37:17but you don't realise this is Middle Eastern.
0:37:18 > 0:37:23I mean, I do think that we're extraordinarily lucky
0:37:23 > 0:37:29in that we can go and get food from anywhere...at all in the world
0:37:29 > 0:37:31from down our high road.
0:37:31 > 0:37:35I do think it means that, in your little corner of England,
0:37:35 > 0:37:37you can bring the world in.
0:37:38 > 0:37:41With once-exotic foods becoming familiar favourites
0:37:41 > 0:37:42in all our meal times,
0:37:42 > 0:37:45Britain has developed an ever more adventurous palate,
0:37:45 > 0:37:47meaning we're always on the lookout
0:37:47 > 0:37:49for something new and foreign to try.
0:37:50 > 0:37:53So I've invited Rochelle and Brandon to a new restaurant
0:37:53 > 0:37:55to taste the cuisine of a far-flung country.
0:37:55 > 0:37:57"Puca picante".
0:37:57 > 0:37:58"Itamae".
0:37:58 > 0:38:00"Chilaso"..."ocopa"...
0:38:00 > 0:38:04There's loads of words on this menu I simply don't know.
0:38:04 > 0:38:07We're in a Peruvian restaurant in central London.
0:38:08 > 0:38:11The first Peruvian restaurant started in London
0:38:11 > 0:38:13two or three years ago and I walked in
0:38:13 > 0:38:16and it was so exciting to see things that I'd never seen before.
0:38:16 > 0:38:20No question Peruvian food is the newest major cuisine.
0:38:20 > 0:38:23Britain's always been more adventurous than we imagined.
0:38:23 > 0:38:26We were eating French and German and Indian food.
0:38:26 > 0:38:28In the days of empire, we were very quick to embrace
0:38:28 > 0:38:30all those kind of cuisines.
0:38:30 > 0:38:32Even now, we're just expanding our horizons in terms of food.
0:38:32 > 0:38:37- I can't wait to try it.- What did you think Peruvian food might be?
0:38:37 > 0:38:39- No idea. - Anything you'd have thought?
0:38:39 > 0:38:42Paddington Bear? I thought we might get some marmalade sandwiches.
0:38:42 > 0:38:46I thought it might be a few tortilla chips
0:38:46 > 0:38:48and a guinea pig on a skewer.
0:38:49 > 0:38:52It is really exciting because Peru seems a long way away.
0:38:52 > 0:38:55It's all very unfamiliar, isn't it? "Cat's claw powder."
0:38:55 > 0:38:58It sounds like something from a spell in Harry Potter, doesn't it?
0:38:58 > 0:39:01But when we went out for a German,
0:39:01 > 0:39:04there were these weisswurst and bratwurst and kartoffelsalat,
0:39:04 > 0:39:07which...we wouldn't have known what they were back in the day.
0:39:07 > 0:39:09It just looks really exciting.
0:39:09 > 0:39:11I'm ordering a range of authentic Peruvian dishes
0:39:11 > 0:39:14and first up are aubergine jalea and chilaso.
0:39:14 > 0:39:18That's really got a little kind of kick to it, hasn't it?
0:39:18 > 0:39:20A little smoky chilli kick.
0:39:20 > 0:39:23- It's like a...- A taste explosion. - It's a taste explosion.
0:39:23 > 0:39:25All such new combinations of flavours.
0:39:25 > 0:39:28I just think, "Here I am, eating the food,
0:39:28 > 0:39:31"and that's as close as I'm going to get to Peru."
0:39:31 > 0:39:34Historically, that's the way you sample foreign cultures, by eating their food.
0:39:34 > 0:39:37When you went to your Indian restaurant, you were having to
0:39:37 > 0:39:40imagine what it would be like to people in the '20s
0:39:40 > 0:39:41to suddenly see a chicken korma.
0:39:41 > 0:39:42It was like this.
0:39:42 > 0:39:45Next we have Peru's national dish, ceviche -
0:39:45 > 0:39:48raw fish, cured in a citrus and chilli dressing,
0:39:48 > 0:39:50exotically named "tiger milk."
0:39:50 > 0:39:54Have a slurp. It develops this flavour, and a fishy flavour.
0:39:54 > 0:39:57You can see why they call it tiger's milk, can't you?
0:39:57 > 0:40:00It feels like the sort of thing you might get in a juice bar.
0:40:00 > 0:40:03It's got a kick to it. It's like a kind of pickle surprise.
0:40:03 > 0:40:05You'd call it pickle surprise?
0:40:05 > 0:40:07I don't think that's quite as good a name somehow.
0:40:07 > 0:40:10It's not quite as poetic, is it?
0:40:10 > 0:40:13I love these glowing colours. It looks like food in a dream.
0:40:13 > 0:40:16- Look at that!- That's weird. That's really blue, isn't it?
0:40:16 > 0:40:18That is pork tendon, puffed like pop corn
0:40:18 > 0:40:19at a very high temperature.
0:40:19 > 0:40:22That's like a cross between a pork scratching and a prawn cracker.
0:40:22 > 0:40:26I think we're always seeking for a new taste sensation, aren't we?
0:40:26 > 0:40:29- Yeah.- We always want to try something different.
0:40:29 > 0:40:32We get bored easily. We want to try different things
0:40:32 > 0:40:35and world cuisine becomes part of our national palate.
0:40:35 > 0:40:38But actually, it would be quite a long time
0:40:38 > 0:40:40before we'll get fed up with this, I think.
0:40:40 > 0:40:43I think this is... I will come back and eat more Peruvian food.
0:40:43 > 0:40:45That's what I'm going to do.
0:40:45 > 0:40:48In fact, that's my plan for 2017.
0:40:53 > 0:40:56The adults weren't the only ones enjoying new flavours
0:40:56 > 0:40:58throughout their time travel.
0:40:58 > 0:41:02Fred was the lucky recipient of lots of new snacks and treats.
0:41:02 > 0:41:05First time I had chocolate, that was really good.
0:41:05 > 0:41:07I've got something.
0:41:07 > 0:41:09Whoa!
0:41:10 > 0:41:12Fantastic!
0:41:12 > 0:41:14Actual chocolate!
0:41:14 > 0:41:17At the beginning of the experiment, the new Dairy Milk chocolate bar
0:41:17 > 0:41:20was all that was on offer in the Edwardian home.
0:41:20 > 0:41:23I wonder how long we'll have to wait for Fruit and Nut?
0:41:24 > 0:41:26It would be another 20 years before that appeared.
0:41:26 > 0:41:28But in the meantime, other treats arrived.
0:41:29 > 0:41:32- Can I please have an ice cream? - You certainly can.
0:41:32 > 0:41:35- Thank you.- Thank you. You enjoying your ice cream?
0:41:35 > 0:41:37Mm.
0:41:37 > 0:41:39What do you like about it?
0:41:39 > 0:41:41I like that it's ice cream.
0:41:42 > 0:41:45And as the decades progressed, more new products emerged,
0:41:45 > 0:41:49like Smith's famous Salt'n'Shake crisps in the 1920s.
0:41:51 > 0:41:53- What have we got?- Wow!
0:41:53 > 0:41:57By the '30s, the brands producing treats and snacks rocketed.
0:41:57 > 0:42:01- Look how much chocolate we have! - Walnut whip!- Delicious!
0:42:01 > 0:42:04Cadbury's Dairy Milk chocolate. Toblerone.
0:42:04 > 0:42:07- Cadbury's...- I can't carry any more. - ..Milk Tray.
0:42:07 > 0:42:08Bournville!
0:42:08 > 0:42:10Now for a feast!
0:42:11 > 0:42:15Companies like Cadbury were targeting children with taste tests,
0:42:15 > 0:42:17keen to find the flavours that they liked best.
0:42:17 > 0:42:22"Dear Fred, today, you are a chocolate tester."
0:42:26 > 0:42:27That's the best!
0:42:27 > 0:42:30There is such a thing as too much chocolate, but it takes a long time.
0:42:30 > 0:42:32Ooh!
0:42:32 > 0:42:35Which one had the unusually nutty flavour?
0:42:35 > 0:42:36The one that Fred scoffed.
0:42:37 > 0:42:39Oh, my God, I feel so alive!
0:42:39 > 0:42:42I just ate 12 chocolate bars and it's the best feeling of my life!
0:42:44 > 0:42:46Since the experiment ended in 1949,
0:42:46 > 0:42:49the volume of chocolate on offer has exploded.
0:42:49 > 0:42:54The UK now spends a whopping £4 billion on it every year.
0:42:57 > 0:43:00Now, definitely the majority of my pocket money
0:43:00 > 0:43:03goes into, sort of, sweets and chocolate.
0:43:04 > 0:43:08With so much demand, companies are going to greater and greater lengths
0:43:08 > 0:43:11to create exciting new flavours to grab everyone's attention -
0:43:11 > 0:43:13and not just children.
0:43:16 > 0:43:20I'm bringing Fred a 21st-century equivalent of his '30s taste test
0:43:20 > 0:43:23so that we can sample the variety of chocolate flavours
0:43:23 > 0:43:24that are being developed today.
0:43:24 > 0:43:29- Hey, Fred.- Hi.- So, what was it like in the '30s to get to try...?
0:43:29 > 0:43:31For me, it felt far more special,
0:43:31 > 0:43:34because I had new flavours and tastes.
0:43:34 > 0:43:36Compared to when you did your taste test,
0:43:36 > 0:43:38nowadays, there's limitless...
0:43:38 > 0:43:40Hundreds, thousands of flavours to choose from.
0:43:40 > 0:43:44So I've got here a selection of all sorts of flavours.
0:43:44 > 0:43:47I think we should plough our way through as many of them as we can
0:43:47 > 0:43:50and then you have to choose the one that you like best.
0:43:50 > 0:43:52- Do you think you can do that? - Yeah.
0:43:52 > 0:43:54- So what's this one?- Do you know, it looks like tomato?
0:43:54 > 0:43:55But it can't be.
0:43:58 > 0:44:02What are those, like, berries?
0:44:02 > 0:44:04- Oh, goji berry?- Yeah.- Yeah.
0:44:04 > 0:44:07You're quite right. That is the 21st-century chocolate.
0:44:08 > 0:44:11And there are some even more unusual combinations in the mix.
0:44:12 > 0:44:15You go first. It's chocolate, how horrible could it be?!
0:44:15 > 0:44:16This could be rationing.
0:44:16 > 0:44:18There could be nothing to eat for a year.
0:44:18 > 0:44:21Nothing to eat until the end of the war apart from that chocolate.
0:44:22 > 0:44:25- What do you think it tastes like? - I don't know.
0:44:25 > 0:44:26It's a delicious cheese chocolate.
0:44:26 > 0:44:29In 2017, we have arrived in a world where there's so much chocolate
0:44:29 > 0:44:33that manufacturers have to strive to make the most interesting flavours
0:44:33 > 0:44:35that they can, and one of them is cheese.
0:44:35 > 0:44:37Let's eat this one.
0:44:39 > 0:44:42- It's bacon, isn't it?- Bacon.
0:44:42 > 0:44:43That's disgusting!
0:44:44 > 0:44:46I'd rather eat the actual foods.
0:44:46 > 0:44:50Right now, I'd rather have a slice of bacon than some bacon chocolate.
0:44:50 > 0:44:53I like that one. I mean, that seems...
0:44:53 > 0:44:56That one, it looks fairly harmless.
0:44:57 > 0:45:00I don't know what that is.
0:45:00 > 0:45:01That's garlic. That's black garlic.
0:45:01 > 0:45:03Oh, that's just stupid!
0:45:03 > 0:45:06I might freshen my mouth up with what, to me,
0:45:06 > 0:45:08looks like a kind of chocolate cream.
0:45:08 > 0:45:11'If savoury chocolates aren't quite our thing,
0:45:11 > 0:45:13'thankfully, some old favourites are still on offer.'
0:45:13 > 0:45:16It's just like brushing your teeth in a chocolate.
0:45:17 > 0:45:18Why don't we try that one?
0:45:18 > 0:45:19Mmm.
0:45:19 > 0:45:22- Yeah, that's really nice. - Is it good? What does it taste of?
0:45:22 > 0:45:25It's like raspberry.
0:45:25 > 0:45:27So what was your favourite chocolate of them all, then?
0:45:27 > 0:45:29I guess I'd say the raspberry one.
0:45:29 > 0:45:31It was quite refreshing. It sort of...
0:45:31 > 0:45:33It tasted a bit like food,
0:45:33 > 0:45:34which some of these other ones didn't.
0:45:34 > 0:45:37Definitely we won't be having the cheese one again,
0:45:37 > 0:45:40the bacon one, the black garlic one.
0:45:40 > 0:45:43I felt like the ones with, sort of, savoury foods in are almost like...
0:45:43 > 0:45:45- They're just trying too hard? - Yeah.
0:45:45 > 0:45:48You would never have been able to imagine in the 1930s
0:45:48 > 0:45:50that there would be so many?
0:45:50 > 0:45:52And now we've probably arrived at a time
0:45:52 > 0:45:55where there's just...too much chocolate in the world.
0:45:59 > 0:46:02There was one thing the Robshaws never had too much of
0:46:02 > 0:46:03in the experiment -
0:46:03 > 0:46:05eating together.
0:46:05 > 0:46:07And with every decade,
0:46:07 > 0:46:10they experienced the changing expectations of family mealtimes.
0:46:10 > 0:46:13OK, move these chairs out of the way.
0:46:13 > 0:46:15100 years ago, you had to sit around, like, a formal table
0:46:15 > 0:46:18with, like, set mealtimes and set cutlery.
0:46:18 > 0:46:22There were actually rules, like, everywhere, like in the house,
0:46:22 > 0:46:23in the kitchen.
0:46:23 > 0:46:25Everything was, like, rigidly constricted.
0:46:25 > 0:46:27Life at an Edwardian table meant formality,
0:46:27 > 0:46:31with eight-course dinners and high-status guests.
0:46:31 > 0:46:33We need something for the oysters.
0:46:33 > 0:46:36- An implement. - A fork - an oyster fork.
0:46:36 > 0:46:39He's going to think we're common if we don't have an oyster fork.
0:46:39 > 0:46:42- That could be a finger bowl. - There's only one.
0:46:42 > 0:46:44- Why couldn't...?- You can't have a communal finger bowl.
0:46:44 > 0:46:46- Yes, you can!- No, you can't. - Ridiculous.
0:46:46 > 0:46:50We can't let a finger bowl hold up your rise to the top.
0:46:51 > 0:46:55- Hello, good evening. - This is my wife, Rochelle.
0:46:55 > 0:46:56- Mrs Robshaw.- Rochelle.
0:46:56 > 0:46:59Mr Robshaw, do you have a regular supply of oysters
0:46:59 > 0:47:01delivered to you or...?
0:47:01 > 0:47:03Well, I wish that I did.
0:47:04 > 0:47:08Children, however, were neither seen nor heard at the dinner table.
0:47:08 > 0:47:12- I want to eat with you. - You want to eat with us?- Yeah.
0:47:13 > 0:47:14Fred, you can't.
0:47:14 > 0:47:17Edwardian children were left to eat simple food
0:47:17 > 0:47:19in the kitchen with the maid.
0:47:19 > 0:47:21Can I have some food now?
0:47:21 > 0:47:23Not so much fun.
0:47:24 > 0:47:27I miss not having Fred at the table.
0:47:27 > 0:47:29I think he livens things up, actually.
0:47:29 > 0:47:33It felt a bit harsh that he was banished to the kitchen.
0:47:33 > 0:47:37It did feel strange that we were so strictly bound by a social etiquette
0:47:37 > 0:47:39even within our own home
0:47:39 > 0:47:42that Fred wasn't allowed to be at the table with us.
0:47:42 > 0:47:44Now, eating as a family is very much encouraged.
0:47:44 > 0:47:47As middle-class homes lost their servants,
0:47:47 > 0:47:50rules relaxed and children joined the table at mealtimes...
0:47:50 > 0:47:52What's it like?
0:47:52 > 0:47:54Piping hot.
0:47:54 > 0:47:57..and the modern family meal together was born.
0:47:58 > 0:47:59It always seems like there's a parallel
0:47:59 > 0:48:01between the kind of food we were eating
0:48:01 > 0:48:03and the family dynamic.
0:48:03 > 0:48:06When we were eating these very elaborate meals,
0:48:06 > 0:48:08everything was much more formal
0:48:08 > 0:48:12and it seems that as the food gets simpler, less elaborate,
0:48:12 > 0:48:16our family dynamic also becomes more relaxed and more informal.
0:48:16 > 0:48:18The two go hand-in-hand, it seems.
0:48:19 > 0:48:22And the importance of a good meal shared with friends or family
0:48:22 > 0:48:26was powerfully felt, as many young men left the table
0:48:26 > 0:48:27for the Western Front.
0:48:27 > 0:48:31I wonder how you'd feel if you were a young man about to go to fight,
0:48:31 > 0:48:33eating food like this, and knowing that was the last time
0:48:33 > 0:48:36you'd eat like this for a very long time?
0:48:36 > 0:48:38Do you think they knew what they were going to expect?
0:48:38 > 0:48:42- I don't think they had much idea at all.- They had no idea.
0:48:45 > 0:48:48A further loosening of etiquette allowed the Robshaws to enjoy
0:48:48 > 0:48:52Britain's favourite takeaway around their 1920s table.
0:48:52 > 0:48:56I can imagine a middle-class family in 1927 having this would have...
0:48:56 > 0:48:59They'd think it was a bit of a joke. "Aren't we a little bit bohemian?"
0:48:59 > 0:49:00- Really?- Yeah.
0:49:00 > 0:49:03I like fish and chips. I love fish and chips.
0:49:05 > 0:49:07Who wants a plate?
0:49:07 > 0:49:10And in the 1930s, when the family ate together,
0:49:10 > 0:49:12it could even be around a swimming pool with a rug
0:49:12 > 0:49:14instead of a table.
0:49:14 > 0:49:16What's it called, Ros? What's it called?
0:49:16 > 0:49:18It's haricot beans and stuff.
0:49:18 > 0:49:20It's kind of like a baked bean sandwich, isn't it?
0:49:20 > 0:49:23Your one tastes like the inside of cheese straws.
0:49:23 > 0:49:24The inside of a cheese straw?
0:49:25 > 0:49:27Know what I mean?
0:49:28 > 0:49:32I suppose as, sort of, barriers break down,
0:49:32 > 0:49:35there's more movement in society, and I think,
0:49:35 > 0:49:40you know, once you start to, sort of, start consuming sandwiches
0:49:40 > 0:49:42when you're, sort of, out and about,
0:49:42 > 0:49:46then there's no formality whatsoever with that.
0:49:46 > 0:49:47It's idyllic, really, isn't it?
0:49:47 > 0:49:49It's like a Famous Five-style picnic.
0:49:49 > 0:49:50We just need a dog.
0:49:53 > 0:49:54But the idyll was not to last
0:49:54 > 0:49:57as the Second World War split up the family unit
0:49:57 > 0:50:00and children were sent away as evacuees.
0:50:01 > 0:50:03I think it must be have been really, really difficult,
0:50:03 > 0:50:08and to keep a brave face on it and to smile and to pack their bags
0:50:08 > 0:50:11and then not really know where they were going to be going to,
0:50:11 > 0:50:16it must have been an extraordinarily heartbreaking decision to have made,
0:50:16 > 0:50:19and not to know when you're going to be seeing them again.
0:50:19 > 0:50:21With the family separated,
0:50:21 > 0:50:24wartime meals were harder to stomach.
0:50:25 > 0:50:29- Oh, Miranda, did you lay for five? - Yeah.- That's really sad.- I know.
0:50:30 > 0:50:33This hasn't set, so it's just lumps of semolina with meat.
0:50:33 > 0:50:37- OK.- So it's just... - It's a novelty.- Yes, it is.
0:50:37 > 0:50:39A year ago, we wouldn't have been eating food like this.
0:50:39 > 0:50:41Life has changed so drastically.
0:50:41 > 0:50:44You would feel so insecure, wouldn't you?
0:50:44 > 0:50:49# What a difference a day makes... #
0:50:49 > 0:50:51Oh, Fred!
0:50:51 > 0:50:54When Fred returned from the countryside,
0:50:54 > 0:50:56family mealtimes became something to treasure.
0:50:56 > 0:50:58It's so warm!
0:51:01 > 0:51:04I think I appreciate more eating with my family now than I did
0:51:04 > 0:51:07at the start of this experiment, because you can see how, like,
0:51:07 > 0:51:11huge global events like the war, like, split families up
0:51:11 > 0:51:14and they weren't able to eat together.
0:51:15 > 0:51:17The Edwardian world of strict formality
0:51:17 > 0:51:20seems such a long time ago, but the decades that followed
0:51:20 > 0:51:23were fundamental in creating the modern family we know today.
0:51:23 > 0:51:26From the food we cook and eat to who does the cooking,
0:51:26 > 0:51:29we've clung on to a lot of what we learned in that half-century,
0:51:29 > 0:51:33most especially our love of sharing special meals together.
0:51:35 > 0:51:37To celebrate all they've experienced,
0:51:37 > 0:51:40the Robshaws are preparing a special three-course dinner
0:51:40 > 0:51:43that reflects the discoveries of their time travels,
0:51:43 > 0:51:46and Polly and I have been invited to share the feast.
0:51:47 > 0:51:50- This is very bad chopping, isn't it? - I've seen better.
0:51:53 > 0:51:56Having learned about Britain's long-standing love
0:51:56 > 0:51:57of foreign flavours,
0:51:57 > 0:52:00they're cooking a traditional favourite with a twist -
0:52:00 > 0:52:02a spicy shepherd's pie.
0:52:02 > 0:52:05It's a shepherd's pie with a bit of a kick.
0:52:05 > 0:52:09Now, it's quite common that you would have a range of spices
0:52:09 > 0:52:13in your cupboard, so it's much easier to mess about with
0:52:13 > 0:52:16a traditional English shepherd's pie -
0:52:16 > 0:52:18jazz it up a little bit.
0:52:18 > 0:52:22You don't really think about the spices
0:52:22 > 0:52:23that you're putting into food any more,
0:52:23 > 0:52:25it's just second nature.
0:52:27 > 0:52:29That's enough.
0:52:29 > 0:52:31For a starter, we're going to do roasted carrots
0:52:31 > 0:52:33with goat's cheese and pomegranate.
0:52:33 > 0:52:35That is an amazing carrot.
0:52:37 > 0:52:39Heritage carrots.
0:52:40 > 0:52:42I am making an apple pie with custard.
0:52:43 > 0:52:46Nowadays, few of us have the luxury of a live-in maid.
0:52:46 > 0:52:50But there are lots of convenient culinary shortcuts available.
0:52:50 > 0:52:53Comparing just having, like, really nice pastry
0:52:53 > 0:52:55that you can just roll out and it's made
0:52:55 > 0:52:56to making pastry,
0:52:56 > 0:53:00this is much nicer because you still feel like you're making something,
0:53:00 > 0:53:02but it saves a lot of time.
0:53:02 > 0:53:04Smells good!
0:53:04 > 0:53:06Can I taste a bit?
0:53:06 > 0:53:08That's fantastic. It's like a sort of canape, isn't it?
0:53:08 > 0:53:11It's the sort of thing you'd get at a posh party.
0:53:12 > 0:53:14I don't know what parties you go to!
0:53:19 > 0:53:23- Mmm! That's really nice.- Is it?! - It's nice.- Oh, good!
0:53:23 > 0:53:25Right, put these out.
0:53:25 > 0:53:28And although eating together has become more informal,
0:53:28 > 0:53:31we still love to push the boat out for the guests.
0:53:31 > 0:53:35I think, obviously, there still goes with cooking
0:53:35 > 0:53:37the fact that if you are inviting people round
0:53:37 > 0:53:41or you have got people coming, it always feels a bit better
0:53:41 > 0:53:43to make a bit more of an effort
0:53:43 > 0:53:48rather than just to, sort of, open a packet of Super Noodles.
0:53:49 > 0:53:50Beautiful.
0:53:50 > 0:53:53Even if it's only me and Polly.
0:53:53 > 0:53:56I think we should have a toast to the next hundred years.
0:53:56 > 0:53:58- Cheers.- Cheers.
0:53:59 > 0:54:03- This is a lovely, lovely salad. - It's really delicious.
0:54:03 > 0:54:07And we don't, sort of, bat an eye about having a vegetarian starter.
0:54:07 > 0:54:09In Edwardian times, if you'd got this,
0:54:09 > 0:54:11you'd have been saying, "Where's my chop?"
0:54:11 > 0:54:13Yeah, yeah.
0:54:13 > 0:54:16It's also...I just got a little taste of cumin in this as well.
0:54:16 > 0:54:18So it's quite a spicy salad.
0:54:18 > 0:54:21It must've been awful to have lived through the '30s
0:54:21 > 0:54:24and tasted so many interesting, different types of vegetables,
0:54:24 > 0:54:27and then suddenly, you're faced with the '40s,
0:54:27 > 0:54:30when everything went and everything was bland.
0:54:30 > 0:54:34You realise how those '30s meals were really quite contemporary,
0:54:34 > 0:54:36weren't they?
0:54:39 > 0:54:41This is spicy shepherd's pie.
0:54:41 > 0:54:44Is it all from scratch or did you get Debbie to come in?
0:54:44 > 0:54:47No, Debbie is no longer with us, unfortunately.
0:54:47 > 0:54:49I mean, she's not dead!
0:54:49 > 0:54:52No. We did actually try to come and get her to do this,
0:54:52 > 0:54:54but she couldn't make it.
0:54:54 > 0:54:57I think we should have a toast to absent friends,
0:54:57 > 0:54:59by whom I mean Debbie, don't you think?
0:54:59 > 0:55:02- To Debbie.- To Debbie.- Debbie.- Yeah.
0:55:02 > 0:55:06And finally, for dessert, Miranda's apple pie.
0:55:06 > 0:55:09So your journey has been centred on food.
0:55:09 > 0:55:13I think that is a good way to view the first half of the 20th century.
0:55:13 > 0:55:16And I actually think that it shows us how we've changed and how things
0:55:16 > 0:55:18have become more relaxed.
0:55:18 > 0:55:21And how much time have you spent eating together as a family?
0:55:21 > 0:55:24The Edwardian period was always rather stiff and formal.
0:55:24 > 0:55:26And we didn't have young Fred at the table.
0:55:26 > 0:55:30And then, actually, family eating was interrupted quite a lot.
0:55:30 > 0:55:32I think when we had the last hoorah dinner,
0:55:32 > 0:55:34sending somebody off to fight.
0:55:34 > 0:55:37You don't say to somebody, "Look, I'll go and buy you a coffee."
0:55:37 > 0:55:41It has to be round a table and it has to be, you know, a dinner,
0:55:41 > 0:55:43rather than anything else.
0:55:43 > 0:55:45And that hasn't changed, has it,
0:55:45 > 0:55:49the importance of coming together and marking something with food?
0:55:49 > 0:55:52And also, as we've understood,
0:55:52 > 0:55:55the idea of families being, sort of, separated,
0:55:55 > 0:55:59then, post-war, that coming together around a table
0:55:59 > 0:56:02becomes really important because it brings together
0:56:02 > 0:56:05everything that was fractured in those years.
0:56:05 > 0:56:06Yes, that's right.
0:56:06 > 0:56:08There is something quite reassuring about it, isn't there?
0:56:08 > 0:56:11So, in some senses, whenever you have any kind of meal,
0:56:11 > 0:56:14particularly if you've lived through a period like the first 50 years
0:56:14 > 0:56:17of the 20th century, you're giving thanks for the fact,
0:56:17 > 0:56:18without ostensibly doing it,
0:56:18 > 0:56:21thanks for the fact that this is just a normal meal,
0:56:21 > 0:56:23and it's not a meal where someone's fighting a war...
0:56:23 > 0:56:26And everyone can be together. That we are all here.
0:56:26 > 0:56:29I think this idea of sitting round the table and eating together,
0:56:29 > 0:56:31that is a deeply significant thing to do.
0:56:32 > 0:56:37# I'll never be the same
0:56:38 > 0:56:42# Stars have lost their meaning for me... #
0:56:42 > 0:56:44Food is a marker of events.
0:56:44 > 0:56:48These all become moments that are etched in your mind,
0:56:48 > 0:56:53and they are moments that are around a table with food on it.
0:56:53 > 0:56:57So food, sort of, holds the memories,
0:56:57 > 0:57:00of what that event was.
0:57:04 > 0:57:08One of the things taking part in this experiment has made me realise
0:57:08 > 0:57:12is how valuable that time is that you spend together,
0:57:12 > 0:57:13eating together as a family.
0:57:13 > 0:57:16And it's only there for a few short years.
0:57:16 > 0:57:19You've got this window in which all the kids are under one roof.
0:57:19 > 0:57:23I don't miss, like, Edwardian formality and rigidity,
0:57:23 > 0:57:27I think it's really nice being able to live a freer life.
0:57:28 > 0:57:32There's definitely an emotional connection with food,
0:57:32 > 0:57:35and I think part of the connection that I felt
0:57:35 > 0:57:39in living through these decades was that you can kind of see
0:57:39 > 0:57:44the roots of certain traditions that are now in our contemporary lives,
0:57:44 > 0:57:49like sitting round a table sharing food together.
0:57:51 > 0:57:54I think eating together is a bonding experience.
0:57:54 > 0:57:56You're being nourished together,
0:57:56 > 0:57:58both physically and, kind of, spiritually.
0:58:05 > 0:58:08It's easy to think of the first half of the 20th century
0:58:08 > 0:58:11as something finished - a distant memory that we've long forgotten.
0:58:11 > 0:58:14But what we've learned from the Robshaws' journey
0:58:14 > 0:58:17is that it was in that very period that many of the things
0:58:17 > 0:58:20we treasure most about family life today were learned.
0:58:24 > 0:58:32# Though there's a lot that a smile may hide
0:58:33 > 0:58:39# I know down deep inside
0:58:40 > 0:58:45# I'll never be the same
0:58:46 > 0:58:51# Again. #