0:00:02 > 0:00:07Across Britain, bakers work to feed our passion for bread and cake.
0:00:07 > 0:00:11But where did this £4 billion a year industry come from?
0:00:11 > 0:00:16To find out, four professionals are going back in time.
0:00:16 > 0:00:20They're baking through 63 years which transformed their trade
0:00:20 > 0:00:24and our diet forever - the age of the Victorians.
0:00:25 > 0:00:27From the rural bakeries of the 1840s,
0:00:27 > 0:00:30where baking had barely changed for centuries...
0:00:30 > 0:00:33..to the sweat and toil of the urban bakery at the height
0:00:33 > 0:00:35of the Industrial Revolution...
0:00:35 > 0:00:40..to luxurious high-street retailers at the dawn of the 20th century.
0:00:40 > 0:00:45So far, they have experienced a time when most Britons were country folk.
0:00:45 > 0:00:49The bakery and the pub were the heartbeats of the village.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52Where bread was local and natural.
0:00:52 > 0:00:54Oh, gosh, that is lovely.
0:00:54 > 0:00:56But where famine was a real threat.
0:00:56 > 0:00:58It's really upsetting.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01It was about staying alive for these people.
0:01:01 > 0:01:05They have also endured the industrial squalor of the 1870s.
0:01:05 > 0:01:09And the physical exertion just to get the damn stuff made
0:01:09 > 0:01:12is pretty much sickening.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15A time when bakers resorted to desperate measures.
0:01:15 > 0:01:20- This is potassium aluminium sulphate. - Doesn't that cause brain damage?
0:01:20 > 0:01:23It's got this grittiness about it which is just awful.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25We're cheating.
0:01:25 > 0:01:27That's the issue. It's cheating and I feel ashamed.
0:01:28 > 0:01:32Now, the bakers have reached the end of Victoria's reign.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35Welcome to the future.
0:01:35 > 0:01:37This doesn't complain, this won't die
0:01:37 > 0:01:39and this can work 24 hours a day.
0:01:40 > 0:01:42The trade has gone upmarket.
0:01:42 > 0:01:46Everything on the table is shouting to me "high-end".
0:01:46 > 0:01:49They'll need to bake a new range of products...
0:01:49 > 0:01:51It was a case of how bling can this cake be?
0:01:51 > 0:01:53This stuff isn't sexy.
0:01:53 > 0:01:57And face a brand-new set of challenges.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59Sorry. That's not going to pass.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02These guys would have lost their minds.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05This is harder than kneading the dough by hand.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08Oh, wow! That is phenomenal.
0:02:19 > 0:02:20This time,
0:02:20 > 0:02:24the bakers are being set to work in one of the many London suburbs
0:02:24 > 0:02:26built by the Victorians - Crouch End.
0:02:28 > 0:02:30Hello, bakers. How are you?
0:02:32 > 0:02:33Welcome to 1900.
0:02:33 > 0:02:35At this point in Britain's history,
0:02:35 > 0:02:37the Empire is at the height of its powers
0:02:37 > 0:02:40and London is the biggest city in the world.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42You'll probably find it looks recognisably modern
0:02:42 > 0:02:46and that's because the late Victorians built so much
0:02:46 > 0:02:49of what we see around us in the 21st century.
0:02:50 > 0:02:54Crouch End's grand high street was built in the 1890s,
0:02:54 > 0:02:58the decade when Victoria celebrated her diamond jubilee.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01Oh, wow, check this out!
0:03:01 > 0:03:04This bakery has been serving customers continuously since then.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08And for the next week, it's being taken back in time,
0:03:08 > 0:03:10starting with one window.
0:03:10 > 0:03:12Look what we've got. We've got a shop.
0:03:12 > 0:03:16We're not just bakers any more, we're confectionery.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19- Pastry cook, cake baker. - Lots more sweet stuff.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23- All the naughty things are out. - We've got Vienna and fancy breads.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26It looks like money is no object by what's in the window
0:03:26 > 0:03:28and what is on the window.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33The shop is a new development for the bakers.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37Previously in their Victorian experience,
0:03:37 > 0:03:39they've had to deliver what they've baked.
0:03:42 > 0:03:47But by 1900, Britain's high streets were booming as never before.
0:03:48 > 0:03:53Per head, Britons were the second wealthiest people on the planet.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56Only America manufactured more.
0:03:58 > 0:04:00Working conditions had gradually improved,
0:04:00 > 0:04:04so with higher average wages and a bit more leisure time,
0:04:04 > 0:04:06Britain went shopping.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09- Cool.- Shall we head in? - Cool. Off we go.
0:04:09 > 0:04:14Out front, this shop will keep serving 21st-century customers...
0:04:14 > 0:04:15Wow!
0:04:15 > 0:04:19..but its bakery out back has been taken back to 1900.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22Love these ovens. Look at these.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27Artisan Duncan Glendinning likes to make bread the old-fashioned way
0:04:27 > 0:04:30but he's still grateful for gas-fired ovens.
0:04:31 > 0:04:36Not a single sign of any coal anywhere.
0:04:36 > 0:04:40The same goes for fifth-generation family baker John Swift.
0:04:40 > 0:04:43It's the way it's built. It's just beautiful.
0:04:43 > 0:04:44Oh, wow.
0:04:44 > 0:04:49Fancy cake maker Harpreet Baura immediately spots more signs that she will be busy.
0:04:49 > 0:04:51Look at all of these jams.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54And for the first time in their Victorian experience,
0:04:54 > 0:04:56the bakers will have some mechanical assistance,
0:04:56 > 0:05:00music to the ears of bread factory boss John Foster.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03An Artofex mixer. Fantastic.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07- Look at that bad boy. - This as a beautiful mixer, this.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10By 1900, bakeries were not only better equipped,
0:05:10 > 0:05:12they were more hygienic too,
0:05:12 > 0:05:16thanks to union campaigning and government legislation.
0:05:16 > 0:05:18- So, first impressions? - Amazed.- Phenomenal.
0:05:18 > 0:05:22- I love the lack of the coal heap. - Well, exactly.
0:05:22 > 0:05:27I mean, one of the great benefits is of course gas and electricity.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30We really have modern technology.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33And you probably also saw the range of goods that are on offer.
0:05:33 > 0:05:35Now you're not just baking bread
0:05:35 > 0:05:37and previously there were separate trades
0:05:37 > 0:05:41for confectionery, biscuit makers, cake makers, etc, etc.
0:05:41 > 0:05:45But now we're in 1900, all of those are rolled into one.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49Of course, you know you're on a busy, affluent Victorian high street.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52So you have to keep an eye on quality and novelty
0:05:52 > 0:05:56and we know in the late Victorian period, that was the way in which you made your money.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59So the very first thing you're going to be doing is not bread,
0:05:59 > 0:06:02- it's going to be pastry.- Oh, wow. - And of course, Harpreet,
0:06:02 > 0:06:05- I can see already you are breathing a sigh of relief.- Definitely.
0:06:05 > 0:06:09When you look around, you can kind of see all of the naughty things, which is quite nice.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13- Do you feel like you're in your element there?- Yes, I actually do.
0:06:14 > 0:06:16So far, cake entrepreneur Harpreet
0:06:16 > 0:06:20hasn't been impressed with the amount of bread and brawn
0:06:20 > 0:06:22demanded in the 19th century.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25I actually don't think I could have been a Victorian baker
0:06:25 > 0:06:28because the level of graft that was required,
0:06:28 > 0:06:31in terms of kneading those doughs,
0:06:31 > 0:06:33I was just physically not strong enough to do it
0:06:33 > 0:06:35and I was really looking at, hopefully,
0:06:35 > 0:06:38slightly more sophisticated products.
0:06:38 > 0:06:39Thank you very much.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42Now, Harpreet will be making fancier stuff,
0:06:42 > 0:06:46and the team will be working in more sophisticated uniforms.
0:06:47 > 0:06:51By 1900, bakers were keen to shed their reputation
0:06:51 > 0:06:55for being a uncouth, sweaty, manual workers.
0:06:55 > 0:06:59Shirt and tie stayed on at all times
0:06:59 > 0:07:02and hygiene was preserved by means of sleeve protectors.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06I look like I'm actually going to, you know, have to deliver a cow.
0:07:06 > 0:07:07Straight in, out it comes.
0:07:07 > 0:07:11Bakers were dressed like high-end restaurant chefs,
0:07:11 > 0:07:15reflecting all the new skills they were expected to demonstrate.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18Looking like the Pillsbury Doughboy. Oh, God.
0:07:18 > 0:07:20LAUGHTER
0:07:20 > 0:07:22You've got to admit, we're starting to take care
0:07:22 > 0:07:25of the things and the products. We've got protection.
0:07:25 > 0:07:27I was sweating and coughing
0:07:27 > 0:07:30and generally I didn't care about the dough in the last one
0:07:30 > 0:07:33and now I'm wearing a hat to make sure I don't get hair in it.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38The bakers set to work making rich Victorian recipes
0:07:38 > 0:07:39for short and puff pastry,
0:07:39 > 0:07:42which they'll use to make some of the tarts and turnovers
0:07:42 > 0:07:45popular with customers in 1900.
0:07:46 > 0:07:48OK, so no expense spared.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53Earlier in the Victorian era, eggs and sugar were still used
0:07:53 > 0:07:56only in small quantities by the average bakery.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00The place that we left, all that we were producing,
0:08:00 > 0:08:02- it was subsistence living, it was...- Tummy filling.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06It was survival, basically. Whereas now, this is about stuff your face.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09- Stuff your face and actually treat yourself.- Good enough for you?
0:08:09 > 0:08:11I reckon so, yes.
0:08:11 > 0:08:15Butter, once used sparingly, is now laid on in slabs.
0:08:15 > 0:08:19See, look, what I want to do, it's going to go on there
0:08:19 > 0:08:22and so then this comes over here.
0:08:22 > 0:08:23It smells wonderful.
0:08:23 > 0:08:27There's a lovely, lovely buttery, beautiful smell, yeah.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30It's yellow. When was the last time we saw anything yellow?
0:08:30 > 0:08:33It's been white and pasty and grey
0:08:33 > 0:08:35and now you've got these rich colours
0:08:35 > 0:08:39and baking at this point must've been so exciting for the baker.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42All these new things, all these new ingredients, fantastic,
0:08:42 > 0:08:44and then he's watching the money go in as well.
0:08:45 > 0:08:48Advice on the most profitable pastries can be found
0:08:48 > 0:08:53in The Modern Baker, Confectioner And Caterer, all six volumes of it.
0:08:53 > 0:08:55These are written by John Kirkland.
0:08:55 > 0:08:59He founded the National School Of Bakery in 1899.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02And as you can see, they are going to be slightly more comprehensive
0:09:02 > 0:09:05than some of the books that you've used before.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07They don't just go through recipes
0:09:07 > 0:09:10and you'll see they go through recipes in quite a lot of detail
0:09:10 > 0:09:13but they've also got science, so there's a lot about yeast,
0:09:13 > 0:09:14a lot about gluten.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17They also go through shop fittings, they go through pricing,
0:09:17 > 0:09:19they go through absolutely everything.
0:09:19 > 0:09:25Book three is tarts and small pastries.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28Here we go, guys.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31For a good class trade, the pan should be rather small
0:09:31 > 0:09:36as the large tarts appear common and coarse.
0:09:36 > 0:09:37So we don't want the large tarts.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40To be fair, the bigger the tart, the better.
0:09:40 > 0:09:42In all seriousness, at this time,
0:09:42 > 0:09:45it seems as though if you could make your product
0:09:45 > 0:09:47more towards the elite spectrum,
0:09:47 > 0:09:50that's how you could actually be onto a winner.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55The manual illustrates over 30 pastries
0:09:55 > 0:09:58sold in late-Victorian shops.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02The bakers are starting with four of these, including Madeira tarts
0:10:02 > 0:10:04and the classic jam variety.
0:10:04 > 0:10:08It just needs to be as thin as you can possibly go
0:10:08 > 0:10:10while still being able to pick it up.
0:10:10 > 0:10:12Thinner, much, much thinner.
0:10:12 > 0:10:14Too thick.
0:10:15 > 0:10:20Because of her 21st century expertise, Harpreet is taking charge.
0:10:20 > 0:10:24You know, the deeper trays are the rose ones.
0:10:26 > 0:10:30In 1900, a master baker or foreman would have been
0:10:30 > 0:10:33managing the first, second and third hands.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36I mean, this is just really, really weird.
0:10:36 > 0:10:38I'm normally a bread maker.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41I would be more comfortable making bread, to be fair,
0:10:41 > 0:10:45but I've got Harpreet here bossing me around, which I'm happy with.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48So let's stick with what we've got.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51They were into their interesting jams.
0:10:51 > 0:10:53Have a sniff of that, Harpreet.
0:10:53 > 0:10:55Oh, this is... Oh, that's delicious.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58You have got the greengage going in the bottom of those.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02I've got the greengage being piped into the bottom of my Madeira tarts.
0:11:02 > 0:11:06In a relatively small high-street bakery like this,
0:11:06 > 0:11:10it was most productive for staff of all grades to share the workload,
0:11:10 > 0:11:12whatever they were making.
0:11:12 > 0:11:14This need for flexibility
0:11:14 > 0:11:18had meant bakers learning new skills at great speed.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21Just a generation before, bread was all most would ever make.
0:11:21 > 0:11:25It must have been a nightmare for them
0:11:25 > 0:11:29to get their heads round it and kind of re-evaluate, you know,
0:11:29 > 0:11:32where their job roles were and what they were expected to do.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35They would have walked in and go, right, here's a palette knife,
0:11:35 > 0:11:38put the dough scraper down, you're now making these cakes.
0:11:38 > 0:11:42They would have been, like, "What on earth are you talking about?"
0:11:42 > 0:11:44And actually, in modern-day life,
0:11:44 > 0:11:48it's an absolute rarity that a bread maker is also a cake maker.
0:11:48 > 0:11:50It just does not happen.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57But bakers' lives had to change in the late-Victorian period
0:11:57 > 0:12:00because of what was happening to the one product
0:12:00 > 0:12:02that had always kept them in business.
0:12:04 > 0:12:06For centuries,
0:12:06 > 0:12:09bread had been absolutely central to the British diet.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14Its fortunes began to change in the last decades of the Victorian era -
0:12:14 > 0:12:17at first, it seemed, for the better.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22From the 1880s, for perhaps the first time in British history,
0:12:22 > 0:12:26good-quality bread became affordable for everyone.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28And this was all thanks to Victorian ingenuity,
0:12:28 > 0:12:32from the steamships that brought vast quantities of cheap corn
0:12:32 > 0:12:35from across the Atlantic, North America,
0:12:35 > 0:12:38to the steam-powered roller mills that ground it down
0:12:38 > 0:12:40into fine reliable flour.
0:12:41 > 0:12:45Bread got cheaper just as average wages were rising.
0:12:45 > 0:12:49Bizarrely, that was when things got harder for bakers.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52Between 1885 and 1914,
0:12:52 > 0:12:55the consumption of bread in Britain practically halved.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01It turned out people linked bread with poverty.
0:13:01 > 0:13:03As soon as they had more money to spend,
0:13:03 > 0:13:07they preferred to eat more of other foods, like meat.
0:13:09 > 0:13:13Bread would never again be so central to our diets.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16The average Briton today eats less than a quarter of the amount
0:13:16 > 0:13:18consumed by a typical Victorian.
0:13:20 > 0:13:25That might have spelt the end for thousands of bakery businesses,
0:13:25 > 0:13:28had it not been for another big food trend of the Victorian era.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31Consumption of sugar per head in Britain
0:13:31 > 0:13:34quadrupled in the 19th century.
0:13:34 > 0:13:38Once, it was a luxury used sparingly in tea, but by 1900,
0:13:38 > 0:13:42with improved access to sugar plantations throughout the Empire,
0:13:42 > 0:13:44it became much more widely available.
0:13:47 > 0:13:49Britain had acquired the sweet tooth
0:13:49 > 0:13:52which troubles our waistlines to this day,
0:13:52 > 0:13:56and sales of chocolates, cakes and pastries were soaring.
0:13:57 > 0:14:01Bakers saw an opportunity to expand into these luxurious
0:14:01 > 0:14:03and more profitable markets
0:14:03 > 0:14:05so it's from this point onwards
0:14:05 > 0:14:07that they start to sell the range of goods
0:14:07 > 0:14:10which we still find in high street bakeries today.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15As ever, the baker was at the mercy of bigger changes
0:14:15 > 0:14:18in our tastes, society and the economy.
0:14:19 > 0:14:21Shall we have a look?
0:14:21 > 0:14:24- They look really good, don't they? - Yes.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27Right, shall we set these down and get the next ones in?
0:14:27 > 0:14:31According to accounts from the time, profit margin on small pastries
0:14:31 > 0:14:35could be up to 60%, triple the amount that could be made on bread.
0:14:36 > 0:14:38Oh, look at that!
0:14:38 > 0:14:41What wonderful confection of heaven is this?
0:14:41 > 0:14:44Mm, those are so good.
0:14:44 > 0:14:46They're buttery and crisp.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50And really good layers of pastry flakiness. They are good.
0:14:50 > 0:14:52It is good, isn't it?
0:14:52 > 0:14:55What the bakers haven't been able to produce, however,
0:14:55 > 0:14:57is what three of them love most.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00Now, we're in an era where flour is cheaper,
0:15:00 > 0:15:04we're finally able to make amazing bread,
0:15:04 > 0:15:07incredible new technologies and everything,
0:15:07 > 0:15:09and no-one wants it.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12Two steps forward, one step back, isn't it? We've gone...
0:15:12 > 0:15:14Were at a moment where we're thinking, great,
0:15:14 > 0:15:16everything's looking rosy for the baker
0:15:16 > 0:15:18and things are looking up and now we find that,
0:15:18 > 0:15:22in actual fact, he's got to diversify or he's going to be
0:15:22 > 0:15:24in the same doldrums where we were before.
0:15:24 > 0:15:28Isn't that exactly what's happening today in all our businesses?
0:15:28 > 0:15:31Either you go out of business or you have to evolve.
0:15:31 > 0:15:35We're doing nothing, other than what the Victorian bakers did.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45To counter the declining popularity of bread,
0:15:45 > 0:15:49bakers attempted to woo customers with new premium varieties.
0:15:53 > 0:15:58So, if one scales, one balls, one rolls and I fold, so...
0:15:58 > 0:16:00No, we need to ball them all up, first.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03The next day, work begins on some Vienna bread,
0:16:03 > 0:16:06the most fashionable product of the time,
0:16:06 > 0:16:09according to The Modern Baker, Confectioner And Caterer.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12So, the one that we're making is this Kaiser roll.
0:16:12 > 0:16:15For Vienna bread, dough was enriched
0:16:15 > 0:16:17with milk, butter and sometimes egg
0:16:17 > 0:16:20and then moulded into eye-catching shapes.
0:16:20 > 0:16:22These days, we have a nifty little tool,
0:16:22 > 0:16:25a hand tool, you press down and it creates this shape.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28Here, they're showing you how to make it by hand
0:16:28 > 0:16:29which seems a bit of an effort.
0:16:29 > 0:16:33Vienna breads were mostly morning rolls.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35Bakeries often supplied them to hotels.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38They were also found on what the manual calls,
0:16:38 > 0:16:41"the breakfast tables of the well-to-do classes".
0:16:43 > 0:16:47If we were selling these on to a higher class hotel or restaurant,
0:16:47 > 0:16:50to actually give to their patrons, they'd be a bit confused
0:16:50 > 0:16:52as to why some are so big and some...
0:16:52 > 0:16:54There's nothing written in the book on scaling weight.
0:16:54 > 0:16:58- Look at that and look at that.- Look, some people are bigger than others.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01For me, what's most interesting about this,
0:17:01 > 0:17:05is we really see the tradesmen having to raise their game
0:17:05 > 0:17:08and we've got a middle-class here that is swelling and swelling
0:17:08 > 0:17:10and they're aspirational.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13They want to consume, they want to be seen to be on the up.
0:17:13 > 0:17:17What you tend to find more and more is you've got this lower middle-class
0:17:17 > 0:17:19who can't quite afford to employ a live-in servant.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22They might have a char or a day girl who comes in,
0:17:22 > 0:17:25but they want to dress and they want to be seen to be slightly higher up
0:17:25 > 0:17:28than they are and it's not about aping their betters,
0:17:28 > 0:17:31it's all about wanting to compete with their own classes.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34They're not competing with Lady Devonshire,
0:17:34 > 0:17:36they're competing with Mrs Jones over the road.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41Bakers themselves had moved up the social scale
0:17:41 > 0:17:43since the mid-Victorian period.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48A baker who owned their own shop would now have been categorised
0:17:48 > 0:17:50as lower middle-class.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54And the salary for even the most junior hand,
0:17:54 > 0:17:5822 shillings a week, would have been considered fairly comfortable.
0:18:00 > 0:18:05Probably the most popular shape of roll, as made in this country,
0:18:05 > 0:18:10is the crescent, or, as is usually called, the horseshoe.
0:18:11 > 0:18:13To modern eyes, this looks like a croissant,
0:18:13 > 0:18:18but in 1900, British bakers still made the original Austrian model,
0:18:18 > 0:18:21using bread dough rather than flaky pastry.
0:18:23 > 0:18:27Continental cities, like Vienna and Paris,
0:18:27 > 0:18:30often set styles in food as well as fashion.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34Many of the people making our bread then had foreign origins too.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38Baking still had a reputation for being unpleasant manual work,
0:18:38 > 0:18:41so, most British people were reluctant to do it.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45Sounds familiar, but one surprising difference
0:18:45 > 0:18:49about Victorian immigration is where these new workers came from.
0:18:51 > 0:18:55By the late 1880s, it was estimated that around half of London's
0:18:55 > 0:18:584,000 master bakers were German.
0:18:58 > 0:19:00There was a huge community of Germans,
0:19:00 > 0:19:03much of it centred here on Charlotte Street.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06So much so, that it was even known as Carlota Strasse,
0:19:06 > 0:19:10and around a third of the businesses here had German names.
0:19:13 > 0:19:15According to the 1881 census,
0:19:15 > 0:19:19Germans formed the largest foreign-born minority in Britain.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24At the time, their homeland was struggling economically
0:19:24 > 0:19:26and was politically oppressive, too.
0:19:26 > 0:19:28Britain was the country they envied.
0:19:28 > 0:19:32There was more than enough work and it was far more tolerant.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37It was a land of opportunity, with no immigration laws,
0:19:37 > 0:19:41with open borders and with no need for passports.
0:19:42 > 0:19:46On the downside, like immigrants before and since,
0:19:46 > 0:19:49the Germans usually worked longer hours for lower pay
0:19:49 > 0:19:52and faced hostility from the British press.
0:19:52 > 0:19:57Nonetheless, German names were a common sight on British high streets
0:19:57 > 0:19:59until the outbreak of the First World War.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05Give them a bit more space and we'll get the other tray.
0:20:05 > 0:20:06Do you want to get them in?
0:20:06 > 0:20:10Vienna breads were characterised not just by their rich dough,
0:20:10 > 0:20:11but by their glaze.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14One more, isn't there? Right, oven door coming open.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17To create that, they needed something
0:20:17 > 0:20:22which Victorian Britain now relied on in so many ways - steam.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27That steam in the oven, now, will help them jump
0:20:27 > 0:20:31and give them a better colour and crust to the outside
0:20:31 > 0:20:33and it's something we use today.
0:20:33 > 0:20:38It's fantastic. They've took it from the rest of Victorian life.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41You've got steam trains, you've got all the heavy machinery, which is
0:20:41 > 0:20:46using water and they've actually realised it, put it onto the ovens.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49Spread bakers, we wouldn't ever really contemplate
0:20:49 > 0:20:51baking bread without steam.
0:20:51 > 0:20:55- And the customers must have noticed a difference.- Yeah, definitely.
0:20:55 > 0:20:56And that's it.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59We didn't have to worry about stoking, extra faggots, nothing.
0:20:59 > 0:21:03- It's all there.- Getting rid of the soot in the bottom of the oven. - It's all there.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09Science and industry were transforming
0:21:09 > 0:21:12every part of the baking process.
0:21:12 > 0:21:14Keep your fingers out, guys, and...
0:21:14 > 0:21:17The biggest change of all was the use of machinery.
0:21:17 > 0:21:19Mind the doors.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26Electric mixers were still a novelty in 1900,
0:21:26 > 0:21:29but the national bakery school was already recommending
0:21:29 > 0:21:31every establishment should have one.
0:21:32 > 0:21:36Although the Victorian age was defined by industrial progress,
0:21:36 > 0:21:39baking had been slow to mechanise.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42Bread-making machinery had been on sale since the 1850s,
0:21:42 > 0:21:47but early models had to be operated by steam, which was expensive,
0:21:47 > 0:21:49or hand-cranked, which was exhausting.
0:21:54 > 0:21:58As a result, right to the end of the 19th century,
0:21:58 > 0:22:01the vast majority of bakers stuck with manual bread-making.
0:22:01 > 0:22:05- I'm sweating buckets.- It's dripping into the trough. Look at this.
0:22:07 > 0:22:09But with the dawn of the 20th century,
0:22:09 > 0:22:12bakers' lives would be transformed forever.
0:22:15 > 0:22:17You can look at the action, can't you?
0:22:17 > 0:22:20You can see, they've basically looked at what we were doing.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23- Trying to do. - And I know what we can do here,
0:22:23 > 0:22:26we can just add two bloody great arms and go for it.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29But it must have been nicer realising that it's not got
0:22:29 > 0:22:33the sweat of you two guys in. That must be a comforting thought.
0:22:33 > 0:22:37- Or any of your toenails. - Or my toenails, that's right, yeah.
0:22:38 > 0:22:39It's good, it's progress.
0:22:41 > 0:22:45At the end of the Victorian era, though, bakers were still fearful
0:22:45 > 0:22:48of what machines might do to their livelihoods.
0:22:48 > 0:22:52A bakery which bought a mixer at this time cut labour costs in half.
0:22:54 > 0:22:55Think how scary it was for them,
0:22:55 > 0:22:59because now the owner of the bakery can buy one of these
0:22:59 > 0:23:02and this won't die, this doesn't complain
0:23:02 > 0:23:04and this can work 24 hours a day.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07We've got a new machine putting bakers out of business,
0:23:07 > 0:23:09we've got customers changing what they want to eat
0:23:09 > 0:23:14because they've got more money, so, pretty much, lots of change then.
0:23:16 > 0:23:18Right, do you want to have a feel?
0:23:18 > 0:23:20Erm, yes, we'll turn it off now.
0:23:20 > 0:23:22And the mixer was just the first sign
0:23:22 > 0:23:26of how much baking would mechanise in the 20th century.
0:23:26 > 0:23:27I think I could do better.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33- Go on. We'll let you do the next one by hand.- Not on your Nelly!
0:23:38 > 0:23:41By 1900, Britain had a handful of baking factories.
0:23:43 > 0:23:45ABC and Lyons led the way in scaling up,
0:23:45 > 0:23:47along with biscuit manufacturers.
0:23:51 > 0:23:52Throughout the Victorian period,
0:23:52 > 0:23:56bakeries had employed a steady average of three to four people,
0:23:56 > 0:23:59but the days of the cottage industry were finally numbered.
0:24:00 > 0:24:06Today, at least 80% of bread sold in Britain is factory made.
0:24:10 > 0:24:14Another sign of technological progress in the 1900 bakery,
0:24:14 > 0:24:16was the variety of loaf tins available.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19- These are cool.- Flowerpots.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22British factories were mass-producing thinly pressed,
0:24:22 > 0:24:25moulded metal at very affordable prices.
0:24:25 > 0:24:28Bakers hoped that novelty-shaped tins
0:24:28 > 0:24:30would help stem falling bread sales.
0:24:30 > 0:24:34What we've got to do is really, really grease them up well.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37We almost need to be frying the bread because, otherwise,
0:24:37 > 0:24:40- they'll not come out. - We have another horseshoe.- Yeah.
0:24:40 > 0:24:44Some bakers sold horseshoe loaves. Others favoured the musket.
0:24:46 > 0:24:50And the hexagonal pot was also on sale at the time.
0:24:50 > 0:24:54The nearest thing I've ever seen remotely like this shape,
0:24:54 > 0:24:57is panettone. I mean, how can you get, if you're cutting a slice,
0:24:57 > 0:25:00how can you get equal portions for everybody?
0:25:01 > 0:25:03The Victorians also liked their cakes
0:25:03 > 0:25:05to come in an ambitious range of shapes.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08I've never seen a cake tin like this before.
0:25:09 > 0:25:13Tin-plated copper moulds like these would once only have been found
0:25:13 > 0:25:15on the shelves of aristocratic kitchens.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20Even the bakery school manual admits that the Savoy shape is
0:25:20 > 0:25:23"sometimes too fancy to be practical".
0:25:23 > 0:25:27A tin like this that resembles a jelly mould, literally,
0:25:27 > 0:25:30would only be able to get jelly out very easily.
0:25:30 > 0:25:32So, I personally don't think
0:25:32 > 0:25:35that we are going to do very well with these cakes
0:25:35 > 0:25:38because I think it's going to be a right pain to get them out.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40But we shall see.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44- Oh.- Wow!- It's got a lovely colour.
0:25:44 > 0:25:46Shall we get it on the table then, guys?
0:25:49 > 0:25:51When Victoria first came to the throne,
0:25:51 > 0:25:53bakers didn't use loaf tins at all.
0:25:55 > 0:25:59In the middle of her reign, standard oblong tins became commonplace.
0:26:01 > 0:26:03It was in the 1890s
0:26:03 > 0:26:07bakers discovered the retail value of novelty shapes.
0:26:07 > 0:26:12A baker of the time writes how these tins led to a very ready sale.
0:26:12 > 0:26:16Tin technologies, all of this stuff was gadgetry to them, really.
0:26:16 > 0:26:18And it's something they were embracing.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21I reckon they must have been thinking, right,
0:26:21 > 0:26:23we know how we make our dough, how wacky can we get?
0:26:23 > 0:26:25It's a different weird, now.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28Even factory owner, John, is sceptical about
0:26:28 > 0:26:30this particular application of new technology.
0:26:30 > 0:26:33What we've got, is robot eyes, uniform.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36It's not right, these days, it's not what we are looking for.
0:26:36 > 0:26:38We're looking to go the other way.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41The more natural, more artisan looking, more homely,
0:26:41 > 0:26:45more countrified, but in those days, their thinking was different.
0:26:48 > 0:26:51The great advantage of novelty tins for the Victorian baker
0:26:51 > 0:26:55was that they could sell a standard weight of dough for a higher price.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00This is all great. This is fantastic because you've got a variety.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03You know, it's not just about that. This is all right, I like that.
0:27:03 > 0:27:07That's meat and two veg, but different shapes, sizes, textures.
0:27:07 > 0:27:09If you're half a businessman,
0:27:09 > 0:27:12you'll know you have to follow the trend.
0:27:12 > 0:27:16Anything new, you're willing to do and you charge a premium for it.
0:27:20 > 0:27:22The first tins out of the oven
0:27:22 > 0:27:25contain Harpreet's moulded sponge cakes.
0:27:29 > 0:27:30Oh, wow!
0:27:31 > 0:27:34That has actually really picked up the shape of the mould
0:27:34 > 0:27:37fantastically. I did not think that that would happen at all.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40I thought I would have to, literally,
0:27:40 > 0:27:42scrape most of the batter out of there.
0:27:42 > 0:27:44Let's have a look at this guy.
0:27:46 > 0:27:47I'm dumbfounded.
0:27:51 > 0:27:53That is phenomenal.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56This is an easier method than I would've employed in my kitchen now.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59They clearly knew what they were doing
0:27:59 > 0:28:02and I, actually, clearly need to learn a thing or two
0:28:02 > 0:28:03from the Victorians.
0:28:03 > 0:28:05Open the door, then.
0:28:05 > 0:28:09The cakes might be a triumph, but can the curiously shaped loaves
0:28:09 > 0:28:11be anything other than kitsch?
0:28:11 > 0:28:14- Look at those beauties. - Wow, look at that one.
0:28:19 > 0:28:22They're coming out great. Absolutely fabulous.
0:28:24 > 0:28:28I was really sceptical when I saw that tin and I was...
0:28:28 > 0:28:31I thought, what on earth is that?
0:28:31 > 0:28:34But, actually, I could sell that.
0:28:34 > 0:28:36- Beautiful.- Rather special.
0:28:36 > 0:28:38Here come the sandwich boxes.
0:28:41 > 0:28:44In an era before mechanical bread slicing was invented,
0:28:44 > 0:28:47the musket loaf guided your bread knife with its grooves.
0:28:47 > 0:28:52- The ridging is fantastic on those. - How thick to cut each slice.
0:28:52 > 0:28:55- Look at the colour and crust on that.- I just love the shape.
0:28:55 > 0:28:58It's really organic and it's kind of done its own thing
0:28:58 > 0:29:00but we've got those perfect four edges.
0:29:00 > 0:29:03These are showpieces in your window, aren't they, in a way?
0:29:03 > 0:29:06Come in, I'm one of the best bakers around.
0:29:06 > 0:29:08You don't want to go down the road, you want to come to my bakery.
0:29:08 > 0:29:10I would put that on the dinner table
0:29:10 > 0:29:13and, actually, as practical bread goes...
0:29:13 > 0:29:15You've got the slices running round, yeah.
0:29:15 > 0:29:18- Slice of good luck, isn't it, really?- I think that's amazing.
0:29:18 > 0:29:20I like that. A slice of good luck.
0:29:23 > 0:29:25By 1900, it was no longer enough
0:29:25 > 0:29:28for a baker to merely make their products.
0:29:31 > 0:29:33They also had to display them.
0:29:34 > 0:29:38Now they were competing with other shops for consumer spend,
0:29:38 > 0:29:40they had to dress their windows
0:29:40 > 0:29:43as elaborately as a clothing or department store.
0:29:43 > 0:29:46So, how big a strip do you want to do?
0:29:46 > 0:29:48According to the National Bakery School manual,
0:29:48 > 0:29:52at the start of the 20th century, it was "quite the fashion to use
0:29:52 > 0:29:56"velvets of different colours to produce a bright looking display."
0:29:56 > 0:29:58There's nowhere to put any of this.
0:29:58 > 0:30:01I actually think we should probably clear the window before we start.
0:30:01 > 0:30:06- Take everything into the back and get it all set up here.- I disagree.
0:30:06 > 0:30:09- Well, I don't. Just carry everything out.- All right.
0:30:10 > 0:30:12Put your back into it, man.
0:30:12 > 0:30:15The two John's quickly take a back seat.
0:30:15 > 0:30:18Do you really want your shop window dressing
0:30:18 > 0:30:19by a factory bloke from Barnsley?
0:30:19 > 0:30:21MUSIC PLAYS
0:30:25 > 0:30:26Yeah.
0:30:29 > 0:30:32Harpreet's outside just shouting orders.
0:30:33 > 0:30:35It's great not being able to hear her.
0:30:41 > 0:30:42Yeah.
0:30:43 > 0:30:45She's happy.
0:30:45 > 0:30:48Right, I think that's a job well done, chaps.
0:30:48 > 0:30:52- Look at that.- That ain't bad, actually, boys.
0:30:52 > 0:30:55It's now more than just the bread, it's more than just the wholesale,
0:30:55 > 0:30:58it's now retail and we need to start dressing.
0:30:58 > 0:31:00We need to entice people in.
0:31:01 > 0:31:04Once, bakers could rely on steady customer demand.
0:31:04 > 0:31:08Now, they had to drum up business in any way they could.
0:31:08 > 0:31:09Hello, there.
0:31:09 > 0:31:12- What do you think of the shape? - Nice.- That dog looks hungry.
0:31:12 > 0:31:14He looks as if he wants some of our bread.
0:31:14 > 0:31:16- Can I have this amazing horseshoe one, please?- You can, yes.
0:31:16 > 0:31:19Well, it's certainly not sliced, is it?
0:31:19 > 0:31:22Like so much else in 1900, this new art of retail
0:31:22 > 0:31:27took bakers away from what had been their core activity for centuries -
0:31:27 > 0:31:28making bread.
0:31:30 > 0:31:34Most bakers would be fairly unhappy, because for them to have to come
0:31:34 > 0:31:37out of the bakery to start pushing their own shops to people,
0:31:37 > 0:31:39may have been uncomfortable.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42- Bake the bread AND be nice? - Yeah.- Oh!
0:31:45 > 0:31:48The most tempting products for the shop window would be
0:31:48 > 0:31:52colourful cakes. With that in mind, Harpreet is making fondant.
0:31:54 > 0:31:56This was a task that would only be tackled
0:31:56 > 0:31:59by someone with experience in confectionery.
0:31:59 > 0:32:03It's time-consuming, painstaking and easy to get wrong.
0:32:03 > 0:32:05We are at 235.
0:32:06 > 0:32:10Now is the time for the glucose to go in.
0:32:11 > 0:32:15Once the industrially refined sugar solution has dissolved,
0:32:15 > 0:32:18the resulting syrup needs to cool down again.
0:32:18 > 0:32:22Electric refrigeration technology wasn't invented until 1914,
0:32:22 > 0:32:27so the Victorians used cooling materials - marble and steel bars.
0:32:27 > 0:32:29Doesn't this look fantastic?
0:32:30 > 0:32:33Although she runs a successful business in the 21st century,
0:32:33 > 0:32:37Harpreet wouldn't have been able to do this in 1900.
0:32:39 > 0:32:42In the 1840s bakehouse, even in the 1870s,
0:32:42 > 0:32:44women wouldn't have been out of place.
0:32:44 > 0:32:47By the time you get to the 1900s, almost all confectioners were men,
0:32:47 > 0:32:49because this was perceived as the most skilful task
0:32:49 > 0:32:53and a lot of women are increasingly pushed out to be the frivolous
0:32:53 > 0:32:57sweet thing that is selling the French fancies in the front window.
0:32:57 > 0:33:00Within my business, there is nothing that I cannot do
0:33:00 > 0:33:04and I've actually never been told that I can't do something.
0:33:04 > 0:33:08I can't imagine how soul destroying it would be,
0:33:08 > 0:33:13to be a woman in this age, who would have a bright mind and abilities
0:33:13 > 0:33:16and just be yearning to actually show that all off.
0:33:16 > 0:33:18You'd almost feel like a caged bird.
0:33:19 > 0:33:23Once the sugar solution has cooled, it needs to be creamed.
0:33:23 > 0:33:28Even in late-Victorian times, some bakers bought factory made fondant,
0:33:28 > 0:33:31precisely to avoid this slow and laborious process.
0:33:33 > 0:33:37By working it repeatedly, you'd work air into it,
0:33:37 > 0:33:41make it more malleable, make it more pliable.
0:33:41 > 0:33:44Ah, my good man, John.
0:33:44 > 0:33:45That looks hard work.
0:33:45 > 0:33:48Harpreet displays the kind of management initiative
0:33:48 > 0:33:50denied to women in 1900...
0:33:50 > 0:33:53I think I might need some of your brute force.
0:33:53 > 0:33:55Shall I try with this thing, here?
0:33:55 > 0:33:57..and gets John to do it for her.
0:33:57 > 0:34:00I think girl power is wonderful up to a certain point
0:34:00 > 0:34:02and then you just need to find a man
0:34:02 > 0:34:04to do your hard work for you, frankly.
0:34:04 > 0:34:06I think a part of girl power is actually...
0:34:06 > 0:34:09- Knowing when to delegate. - Knowing when to delegate, yeah.
0:34:09 > 0:34:13- Doing the management of it.- Knowing which man to call to do it for you.
0:34:13 > 0:34:15Oh, this is really tough.
0:34:15 > 0:34:16I'll tell you what, this is harder
0:34:16 > 0:34:18than kneading the dough by hand, this.
0:34:18 > 0:34:21Do you know, I think the packet of fondant
0:34:21 > 0:34:26that you can get in the supermarket is looking much more appealing now.
0:34:33 > 0:34:38It's coming to fondant, now. Look at it. We have made fondant.
0:34:38 > 0:34:40Oh, look at that!
0:34:40 > 0:34:42Look, here's a flower for you.
0:34:42 > 0:34:43- Thank you so much.- A rose.
0:34:43 > 0:34:46There you are, petal, have another one.
0:34:48 > 0:34:51The fondant will be used to top the extravagant cakes
0:34:51 > 0:34:53late-Victorians loved so much.
0:34:53 > 0:34:57But bakers did, at least, now offer a healthier choice
0:34:57 > 0:34:58when it came to bread.
0:34:58 > 0:35:02The overwhelming consumer demand in the Victorian period
0:35:02 > 0:35:05is for white bread. But you do start to get people realising
0:35:05 > 0:35:08that white bread's definitely not as good for you as brown bread.
0:35:08 > 0:35:12The problem, and the reason that bakers were a bit sniffy about it,
0:35:12 > 0:35:16is that brown bread in 1900 has a kind of reputation for being...
0:35:16 > 0:35:19not particularly appetising.
0:35:19 > 0:35:21It is kind of ick.
0:35:23 > 0:35:26Victorian wholemeal wasn't as finely milled
0:35:26 > 0:35:30as the brown flour we now buy in supermarkets.
0:35:31 > 0:35:32It's oatmeal, isn't it?
0:35:32 > 0:35:33- Like oatmeal.- Yeah.
0:35:33 > 0:35:35It really is course, isn't it, that?
0:35:35 > 0:35:39And to make a product which these days we think of as healthy,
0:35:39 > 0:35:42the Victorians added some surprising ingredients.
0:35:42 > 0:35:46Two ounces of lard, one ounce of sugar.
0:35:46 > 0:35:47As well.
0:35:47 > 0:35:51Lard has just got such a distinctive flavour,
0:35:51 > 0:35:54that it isn't going to make a very good breakfast,
0:35:54 > 0:35:56lunch and afternoon bread.
0:35:57 > 0:36:01Wholemeal bread was generally described by the Victorians
0:36:01 > 0:36:03as invalid food.
0:36:03 > 0:36:05The people that would have eaten this
0:36:05 > 0:36:10would have been the people who are of slightly iller health.
0:36:10 > 0:36:13Are we suggesting it might be people who are a little bunged up?
0:36:13 > 0:36:15- Yeah, well...- In the bowel region. - Yes.
0:36:15 > 0:36:18So this is bread that will be enjoyed three times.
0:36:18 > 0:36:21Once in anticipation of buying it.
0:36:21 > 0:36:24- The other one in consumption. And the other one...- Trust you!
0:36:24 > 0:36:27- ..in remembrance. - Trust you to lower the tone.
0:36:28 > 0:36:31I mean, we know this isn't going to make a decent sandwich bread.
0:36:31 > 0:36:35It's a different product. You don't ever think you're going to get
0:36:35 > 0:36:37the same rise out of wholemeal from this era.
0:36:37 > 0:36:40We can deliver the health benefits - that's easy.
0:36:40 > 0:36:42But delivering the health benefits
0:36:42 > 0:36:45in something that somebody wants to come back and buy again
0:36:45 > 0:36:47and eat on a regular basis,
0:36:47 > 0:36:50you've got to just make it ever so slightly different.
0:36:52 > 0:36:55How to make bread palatable as well as healthy
0:36:55 > 0:36:58was a challenge the late-Victorians were grappling with.
0:36:59 > 0:37:01And the person who cracked it
0:37:01 > 0:37:04created a brand still very much with us today.
0:37:06 > 0:37:11In 1899, one bread company published a guide to England and Wales
0:37:11 > 0:37:15for users of the recently invented safety bicycle.
0:37:17 > 0:37:19For the bread company,
0:37:19 > 0:37:22cycling was a brilliant fit with its newest product -
0:37:22 > 0:37:25a golden bread flour that they claimed was tastier
0:37:25 > 0:37:28and healthier than anything currently on the market.
0:37:29 > 0:37:33Its USP was wheatgerm, the vitamin-packed heart of the grain.
0:37:33 > 0:37:36Victorian millers generally removed the wheatgerm,
0:37:36 > 0:37:39because left in flour, it could quickly go off.
0:37:39 > 0:37:44How could you put it back in the bread without having it go rancid?
0:37:44 > 0:37:48Well, the answer came from here - Stone in Staffordshire.
0:37:48 > 0:37:50Behind me is the mill where Richard Smith,
0:37:50 > 0:37:53known as Stoney to his friends, was born and grew up.
0:37:55 > 0:37:58He worked out that steaming the wheatgerm with a little salt
0:37:58 > 0:38:00stopped the flour going off.
0:38:00 > 0:38:04Stoney added his cooked wheatgerm back into the flour,
0:38:04 > 0:38:07about a fifth wheatgerm to four-fifths flour.
0:38:07 > 0:38:10Basically, this was a white loaf,
0:38:10 > 0:38:13but just that little bit better for you.
0:38:13 > 0:38:18Soon, he'd teamed up with a large firm of millers in Macclesfield
0:38:18 > 0:38:20to mass-produce this new blend.
0:38:20 > 0:38:26At first, they called it Smith's Patent Germ Flour.
0:38:26 > 0:38:30It's not the catchiest of names, even by Victorian standards.
0:38:30 > 0:38:32So, they held a national competition
0:38:32 > 0:38:35to try and come up with a more marketable name.
0:38:35 > 0:38:40It was won - £25, the grand prize -
0:38:40 > 0:38:43by a student called Herbert Grime.
0:38:43 > 0:38:46He took a Latin phrase, "hominis vis",
0:38:46 > 0:38:49which translates as "the strength of man"...
0:38:51 > 0:38:54..and made it a bit more catchy and modern.
0:38:54 > 0:38:57How? By slicing it up.
0:38:59 > 0:39:03Some might say it was £25 well spent,
0:39:03 > 0:39:06given that the runner-up name was Yum Yum.
0:39:06 > 0:39:09It was extensively promoted.
0:39:09 > 0:39:12Bakers were only allowed to use Stoney's flour
0:39:12 > 0:39:15in tins stamped with the new name.
0:39:17 > 0:39:21The Victorians pretty much invented branding as we know it today.
0:39:21 > 0:39:24Advertising and sponsorship during the era
0:39:24 > 0:39:26became ever more sophisticated.
0:39:26 > 0:39:29Which brings us back to our cycling map.
0:39:29 > 0:39:34It was produced, of course, by Hovis, and they marked on it all the places
0:39:34 > 0:39:37that a hungry cyclist could be guaranteed to get Hovis bread.
0:39:37 > 0:39:40It was a brilliant piece of marketing.
0:39:40 > 0:39:43It encouraged the cyclists to ask for the bread by name,
0:39:43 > 0:39:47but it also encouraged potential places of refreshment to stock it.
0:39:49 > 0:39:52By 1895, one million of Stoney Smith's loaves
0:39:52 > 0:39:54were being sold every week.
0:39:54 > 0:39:58He'd proved not just that bread could be healthier,
0:39:58 > 0:40:01but that people liked the idea of buying a name they recognised
0:40:01 > 0:40:04wherever they were in Britain.
0:40:04 > 0:40:08Other firms rapidly followed suit.
0:40:08 > 0:40:10These big bread brands,
0:40:10 > 0:40:13they're going to be able to undercut the small bakeries,
0:40:13 > 0:40:16and that must have been quite a worrying situation
0:40:16 > 0:40:17for independent bakers.
0:40:17 > 0:40:20I think it was a logical progression.
0:40:20 > 0:40:22We've seen the Victorians
0:40:22 > 0:40:25want to be industrialised and not localised,
0:40:25 > 0:40:28and I think the branding would be exactly the same thing.
0:40:28 > 0:40:31Big is beautiful, big is better.
0:40:31 > 0:40:37I mean, I could see John Foster living in that era and loving it.
0:40:41 > 0:40:45The bakers' own Victorian wholemeal is ready for tasting.
0:40:55 > 0:40:58It's nice. I'm... I'm happy with that.
0:40:58 > 0:41:00You know what? That...
0:41:00 > 0:41:03Genuinely, I would put that in my shop tomorrow,
0:41:03 > 0:41:06and it would sell really, really well with our client base.
0:41:06 > 0:41:07You're seeing where the whole
0:41:07 > 0:41:10"keeping the good stuff in" movement began.
0:41:10 > 0:41:14People at last are kind of starting to show an interest
0:41:14 > 0:41:15in their actual health.
0:41:15 > 0:41:19I suppose it's the stereotypical quinoa-eating, yoga-doing,
0:41:19 > 0:41:22yummy-mummy brigade from today, the equivalent of that in 1900,
0:41:22 > 0:41:24are the people buying this.
0:41:24 > 0:41:27And I must be a quinoa-eating yummy mummy,
0:41:27 > 0:41:29- cos I like it. I would buy it. - I do.
0:41:29 > 0:41:31I would have read that recipe as a historian
0:41:31 > 0:41:34and I would have thought, OK, brown bread at this point in time
0:41:34 > 0:41:36was something that didn't taste great.
0:41:36 > 0:41:39But tasting what you've produced in a Victorian oven
0:41:39 > 0:41:42with Victorian flour, with Victorian techniques,
0:41:42 > 0:41:44this is a revelation,
0:41:44 > 0:41:48and I could never have got that from the documentary sources alone.
0:41:48 > 0:41:51Bakers could now charge more for wholemeal than for white -
0:41:51 > 0:41:55the opposite of what had been the case for most of history.
0:41:55 > 0:41:58But the real money-spinner wasn't health bread.
0:41:58 > 0:41:59It was cake.
0:41:59 > 0:42:01Harpreet, do you approve?
0:42:01 > 0:42:04- They look really good. Well done. - That's high praise!
0:42:04 > 0:42:08Making cakes to the standards demanded by Victorian customers
0:42:08 > 0:42:10required a whole new level of skill,
0:42:10 > 0:42:13especially from bakers more used to bread.
0:42:13 > 0:42:15What next, boss?
0:42:15 > 0:42:17For paniers en Genoises,
0:42:17 > 0:42:21jam-coated sponge is dipped in a new invention of the 1880s -
0:42:21 > 0:42:23desiccated coconut.
0:42:24 > 0:42:27- Oh, they look fantastic. - Do you want to try some?
0:42:27 > 0:42:29Mmm.
0:42:29 > 0:42:32The cake is then partially filled with buttercream
0:42:32 > 0:42:33and the basket's handles
0:42:33 > 0:42:36are made from a favourite Victorian ingredient.
0:42:36 > 0:42:40- Wow, these look good. - What is it?- Angelica.
0:42:40 > 0:42:44It's a kind of rhubarb-like plant, and it's been candied.
0:42:44 > 0:42:48Haven't you noticed that this is, you know, as far away from
0:42:48 > 0:42:52where we've just come from in the Victorian era -
0:42:52 > 0:42:55brute force and ignorance, in some respects -
0:42:55 > 0:42:58and now we're being very delicate and dainty.
0:43:01 > 0:43:05As we already saw with the novelty loaf shapes,
0:43:05 > 0:43:08the late Victorians set no store on things looking natural.
0:43:08 > 0:43:11The more eye-catching, the better.
0:43:11 > 0:43:14I am generally amazed.
0:43:14 > 0:43:17Because I thought life was in black and white, absolutely...
0:43:17 > 0:43:20And then this has come along, I mean, look at the colours!
0:43:20 > 0:43:24It's enough to worry artisan baker Duncan.
0:43:25 > 0:43:29I would suspect that with their love of kind of ingenuity
0:43:29 > 0:43:32and productivity and everything,
0:43:32 > 0:43:36all of the colorants used at the time would have been some kind of...
0:43:36 > 0:43:40chemically based, not natural kind of colorant.
0:43:40 > 0:43:43It's true that earlier in the 19th century,
0:43:43 > 0:43:47colour could come from some very dangerous substances,
0:43:47 > 0:43:51chiefly lead for yellow colouring, copper for blue and green,
0:43:51 > 0:43:53and mercury for red.
0:43:53 > 0:43:57Talking of garish colours, we have got this...
0:43:57 > 0:43:59Shocking pink!
0:43:59 > 0:44:03..slightly fluoro beauty. But it's all good.
0:44:03 > 0:44:06A series of poisoning scandals
0:44:06 > 0:44:10had led Victorians to introduce proper regulation of food colourings,
0:44:10 > 0:44:13culminating in the Food Adulteration Act of 1899.
0:44:13 > 0:44:17So at this point, food dye shouldn't have killed you.
0:44:17 > 0:44:20Though looking at them might have made you a bit nauseous.
0:44:20 > 0:44:23Fancy, fancy, fancy!
0:44:23 > 0:44:28The three different colours of rolled fondant on top of the Genoise
0:44:28 > 0:44:30are covered with melted chocolate fondant.
0:44:30 > 0:44:35So you need to pour this on all the way down.
0:44:35 > 0:44:39Actually, what we've got here is very complicated cakes.
0:44:39 > 0:44:42- Indulging...- They're coming up in the world, aren't they?
0:44:42 > 0:44:46They want pretty, indulgent, luxurious products.
0:44:46 > 0:44:48And yes, it takes the baker
0:44:48 > 0:44:51or confectioner a while to produce them,
0:44:51 > 0:44:53which means that they're going to change a fair penny for them.
0:44:57 > 0:45:01- Keep pouring, cos we need to... - I'm pouring!- ..do that quickly.
0:45:01 > 0:45:05Although in 1900 Harpreet wouldn't have been doing this work...
0:45:05 > 0:45:08God, you just can't get the staff these days, can you?
0:45:08 > 0:45:11..the 21st-century businesswoman can't help but take charge.
0:45:11 > 0:45:14- Were we this bossy with bread? I don't think so.- Yes. Yes, you were.
0:45:14 > 0:45:17The three of you waved your willies around for eight days.
0:45:17 > 0:45:21- We helped every step of the way, we did.- No, you didn't.
0:45:21 > 0:45:26'I think today we saw just how hard cake decorators,
0:45:26 > 0:45:30'pastry chefs and confectioners actually have to work.'
0:45:30 > 0:45:33Whereas these boys have thought they're the real kind of
0:45:33 > 0:45:36brutish guys that work with bread and knead stuff with their hands,
0:45:36 > 0:45:39they have actually had to make pretty little cakes today.
0:45:41 > 0:45:43Nice.
0:45:43 > 0:45:46Duncan is making the filling that will sandwich together some sponges.
0:45:46 > 0:45:51It's a mix of cherries, apricots and jam.
0:45:51 > 0:45:52Oh, smell that.
0:45:52 > 0:45:54And in another blow to the notion of Victorians
0:45:54 > 0:45:57as people who didn't like to be amused...
0:45:57 > 0:45:59Decadent!
0:45:59 > 0:46:00..there's plenty of booze going in, too.
0:46:00 > 0:46:04This is a far cry from the classic Victoria sponge
0:46:04 > 0:46:07with just a layer of jam in there, look at this.
0:46:07 > 0:46:09This is an adult's cake, for sure.
0:46:09 > 0:46:11That is really strong.
0:46:13 > 0:46:16Despite Harpreet's verdict,
0:46:16 > 0:46:19Duncan decides you can never have too much maraschino.
0:46:19 > 0:46:20That's better.
0:46:20 > 0:46:24Let's go, now, cos we need to get this done.
0:46:24 > 0:46:28To modern eyes, that filling might seem like more than enough.
0:46:28 > 0:46:30Happy with that?
0:46:30 > 0:46:33But then the recipe calls for sweet green icing.
0:46:33 > 0:46:36Don't leave this cake out in the rain.
0:46:36 > 0:46:40It's finished with custom-made meringue biscuit twists.
0:46:40 > 0:46:43We've got langue de chat cones
0:46:43 > 0:46:47filled with strawberry buttercream and vanilla buttercream.
0:46:47 > 0:46:50Because obviously there just wasn't enough on there.
0:46:50 > 0:46:53You know, it is culinary kitsch, but at the same time...
0:46:53 > 0:46:56I don't know about you, but it does make me smile.
0:46:56 > 0:46:59It's rather Victorian bling, isn't it?
0:46:59 > 0:47:02It was called Gateau Souvaroff.
0:47:02 > 0:47:03For the 1900 customer,
0:47:03 > 0:47:06a cosmopolitan name was part of the appeal.
0:47:06 > 0:47:09For the middle classes in late-Victorian Britain,
0:47:09 > 0:47:10this is aspirational.
0:47:10 > 0:47:14You kind of think, "I've got a bit of the aristocracy on my own table."
0:47:14 > 0:47:17I mean, for me, it all looks very nice but it's all a bit pretentious.
0:47:17 > 0:47:21You know, I mean, forgive me - give me a pork pie.
0:47:26 > 0:47:30The late-Victorian era is when afternoon tea took the form
0:47:30 > 0:47:33for which the British are still globally renowned.
0:47:38 > 0:47:41So, on their final day as Victorian bakers,
0:47:41 > 0:47:44the team are making a celebratory spread.
0:47:44 > 0:47:47Half pound of butter and lard, mixed.
0:47:47 > 0:47:50Starting with one of the vital elements.
0:47:50 > 0:47:52"Scoans", darling.
0:47:52 > 0:47:54- No, "sconns".- It's a "sconn".
0:47:54 > 0:47:56There's always debates, isn't there?
0:47:56 > 0:48:00My philosophy is, whoever's paying says it the right way.
0:48:00 > 0:48:03I don't really care what they call it as long as they pay!
0:48:04 > 0:48:06Get on with your cement mixing...
0:48:06 > 0:48:09If you were hosting a tea party in 1900,
0:48:09 > 0:48:13you'd probably call on your local baker to cater for it,
0:48:13 > 0:48:17much as offices today might order in sandwiches for a lunchtime meeting.
0:48:18 > 0:48:22Though afternoon tea had started as an aristocratic ritual
0:48:22 > 0:48:26back in the 1840s, it had become increasingly commercialised,
0:48:26 > 0:48:29with unexpected political consequences.
0:48:32 > 0:48:35By the late 1880s, afternoon tea had become established
0:48:35 > 0:48:38as part of middle-class home life.
0:48:38 > 0:48:41And with the various rituals attached to pouring the tea
0:48:41 > 0:48:43and sandwiches and cake,
0:48:43 > 0:48:46it was very much the province of the mistress of the house.
0:48:46 > 0:48:51After all, have you ever heard anyone say, "Shall I play Father?"
0:48:52 > 0:48:55The problem for Mother was that there were few places
0:48:55 > 0:48:58outside the domestic sphere where respectable females could go.
0:48:58 > 0:49:01Restaurants, coffee shops and public houses
0:49:01 > 0:49:04were very much the province of men,
0:49:04 > 0:49:07or of women who didn't have to care about their reputation.
0:49:07 > 0:49:10They were certainly not for unaccompanied middle-class ladies.
0:49:13 > 0:49:17That is until 1864, when the pioneering manageress
0:49:17 > 0:49:22of an Aerated Bread Company shop began selling tea and cake as well,
0:49:22 > 0:49:25and persuaded her employers to open a public tea room.
0:49:27 > 0:49:31Within a few years, there were 50 ABC tea rooms in London alone.
0:49:31 > 0:49:36From 1894, they competed with the mighty Lyons,
0:49:36 > 0:49:40whose tea rooms came complete with smartly uniformed waitresses
0:49:40 > 0:49:42nicknamed "nippies".
0:49:42 > 0:49:44It's not surprising that tea rooms
0:49:44 > 0:49:47became seen as intrinsically feminine spaces.
0:49:47 > 0:49:50They were places where women could get together and meet
0:49:50 > 0:49:53and talk about whatever it was that was most bothering them.
0:49:53 > 0:49:57This fact was not lost on the women's suffrage movement,
0:49:57 > 0:50:01who quickly adopted tea rooms as spaces where they could talk tactics.
0:50:03 > 0:50:07When, in 1899, the International Congress of Women met in London,
0:50:07 > 0:50:10they recommended ABC tea rooms
0:50:10 > 0:50:13were the safest place for delegates to meet.
0:50:13 > 0:50:16And it was from a Covent Garden cafe
0:50:16 > 0:50:19that the Suffragettes later launched their attention-grabbing stunt
0:50:19 > 0:50:22of smashing windows across the West End.
0:50:22 > 0:50:27They were changing the world, one sandwich at a time.
0:50:31 > 0:50:33For bakeries, the sandwich was a way
0:50:33 > 0:50:36of boosting declining sales of bread -
0:50:36 > 0:50:39an added-value product they could charge for.
0:50:41 > 0:50:43I've brought along guidance
0:50:43 > 0:50:46from a book written by Mr T Herbert in 1890,
0:50:46 > 0:50:49which was dedicated to the subject of sandwiches.
0:50:49 > 0:50:52Now, you might want to stop for a moment,
0:50:52 > 0:50:57because Herbert has some advice on the thickness of your slices, OK?
0:50:57 > 0:50:59He says here, "Remember, it should be
0:50:59 > 0:51:01"as delicate in appearance as possible,
0:51:01 > 0:51:05"and not one of those things which should be named mouth-distorters."
0:51:05 > 0:51:10OK? So the popular doorstop sandwich that we love today,
0:51:10 > 0:51:12that's not what we're looking for.
0:51:12 > 0:51:14He actually goes on to stipulate
0:51:14 > 0:51:17what the thickness of your slices should be.
0:51:17 > 0:51:20So let's have a look at yours, John. How are you doing?
0:51:20 > 0:51:23Herbert says a quarter of an inch.
0:51:23 > 0:51:26And I'm sorry, John, that's not going to pass.
0:51:26 > 0:51:28That's a third of an inch.
0:51:28 > 0:51:30What about mine?
0:51:30 > 0:51:32I'm afraid that's even worse, Harpreet.
0:51:35 > 0:51:37Earlier in the Victorian period,
0:51:37 > 0:51:41sandwiches were, more often than not, filled with ham.
0:51:42 > 0:51:46But by 1900, the number one filling was something else.
0:51:46 > 0:51:48Here we go.
0:51:48 > 0:51:50What...?
0:51:50 > 0:51:52- Nice!- ..is that?
0:51:52 > 0:51:56- That's tongue.- That is tongue. - It is indeed tongue.- Oh, my God.
0:51:56 > 0:51:58That looks hideous.
0:51:58 > 0:52:01Tongue was a particularly important ingredient
0:52:01 > 0:52:04for late-Victorian sandwiches.
0:52:04 > 0:52:05It was incredibly popular.
0:52:05 > 0:52:08- Can I touch it?- You can touch it, you can skin it.
0:52:08 > 0:52:11Eww! God, it's hard! That's disgusting.
0:52:11 > 0:52:16I am not skinning that. I think that's a job for one of the Johns.
0:52:16 > 0:52:17LAUGHTER
0:52:17 > 0:52:20- I'll do it, I'm happy. - You're a taker, are you? Good.- Yeah.
0:52:24 > 0:52:27There we go. Look at that. Perfect.
0:52:27 > 0:52:29If you look at that now, Harpreet,
0:52:29 > 0:52:31that's quite a clean piece of meat, isn't it?
0:52:33 > 0:52:35THEY GIGGLE
0:52:37 > 0:52:40In the 21st century, a nose-to-tail approach to meat
0:52:40 > 0:52:42is mostly confined to trendy restaurants.
0:52:42 > 0:52:46But, for the Victorians, it was common-sense thrift.
0:52:46 > 0:52:49Another popular filling was bone marrow.
0:52:49 > 0:52:52I mean, this stuff isn't sexy.
0:52:52 > 0:52:57But nasturtiums, on the other hand, I absolutely love.
0:52:57 > 0:53:01Flowers beautiful, leaves edible...
0:53:01 > 0:53:06This is another combination from Herbert's 1890 sandwich guide.
0:53:06 > 0:53:11Victorians ate nasturtium leaves as often as we turn to rocket today.
0:53:11 > 0:53:15- Can I?- Peppery... - Peppery...it's lovely.- ..flower.
0:53:15 > 0:53:18You don't need a lot of it. It's got a bit of heat to it.
0:53:18 > 0:53:21- A bit?!- That definitely has a kick. - Yep.
0:53:21 > 0:53:23In those days, "tongue sandwich"
0:53:23 > 0:53:26wasn't a euphemism for French kissing,
0:53:26 > 0:53:30though the ingredient recommended to complement it
0:53:30 > 0:53:32was highly continental.
0:53:32 > 0:53:35Truffles? You know, we were so poor
0:53:35 > 0:53:38not so long ago, we couldn't even afford flour,
0:53:38 > 0:53:43and now we're buying, what, an £80 truffle? It's just ridiculous.
0:53:43 > 0:53:46Everything on the table is just shouting to me
0:53:46 > 0:53:49sort of high end, you know, money.
0:53:50 > 0:53:55And books of the time suggest far more exotic fillings,
0:53:55 > 0:53:57from pheasant, grouse and quail
0:53:57 > 0:53:59through to oyster, eels and maid.
0:53:59 > 0:54:03That's another type of fish, not your servant.
0:54:06 > 0:54:09The notion that you'd buy your sandwiches pre-made
0:54:09 > 0:54:12from the same shop that made your bread
0:54:12 > 0:54:14was a relatively late Victorian development,
0:54:14 > 0:54:18but one which bakers have profitably continued ever since.
0:54:20 > 0:54:23Can you imagine if it hadn't been the Earl of Sandwich
0:54:23 > 0:54:25that had sort of started it?
0:54:25 > 0:54:28If it had been the Earl of Devonshire or something...
0:54:28 > 0:54:30Or if it was a guy called Derek.
0:54:30 > 0:54:33- Yeah, we could be eating dereks. - "I'm having a derek for lunch."
0:54:36 > 0:54:38Look at this.
0:54:38 > 0:54:40It's not too bad.
0:54:40 > 0:54:44Afternoon tea is served to family and friends,
0:54:44 > 0:54:45and Crouch End locals.
0:54:45 > 0:54:48So we've got a Neapolitan cake here.
0:54:48 > 0:54:51We've got scones with clotted cream and jam.
0:54:51 > 0:54:53- The scones are absolutely delicious. - Mwah!
0:54:53 > 0:54:58It's a chance for everyone to reflect on 63 years
0:54:58 > 0:55:00of Victorian baking.
0:55:00 > 0:55:03At every stage there were products that really surprised me,
0:55:03 > 0:55:06and I'm shocked by how much I actually enjoyed having them,
0:55:06 > 0:55:08so I think it's good to open your mind
0:55:08 > 0:55:12and to think about some of the fantastic flavours
0:55:12 > 0:55:14that have sadly got forgotten along the way.
0:55:14 > 0:55:17You want to try some more cake?
0:55:17 > 0:55:19Yeah. We got a yes. He likes it.
0:55:19 > 0:55:21They're just fantastic products,
0:55:21 > 0:55:24and they're really eye-catching,
0:55:24 > 0:55:28and I can really see those entering onto the Swift counter.
0:55:28 > 0:55:30If they were good for them...
0:55:30 > 0:55:33with a slight change, maybe not so much sugar,
0:55:33 > 0:55:34they would be good today.
0:55:34 > 0:55:39We've charted a journey really from the small, from the local,
0:55:39 > 0:55:42to the introduction of factory conditions,
0:55:42 > 0:55:45and then sort of rampant consumerism as well.
0:55:45 > 0:55:48And the pace of change, the way in which, as well,
0:55:48 > 0:55:53so much that happens outside baking impacts on the food industry,
0:55:53 > 0:55:56that is something that I'd never really fully appreciated
0:55:56 > 0:55:57until I'd seen our bakers.
0:55:57 > 0:56:02Watching, in that first 1840s bakehouse, pounding bread...
0:56:02 > 0:56:06- Go on!- ..and moving to something where you can press a button
0:56:06 > 0:56:08- and it happens for you. - Mind the door.
0:56:08 > 0:56:10WHIRRING
0:56:10 > 0:56:13It's a really graphic illustration of the way in which the Victorian age
0:56:13 > 0:56:16impacted on everyone. It's amazing.
0:56:18 > 0:56:21But with progress came sacrifice,
0:56:21 > 0:56:23of sometimes valuable traditions.
0:56:23 > 0:56:26At the beginning of the Victorian era
0:56:26 > 0:56:30we saw the close links that these kind of rural bakeries had.
0:56:30 > 0:56:32You know, you knew the farmer who grew the wheat,
0:56:32 > 0:56:36and that supplied the miller that then supplied the bakery.
0:56:36 > 0:56:39Whereas, as we've kind of gone through the eras,
0:56:39 > 0:56:43we've seen that relationship become more and more distant.
0:56:44 > 0:56:50As time progressed, they had to fight harder to find customers,
0:56:50 > 0:56:52to keep up with other businesses.
0:56:52 > 0:56:55With more development and with more competition
0:56:55 > 0:56:57comes a high level of stress.
0:56:58 > 0:57:00Had I been a Victorian baker
0:57:00 > 0:57:02I would have wanted to be an industrial baker.
0:57:02 > 0:57:06You know, the industrialisation of the bread production
0:57:06 > 0:57:08was what was responsible for an affordable price.
0:57:10 > 0:57:12There's a lot of things
0:57:12 > 0:57:16that probably didn't happen as a result of bakers' own choice.
0:57:16 > 0:57:20A lot of what they've done is responding to demand.
0:57:20 > 0:57:23At the end of the day, they're trying to run a business
0:57:23 > 0:57:24and they're trying to make a living.
0:57:24 > 0:57:26GRUNTS
0:57:28 > 0:57:32The one thing I take from the Victorians is their ingenuity,
0:57:32 > 0:57:35and thinking outside the box.
0:57:35 > 0:57:38We think we're coming up with great new ideas -
0:57:38 > 0:57:41in actual fact, they've all been thought of before.
0:57:41 > 0:57:44They were thinking of retail, they were thinking of wholesale,
0:57:44 > 0:57:46they were thinking of supply and demand.
0:57:46 > 0:57:50It's a mirror image, it's just that they were wearing more clothes.
0:57:53 > 0:57:55I think we've all learned something.
0:57:55 > 0:57:58And I've certainly learned a great deal.
0:57:58 > 0:58:00I had such a great time.
0:58:00 > 0:58:03Using ingredients that would have been used back then,
0:58:03 > 0:58:06wearing clothes that they would have worn back then -
0:58:06 > 0:58:09there's nothing else that could have got you closer
0:58:09 > 0:58:11to being a Victorian baker.
0:58:11 > 0:58:13Each of us has become that baker from the past,
0:58:13 > 0:58:17and in some ways bakery has changed massively,
0:58:17 > 0:58:20and in other ways, it hasn't changed a bit.