Evie B - Consulting Historian - Vintage food and recipe blog

The first paella is believed to be cooked by Valencian farmers. The farmers cooked the foods they have in their hands for lunch. It was made of rice and whatever was to hand around the rice fields and countryside: tomatoes, onions and snails, with a few  beans  added for flavour and texture. It is originally includes snail as they were cheap but rabbit and later chicken were added for special occasions. Seafood paella is the newest form of paella compared to the paella types with other meat sources. The original paella contains snails, not seafood.

I love these. Did you or anyone in your family have a  freestanding 'kitchen maid' like these?  What colour was it? What memories do you have?

The turkey galantine was an Edwardian centrepiece served at weddings and special occasions. It has long been a goal of mine to cook one of these spectacular dishes. In honour of easter, I took the opportunity. The turkey was cooked the day before and left to cool. First attempt. Didn't exactly go to plan. However if you subscribe to the theory there are no mistakes only opportunities to learn, then I was granted a lesson in cookery! Beginners error- missed one word out of the recipe. Take one boned cooked turkey! I missed the word boned! Hence, although delicious it does not resemble the galantine in the book. Never mind. It was a steep learning curve in working with gelatine as I had never used it before. It is so easy and versatile I would recommend you to if you have avoided these strange see through leaves, not to be intimidated and give it ago. The leaves are soaked in cold water  they soften quickly then melt easily in a saucepan over a low heat. The mayonnaise ...

Has the upper classes moved their meal time later and later into the evening from the original four or five pm it became very fashionable to keep those who ate as late as a10 p.m. - 11pm. going with what was termed and afternoon tea. Now people are moving their main meal time back with the practicalities of work and home the tradition of the afternoon tea is dying out . It has been going out of fashion for some time even Mrs Beeton in her 1860 classic household and cookery manual spent very little time on the subject preferring to concentrate the vast majority of her menus for the dinner table. If you are lucky today you can indulge in this ritual at the Ritz hotel in London.  Indulge in a slice of one of the finest British traditions and take Afternoon Tea at The Ritz. Enjoy a selection of finely cut sandwiches, freshly baked scones with Cornish clotted cream and strawberry preserve, and a mouth-watering range of exquisitely presented pastries and teacakes. As well as 18...

The Christmas left over curry has become as traditional as the turkey and pigs on blankets of the big day. This is not surprising given that virtually every house in the kingdom has cooked to much meat and vegetables than the family needs for that one day. I cooked both a turkey tikka masala curry and a separate vegetable madras  they were served with a coconut to e and a lemon rice. Made the vegetable curry hotter to cater for different palates. I always prefer a spicier curry ! The kids loved the turkey tikka masala and it was a fantastic way to use those Christmas dinner left overs . Any left over curry also makes an ideal jacket potato filling.  Nothing beats a jacket potato wrapped in foil then cooked in the dying embers of a real fire.