December is always a bit of a quiet meeting due to it clashing with the annual Lincoln Christmas market, not everyone can be bothered to brave the traffic, some are lured by the prospect of cheese and mulled wine and others are just to frazzled by the thought of Christmas.
However, for those who did brave it, it was a cracking night about food history by local historian Sadie Hirst, who had previously been a butcher!
She brought with her a myriad of cooking artefacts including a salt cellar, shortbread presses, spice jars and (to my delight) a wealth of Homepride Freds. This was really exciting as I remember my sister’s on display in the downstairs loo and I was generally forbidden to touch him – mainly due to my innate clumsiness. There were some antique cookery books and Be-Ro books to the delight of many.
Sadie was really interesting, busting myths that spices were once used to disguise rotten meat, the spices were so expensive that if you could afford them your meat wasn’t rotten. Telling us how the Elizabethans would black their front teeth to pretend they could afford sugar. Explaining when our current Christmas spread came about, how people in other European countries celebrate 12th Night and eat cake of the Kings, and that despite people thinking it was Prince Albert who introduced the Christmas tree to the UK it wasn’t. As usual it was a woman and a man stole her thunder – Queen Charlotte the Queen Consort of King George 3rd brought the tradition over from Germany in the 18th Century, although it wasn’t popularised until Queen Victoria.
Sadie also spoke about when the first modern cookery book came about, and other Christmas traditions that aren’t as ancient as maybe we first thought, including the introduction of Christmas cake, Christmas pudding, crackers and cards. That before Queen Victoria came to the throne Christmas celebrations were on the wane and how it was revived.
The Committee put on a great spread of sausage rolls, mince pies, chocolate cake and walnut & coffee cake, and for those who attended, it was a great night.
Next month is decorating pottery hearts ready for February’s Show the Love campaign.
The Lincoln WI 