大象传媒

大象传媒 Food blog

芦 Previous | Main | Next 禄

Gunpowder, treason and potatoes

Post categories: ,听

Emily Angle Emily Angle | 15:46 UK time, Thursday, 3 November 2011

As the clocks go back and the long dark nights loom, there is the excitement and fantastic food of Bonfire Night to cheer us up. Odd though it may be to celebrate the torture and execution of a religious fundamentalist terrorist with a few sausages and cinder toffee, food has been at the centre of a fair share of treason and plot.听

Swan is the animal we most associate with culinary high treason 鈥 but it was actually widely eaten at the time of the Gunpowder Plot. (Only mute swans are protected by .)听听 However you could really get in trouble for eating hares, partridge and pheasants; they all somehow 鈥榖elonged鈥 to the King. The punishment for poaching had been severe in Tudor times 鈥 hanging or having your hands cut off 鈥 then reduced to a more reasonable public whipping, fines and imprisonment.

We all know that Cromwell would do you for during the Civil War. But later in the 17th century the country was once more on the point of rebellion, all hopped up on caffeine from coffee houses where treasonous talk was rife. King Charles II issued an order banning coffee houses in 1675, but it was quickly rescinded - presumably because they all started getting those caffeine-withdrawal headaches.

Even now if food doesn鈥檛 exactly make one a traitor, it can be decidedly unpatriotic. The doesn鈥檛 just mean that Americans can鈥檛 bring a bottle of rum back from holiday鈥撎 they are technically forbidden from purchasing Cuban products even when abroad.听

So while we don鈥檛 wish Guy Fawkes had succeeded with his plot, I think Bonfire night is a time for a bit of outlaw cooking.听 If Halloween is a frenzy of sweetness for the听kids, now鈥檚 the time for some grown-up autumnal treats.

Mulled cider toddy.

If you鈥檙e staying at home, why not cook dinner over your own little bonfire or resurrect the barbecue. Throw a few jacket potatoes, wrapped in foil, into the coals for forty-five minutes and top with beans or chilli.听 While you鈥檙e waiting, pop a foil-wrapped box of Camembert in there as well.听 Serve the molten cheese with chunks of bread and pass the flask.

Don鈥檛 live dangerously when cooking sausages over the open flames鈥撎 I boil sausages for about ten minutes so they鈥檙e already cooked, then pop them onto sticks to build up a caramelised veneer over the fire. Char, to taste. Follow with marshmallows.

If you鈥檙e out for the fireworks, make some homemade cinder toffee for the trip 鈥 ooh and ahh and stand back as the bicarb fizzes in the boiling sugar. Pack a thermos of mulled wine or cider 鈥 even Gunpowder green tea 鈥 and a box full of parkin.

Toffee apples are always on offer in the supermarket, but I think to be really authentic, we should be eating our golden toffee in a sticky pudding or cake loaded with dried fruits. Why? Because as they say, 鈥溾.

Love to know what outlaw food you'll be cooking up over the bonfire, or indeed any criminal food factoids. I may have exhausted Wikipedia.

Comments

  • Comment number 1.

    This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

  • Comment number 2.

    Sorry only just read your last post "The glamorous life of an artisan baker". A great post - I am hoping to change careers and become an artisan baker and like Athleticobenedictus am all too aware of the challenges that lie ahead! I know the post is shut but would really appreciate tips from anyone who has recently changed careers or set up an artisan bakery. Would also be good to exchange experiences with Athleticobenedictus. My email address is [Personal details removed by Moderator] Thanks.

  • Comment number 3.

    Hi Beginnerbaker - I can thoroughly recommend you have a look at: for information. Maybe a course could put you in touch with a baker who would answer your questions.

More from this blog...

大象传媒 iD

大象传媒 navigation

大象传媒 漏 2014 The 大象传媒 is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.