My copy of The Official Downton Abbey Cookbook arrived last week and it's as beautiful a cookbook as I'd hoped it would be. Many thanks to the generosity of the folks at Weldon Owen's Insight Editions.
While the book was published originally in 2019, it's been reissued and will be available as a limited edition gift set on Tuesday, April 5 2022. The gift set comes in a box and includes a gold-embroidered Downton Abbey apron. So now you can really channel your inner Mrs. Patmore or Daisy.
The book includes over 100 recipes and is broken into two sections: the first showcases period recipes that would have been served upstairs and the second features recipes that the staff would have eaten downstairs. It's a clever arrangement. As fascinated as I am by things like Vol-au-Vent; Toad in a Hole and Sausage Rolls are more my speed.
English food gets a bad rap for reasons I'll never quite understand. English cuisine features comfort foods and baked delights that shame their US counterparts. In my mind, a Yankee Pot Roast doesn't come near the stick-to-your-ribs grandeur of a Sunday Roast. My own culinary adventures in Britain have been lifetime highlights. But then again, I love the food in Germany too.
Anyhow, The Official Downton Abbey Cookbook, while highlighting English foods, has had its recipes sifted through an American filter. The measurements are in imperial and metric, as are the temperatures; but all of the ingredients listed are things familiar to cooks in the US. In the case of ingredients like treacle, there are equivalents listed. There's an extensive Kitchen Notes section at the beginning that explains typical English ingredients and how to make substitutions that are very clear and easy to follow. Home cooks in the US and Canada will be able to wade right into this book.
The book's lushly photographed and the historical notes peppered throughout are by British food historian Annie Gray. There's an intro from Downton's Executive Producer, Gareth Neame. Gray's historical notes are brilliant insights into the life and times of era in which the show takes place. The idea of trendy food is nothing new and Gray explains the food trends of the 20s and 30s really well.
The gift set is available for pre-sale now for delivery in about a week-and-a-half and that would make it an ideal Mother's Day or Easter gift.
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