Daily Junction.mobi portal<figure class="align-center "> <img alt="A cartoon of a tattered Frenchman and a portly Brit." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/759598/original/file-20260914-51-maw5v.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/759598/original/file-20260914-51-maw5v.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/759598/original/file-20260914-51-maw5v.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/759598/original/file-20260914-51-maw5v.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/759598/original/file-20260914-51-maw5v.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/759598/original/file-20260914-51-maw5v.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/759598/original/file-20260914-51-maw5v.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"> <figcaption> <span class="caption">French Liberty – British Slavery by James Gillray (1792).</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/392541">The Met</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span> </figcaption> </figure>
<p>Roast beef’s claim to being the food of Britain was solidified through the many wars between Britain and France during the 18th century. This can be seen in the cartoon <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/392541">French Liberty, English Slavery’ (1792)</a> by English caricaturist James Gillray. The rotund John Bull, a satirical character personifying England, is seen with a hulking steaming plate of delicious beef while his rail-thin French counterpart is dining on raw green onions and live snails. Here British beef and its abundance is used as a symbol of Britain’s wealth. </p>
<p>Despite the growing <a href="https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10225541/1/The-Kings-Dinner.pdf#page=20">food shortages</a> by the 1800s, British nostalgia still focused on roast beef as a national symbol. And in the royal household, roast meat was a key part of the diet – even the servants ate it daily.</p>
<p>Turtle, though, was challenging beef’s role as national emblem symbolising Britain’s growing imperial power. It was an expensive luxury – turtles needed to be kept alive on the long sea voyage from the Caribbean so they could be killed before cooking them. But there was definitely an appetite for turtle soup, despite – or perhaps because of – its cost. </p>
<p>The Prince Regent enjoyed turtle soup throughout the summer. It was the second most frequently served soup at his London residence, Carlton House. It was served at the Lord Mayor’s Day in London every year from 1761 to 1825, and was frequently served with some ceremony at banquets and in elite dining clubs until the late 19th century. </p>
<p>Turtle dealers, like Wood’s Soup House in 1802, even advertised events where they would butcher the turtle publicly and ship it in jars across the country. Mock turtle soup, made from a calves’ head, became the budget-friendly and more frequently eaten version.</p>
<h2>Umami sauces</h2>
<p>French cuisine was made up of unctuous, creamy sauces, where British cuisine was dominated by sharp, intense, tangy flavours that could be added at the table. On its own, roast beef was already umami (savoury, brothy, or meaty), but it was often served with sauces that enhanced its flavour: anchovy and wine sauce, pickles, Asian-inspired condiments made with soy or fish sauce, and meat-rich gravies. </p>
<p>By 1760, store sauces including catsups and pickles were widely available to buy, making it easy to add a dash of umami to cooking. French food was fashionable, but the King and his family seem to have liked a hit of umami: gravies were served over 1,000 times at Kew and Carlton House, and fish-based sauces were a perennial favourite. Taken together these two umami-rich concoctions outnumber the French sauces.</p>
<p>A British palate had emerged. It may have been based on roast meat and vegetables, but it was flexible and open to incorporating tastes from the expanding empire and their European networks.</p>
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<p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lisa-smith-283711">Lisa Smith</a>, Senior Lecturer in History, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-essex-1291">University of Essex</a></em> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/rachel-rich-744052">Rachel Rich</a>, Reader in Modern European History, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/leeds-beckett-university-1315">Leeds Beckett University</a></em></span></p>
<p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/british-food-was-complex-multicultural-and-flavourful-in-the-18th-century-despite-what-you-might-think-291809">original article</a>.</p> </div>