1 The Victorians valued good cooking and food.

However, there were great differences between what the rich and poorer people ate. More

The rich ate a tremendous amount and wasted even more. This wastage was at a time when a large proportion of the population were living on bread, dripping, vegetables and tea.

2 The diet of the very poor was terrible.

The unemployed, and others with little money, survived on little more than potato parings, rotten vegetable refuse and scraps. More

For the destitute, hunger often forced them to seek a place in the workhouse where a diet of potatoes, cheese, bread and gruel was provided.

3 Those employed on better wages and farm labourers ate reasonably well.

Those on a slightly higher wage could occasionally purchase some bacon, cheese or sausage and workers in better-paid jobs had more choice and more wholesome food. More

There would be meat for the main midday meal and a lighter evening meal of cheese and bacon. In rural areas, farm labourers ate bread and vegetables such as onions, turnips or potatoes, with cheese or bacon two or three times a week.

4 Meal times were an opportunity for the rich to display their wealth.

This was done through rich foods, use of fine cutlery, china and servants. At the start of the period, French cuisine was in fashion, with as many as 20 dishes served at the same time in two great courses. Tastes changed during the period and, by the 1860’s, dishes were being placed on the sideboard and then served, one after another, by footmen. This was known as serving a meal ‘a la russe’. More

Many great houses employed French chefs. Dinner parties and really rich meals could include up to 70 dishes. Ice creams and sorbets were served as a refreshing break between the richer courses of meat, fish or rich puddings. Not all courses needed be eaten, some dishes could be declined. The remaining food went to the servants, or, in country districts, sometimes to the poor.



5 Breakfast was an important meal.

Even the simplest of middle class breakfasts consisted of bacon, eggs, ham, haddock, toast, coffee and fruits. More

This was followed by a light lunch midday. Eating a substantial meal in the evening, rather than the afternoon, was still a recent habit.

6 It was the Victorians who first invented afternoon tea.

This was because the evening meal was eaten later than in previous periods and people found they needed a light meal in the late afternoon. More

In Georgian times, tea had been taken after an early evening dinner, which was eaten whilst it was still daylight at 5-6 pm. In Victorian times, the evening meal was eaten around 8 or even 9 pm.

7 The popularity of afternoon tea also saw the development of the tea room.

Tea rooms became the place in town for social gatherings and chatter. More

From the 1860s onwards, it also became fashionable for men and women to eat out in restaurants. Before this, only men had eaten out in clubs or chophouses.

8 The family became more distanced from their servants.

By the Victorian era, there was a strong separation between the family and the servants. The family, even in middle class homes, no longer ate with the servants. More

Before the Industrial Revolution, families and servants had usually eaten together, except in the very wealthiest of houses. This changed and, by Victorian times, there was a strict division between the family ‘upstairs’ and the ‘downstairs’ servants.

9 During Victorian times, food became much simpler and plainer than previously.

There was a slow move away from the extraordinary mix of flavours that often drowned out the main ingredients, to a slightly simpler taste. However, elaborate dishes were still a good way of displaying both the skill of your cook and, more importantly, the luxury of your table. More

In America and Britain, many middle class people began to take a pride in dismissing what they regarded as 'the fopperies of continental cuisine' and promoted plain roasts or boiled joints. Queen Victoria herself preferred plainer food. If the food in some houses became plainer, the table did not; it was laid with fresh flowers, candles and, when it could be afforded, silver cutlery and crystal glasses. All things Indian had become very popular in the 1800s. English versions of curries and chutneys were plentiful, although it is doubtful that any of these dishes would have been recognised in India.

10 The menu was often the same from week to week.

Only some of the ingredients (such as the vegetables) changed with the seasons. The food was prepared and eaten to a more set pattern, often linked to the day of the week. More

For example, boiled beef and bones one day, pork another and fish on Friday. Tuesdays and Thursdays were baking days, Saturday was another baking day. Only some of the constituents (such as the vegetables) changed with the seasons. For example, autumn was the time for jamming and preserving.

11 Fish could now be eaten regularly inland.

This was because there was ice to keep it fresh and railways to transport it quickly across the country, to the towns and cities. More

A combination of railways and ice preservation allowed fish to be eaten regularly inland. Jewish recipes for deep-frying fish appeared in a number of Victorian recipe books. The fashion was encouraged by the fact that fish was a comparatively cheap source of protein.

12 By the end of the era, fish and chip shops were becoming popular.

By the beginning of the twentieth century, the British taste for eating fish in combination with potato chips was well established, seeing the development of fish and chip shops. More

Fish of all types was being eaten more and more, as people developed a taste for everything from whelks to herrings.

13 Ranges and ovens improved, giving more control over cooking

During the middle of the Victorian era, closed cooking ranges and, later, ovens with temperature control were developed. The cook could now prepare the more complex meals that had previously only been enjoyed by the wealthy. More

At the start of the Victorian period, most cooking was done on open ranges. The first closed ranges appeared around the late 1840s and temperature controlled ovens were developed, which used a complicated system of flues and metal plates.

14 Amongst richer people, gas ovens were becoming popular by the end of the century.

Ovens slowly replaced ranges. Early versions of the gas oven were exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851 but they did not catch on until the 1890s, as people saw them as a health risk and were afraid of explosions. By the 1890s, the first electric cookers had also been developed. More

However, most people still cooked on ranges and the poor, over an open grate. Each morning ranges had to be raked out. A coat of black lead was applied once a week.

15 The dining room was very important.

In the Victorian house, each room had its own purpose and the dining room was one of the most important rooms. A lot of effort went into decoration, as it was a showcase for impressing the guests. More

In the dining room, the family would meet three times a day for meals. In large houses, there was sometimes also a breakfast room.

16 The only sink in the house was usually in the scullery.

Such things as washing-up, vegetable preparation and laundry work were done in the scullery. More

Even smaller houses had a scullery. In larger houses, there were scullery maids that carried out these tasks, seen as some of the most menial in the house.

17 There were improvements in food storage and new gadgets for cooking.

Food was stored in the pantry or larder, a room off the kitchen. There were ice chests and the first refrigerators were just being developed. For kitchens, the impressive range of gadgetry and labour saving devices included apple peelers and new steel utensils. More

The pantry was sometimes fitted with slate or marble shelves, to help keep the food cool. The period also saw the first primitive refrigerators, and ice chests were common, triggering the late Victorian craze for ice creams and sorbets.

18 The period also saw the first tinned food.

From the 1860s, tinned meat was available. At first, this was mainly fat with just a few chunks of meat but it provided a cheap alternative for the poor, being less than half the price of ordinary meat. The late 19th century saw the range of available tinned food greatly increase, as canners competed with each other, using novel foodstuffs, highly decorated printed labels, and lower prices. More

The process of sealing food in airtight containers to preserve it developed in France during the Napoleonic era. At first bottles were used and later cans. Canning was patented in the United Kingdom in 1810. It was an expensive and time consuming procedure, mainly used for military supplies. As techniques improved, the demands of urban populations in Victorian Britain for large quantities of cheap, varied, easy to store food, increased. In response, companies such as Nestlé, Heinz, Crosse and Blackwell and others emerged to provide quality tinned food, for sale to working class city-dwellers.

19 The quantity and quality of food improved.

Agricultural methods continued to improve in both Britain and America. More food was produced, of a better quality for those who could afford it. More

Despite all the improvements, the diet of the 19th-century Briton was far worse than our diet today.