Ever wonder what they would have eaten in the early 20th century and in the years leading up to World War I? Then wonder no more. I will produce a menu, with recipes, for each day of the year. The menus and recipes are designed for use in ordinary households * where they would have combined a variety of foods economically and will hopefully inspire you to eliminate waste by using foods that would typically end up in the bin. Keep in mind that these are old recipes and for many of the menu items you may need to do an internet search until you have written a new book with all the recipes.
* An ordinary household back then would be comprised of a housekeeper and other servants, which is why we include the servants’ dinner on our menus.
A menu for June 2:
Breakfast
Veal kidney
Fried eggs
Lunch
Stuffed cucumber
Cold lamb
Cold rolled beef
Peach trifle
Etonian pudding
Dinner
Cold clear soup
Curry eggs
Cold Stuffed Pigeon
Monte Carlo cherries
Cabinet pudding
Parmesan sandwiches
Servants dinner
Cold meat
Cold lamb
Rhubarb meatballs
Recipes
Stuffed cucumber
It can be hot or cold. If hot, boil cucumbers until tender, cut into 3-inch lengths, remove seeds, cut lengthwise down the center. Fill with some fried shrimp and garnish with coral pepper. If it’s cold, slice the cucumber down the center, remove the seeds, fill with prawns or shrimp, and pour in a good mayonnaise sauce.
Etonian pudding
Boil a large cup of rice in enough milk to cover it. Add an ounce and a half of butter and simmer for ten minutes. Let cool. Add two well beaten eggs. Line a cake tin with dough and put a layer of rice. Just cover the rice with jam and fill it with rice, again placing a little jam on top. Bake for three quarters of an hour. Serve with a beaten egg white on top and brown in the oven.
Peach trifle
Canned peaches, liquor, cakes, apple jelly. Melt the apple jelly. Mix with the liquor and soak the cakes. Place the soaked cakes in the bottom of a plate. Place the peaches on top and on top of the remaining liquor and jelly. Cover with whipped cream and garnish with some peaches cut into strips.
Curry eggs
Boil some eggs for 15 minutes. Cut it in half and place it on a plate with the uncut side. Pour in the next sauce and pile small mounds of coconut on the plate. Cut an onion in a skillet with melted butter (1 ounce), add a sliced apple and fry for 20 minutes. Add a tablespoon of coconut, an ounce of curry powder, a little salt, the juice of a lemon, herbs and a pint of broth. Cook for half an hour and go through a tammy. For more eggs.
Monte Carlo cherries
Put two pounds of pitted cherries in a skillet with three-quarters of a pound of powdered sugar and half a glass of water. When the sugar has melted, boil gently for a few minutes. While boiling mix in a tablespoon of arrowroot in a little cold water until smooth. Add the cherries and mix well. At the last moment it is poured into a glass of kirsch liqueur and sent to the table burning.