Dinner at Longbourn
So, we know that Mrs. Bennet set an excellent table, but what would it have been like having dinner at Longbourn?
You are all a’twitter as you have been invited to take dinner with the Bennets at Longborn today. But being a gal of the 21st century, it’s a little difficult to know what to expect, but never fear. I’m here to help!
One of the important things to realize about the Regency era is that much of life was driven on the availability of natural light. We completely take for granted that you can have light at ay time of the day or night, but that just wasn’t so. Especially in the countryside, people would plan their day by the amount of light that would be available for the tasks at hand. . Candles were very expensive, so even social engagements were planned to minimize the need for them both in the kitchen and in the dining room. So dinner would likely be served at three or four in the afternoon and the meal itself would last about two hours.
In the dining room
Seats were not specifically assigned at dinner, and in general people did not walk into the dining room in a particular order. Usually the host, Mr.Bennet in this case, would be the first into the room, escorting the ‘senior’ or highest ranking lady . He would sit at the foot of the table. The hostess, Mrs. Bennet, would sit at the head of the table, usually with the highest ranking guests nearest her.
The meal itself would be organized a little differently than you might expect. Instead of featuring many course with servants bring in and serving the food, most of the dishes would already be on the table to start with. Since this would be a fancier meal than one for just the family, one might anticipate two courses plus dessert. Courses could consist of as few as five to as many as twenty or more dishes, sometimes with removes–one dish being replaced by another before the next course was brought in.
If that sounds like a lot of food, yes, it was.
What’s for dinner?
Period cookbooks give us some idea of what might have been served at Mrs. Bennet’s table. Mrs. Rundell’s New System of Domestic Cookery, 1807 offers a number of menu suggestions, including this meal of two courses of five dishes each.
The first course: Mackerel broiled with Herbs and Butter, Bacon, Boiled Chickens, Greens and Carrots. The Second Course: Beef Cecils, Salad, Fruit Pie, Potatoes in a shape, Forequarter of Lamb, Roasted.
Honestly, I have no clue what ‘potatoes in a shape’ means. There’s not much in her cookbook to explain it, except possibly putting mashed potatoes in a shaped dish and browning the top.
Here are her recipes for French Salad and Beef Cecils, to give you a sense of the meal, (as if noticing that half the ten dishes were meat dishes wasn’t enough):
Other suggested menus often include sweet dishes served alongside savory items. May were dishes we consider for dessert: trifle, lemon pudding, fruit tarts and pies, fruit jellies and creams . Personally I’m not so certain about putting raspberry cream and lemon pudding alongside hare, but it was a commonly done thing during the Regency era.
Mrs. Rundell also suggested, that when ‘accidental visitors’ might arrive at dinner, additional dishes of “such articles as are in the house” like “pickled things, fritters, fried patties or quick-made dumplings” would be appropriate to add to the table as well.
Serving Dinner
At the start of the meal, Mr. Bennet would carve the joints of meat and/or supervise the serving of the soup. Afterwards, the gentlemen would serve the ladies nearest them from the dishes nearest them. (Honestly, I’m not sure how this would work if there were only a single gentleman at the table, as might be in the case of Mr. Bennet. But moving on…)
A servant might fetch a dish from the far end of the table, but they did not serve food. Happily, one was not required to eat a little of everything on the table. Rather, one ate from what was nearest them. It would be entirely proper for a guest to eat from a few of the many dishes available. I’m sure that’s a relief to know.
After diners had eaten as much as they wanted from the first course, servants would clear the table, including the tablecloth (a table was usually set with two cloths at the start to facilitate getting a clean cloth on the table) and set it an equal number of dishes (more or less) to the first course. Then the diners would begin again. Liberal amounts of ale, beer and wine would be served to help wash it all down.
Suddenly two hours for dinner makes a great deal more sense doesn’t it?
Dessert
Once diners were sated from the second course, dessert would be laid out either on the bare table or another clean tablecloth. Remember sweet dishes would likely have been presented throughout the meal already. So conceivable, an individual could contrive to have nothing but what we would consider dessert for dinner. Something to think about–no?
Dessert consisted of fruits and nuts, perhaps ice-cream or sweetmeats, usually accompanied by port or Madeira.
After Dinner
After lingering over dessert, the ladies would withdraw to the drawing room. There, they would entertain one another with conversation, music, fancy sewing (embroidery), or even reading aloud. In the meantime, gentlemen enjoyed more port, manly conversation and tobacco in the dining room. When the party was particularly small, the whole group might withdraw together.
After an hour or so, company would reconvene over tea and coffee. Parlor games, music, reading and maybe even a little dancing would serve as amusements for the evening. Unless there was a full moon to facilitate travel home, diners would usually leave while there was still sunlight .
So there you have it, a quick guide to dinner at the Bennets. Are you ready to partake?
If you’d like to read more about food and drink in the regency era, click HERE
If you’d like to read more about dinner parties in the regency era, click HERE
If you’d like to read more about Georgian Recipes in the regency era, click HERE
References
Bennetts, M.M. Nom nom nom~ Regency Style. English Historical Fiction Authors. July 25, 2012. Accessed October 1, 2018. https://englishhistoryauthors.blogspot.com/2012/07/nom-nom-nom-regency-style.html
Rundell, Maria Eliza Ketelby. A New System of Domestic Cookery: Formed upon Principles of Economy, and Adapted to the Use of Private Families. A New ed. London: Printed for John Murray …, 1807.
In Georgian times and even into the Regency, tobacco use in England was more likely to be snuff or clay pipes rather than cigars. English gentlemen were slow to adopt the cigar which was more popular in Spain and France (and even the United States). British officers first encountered cigars during the Peninsula Wars and cigars were first seen in London in about 1814, brought back by officers. Conservative country gentlemen, such as Mr Bennet and his friends, would probably not have taken up this new fad.
In your penultimate paragraph there is a word missing. “…and maybe even a little…” – but a little what?
Inquiring minds want to know!
Sorry about that, Catherine. It should (and now does) read ‘a little dancing). That’s what I get for trying to finish up a post with my 2 year old grandson in my lap!
Thanks for this insight into Regency dining. I had no idea that most “dinners” would be served in the afternoon; I just assumed that candles would be used. I suppose that the truly rich would hold dinner parties after dark as a sign of their wealth and status; they could afford all the candles they wanted and flaunted the fact. 😉
Plus, I’m sure that the dishes were chosen by what was available at the time of year as far as fruits and vegetables. Unless preserved, one wouldn’t be expecting pears in spring (unless one’s greenhouse was particularly well cared for, or preserves were served). It wasn’t at all like today when we can get fruits and vegetables year round, thanks to growers in the southern hemisphere and in warmer spots in the US. England, with its shorter growing season being so far north, must have definitely been limited by seasonal availability. We certainly are spoiled now! 🙂
Thanks for a fun and informative post, Maria!! And thank you for the books you sent!! 😀
Warmly,
Susanne 🙂
One of the things that I found interesting in researching this was the expense and availability of artificial light and how very much that would affect. We take the light bulb and electricity so for granted that we never even notice the dark until we’re in a power outage. Then we see what gets turned upside down and restricted by the availability of light. Regency era candle were expensive, so unless one could afford them, one planned everything by the availability of sunlight.
I too was surprised at the time of dinner being so early in the afternoon. I guess I’m seeing Lady Catherine [Dame Judi Dench] talking to Elizabeth [Keira Knightley] in that dark dining room with all those candles. This was a fascinating post.
Thanks! I think the movies also do a great deal to make us see things that way.
What would happen to the leftovers, I wonder? There must have been loads, after all that was offered, and people only took a little of what was nearest them…
The left overs were fed to servants, remade into other dishes, and given to the local poor and needy.