Tag Archives: Food and Drink

Regency Christmas Traditions: Boar’s Head and Brawn

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Traditional foods are always important to a celebration. Every family and culture has particular dishes that speak of holidays. Festivities would be incomplete without them. Regency celebrants looked for the appearance of Boar’s Head and/or Brawn on the Christmas dinner table. Boar’s Head and Brawn Wild boar was the most feared animal. (Even today feral hogs cause much destruction and anxiety in modern neighborhoods.)  Its presence at a meal represented the victory of good over evil. … Continue reading →

Regency Traditions Video:Make Your Your Own Wassail Punch

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Regency wassail was usually far more alcoholic than this, and wine based. But this recipe has a lot of the same feel with fruit and spices.     We are more the fruit juice and spice punch type people, so I’m not sure we’ll try this particular version, but I’d love to hear about it if any of you do!  Make Your Your Own Wassail Punch   Read more about syllabub and other holiday foods here. … Continue reading →

Regency Traditions Video:1824 English Gingerbread

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This video on making traditional gingerbread really reveals my inner food geek.   Ok, talking about this history of chemical leavening might not be your thing, but it’s really fascinating. Even it you’re not into kitchen physics the way I am–hey I live with a bunch of engineers and it has changed me. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking with it, but the way–anyway, watching period baking methods is still pretty fascinating. Given my family’s … Continue reading →

Regency Traditions Video:Delicious Whipped Syllabub

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  Sweetened heavy cream, half curdled, half whipped, floated on sweetened wine or juice. Watch a syllabub made the old fashioned way.   Delicious Whipped Syllabub Read more about syllabub and other holiday foods here.   If you enjoyed this post you might also enjoy:  

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Regency Christmas Traditions: The Christmas Feast

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Though the Christmas feast was a high point in the festivities, other balls and parties, especially on Twelfth Night placed many demands on the Regency kitchen. So many guests could require a tremendous amount of food to be kept on hand. All this celebrating could leave a hostess utterly overwhelmed and exasperated by the end of the season. A wide variety of dishes would be prepared, but a few were particularly favored and iconic. Boar’s … Continue reading →