Jubilee Food Revisited

Mrs Marshall's Jubilee tea cakes garnishing an iced cabinet pudding

Last week, I was preparing for my Victorian Cookery course. Because of the impending celebrations for the diamond jubilee of Elizabeth II, I thought it would be fun to include a Victorian jubilee dish in the proceedings. My initial inclination was to make a dish called Jubilee Quenelles, a recipe for which appears in Agnes. B. Marshall's Larger Cookery Book of Extra Recipes (nd.1890s). These delicate morsels were shaped in oval quenelle moulds from a veal or chicken farce filled with cucumber peas, diced truffle and mushroom. They were then coated with veloute sauce and garnished with smaller quenelles moulded in the form of crowns partly coloured with carmine and little shapes cut out of truffle. In other words, poached veal quenelles piggybacked by smaller crown shaped quenelles, a time consuming dish, which would have involved half a day spent cutting out fiddly shapes from truffle.

Mrs Marshall's Jubilee Quenelles

 So I decided to have a go at an easier dish - jubilee tea cakes from Mrs Marshall's earlier Cookery Book (London: 1885). The occurrence of a recipe for a jubilee cake in a book published two years before the 1887 celebration made me think that perhaps this cake was innovated twenty five years earlier for the Silver Jubilee of Victoria. But as I have mentioned in a previous posting, many English brewers were already making ales in 1885 which were intended to be laid down for two years in order to mature for drinking as special jubilee ales in 1887. People at the time did plan ahead for the big event. So perhaps Marshall included a recipe for these rather nice tea cakes because she knew that the event was not far off. Or more likely, as Plumcake has just pointed out to me, these tea cakes have nothing to do with royal jubilee celebrations, as the word 'jubilee' can encompass other meanings. Whatever their origins, jubilee tea cakes are very nice. Here is Mrs Marshall's  recipe.

Mrs Marshall's Jubilee tea cakes 1885. The tea glace is made by mixing one and a half teaspoons of strong tea and one and a half teaspoons of water with 12 ounces of icing sugar and heating the ingredients in a saucepan.

So I fired up my range and set about making them. A requirement of the recipe is a set of small fleur rings. These were like crumpet rings, though unlike crumpet rings, they were sometimes fluted. Fortunately I have some surviving ones and filled them with the almond batter and put them in the oven. As they were baking, I went to my office and checked my email. I was surprised to find that my friend Annie Gray had at that moment posted a comment on my posting Jubilee Cakes about Mrs Marshall's recipe, which she had just discovered. What a coincidence.!

The tea cakes rose nicely in the oven, but then collapsed into little golden brown fluted cakes that looked a little like very light drop scones. I glazed them with the tea glace, rolled the sides while the icing was still wet in desiccated coconut and sprinkled them with chopped pistachio nuts. Verdict - lovely. Mrs Marshall suggests serving them with a compote of fruit or an ice. Since my students on the day made an Iced Cabinet Pudding, a strawberry ice cream and a compote of strawberries, we served these altogether for our evening meal with the Jubilee tea cakes as shown in the photo at the beginning of this post.

The finished tea cakes

The frontispiece of Mrs Marshall's Cookery Book in which the tea cakes appear

A contemporary of Mrs Marshall, the baker Robert Wells includes some much more pedestrian Jubilee baked goods in his book The Bread & Biscuit Baker's and Sugar Boiler's Assistant. 2nd Edition (London: 1890).

As well as Jubilee Cakes and other commemorative dishes, there were of course Jubilee Puddings. Plumcake has been researching primary sources for these and has discovered a nice horde, quite a few of them published in the US, where interest in British royals seems to have been strong at the end of the nineteenth century. Here then is Plumcake's collection of Jubilee Pudding recipes.

Jubilee Pudding. — Take half a pound of sponge cake, rather stale than otherwise, and cut it into thin slices. Butter one side, and spread the other either with orange marmalade or apricot jam, then place the slices in layers in a plain round mould, buttered side downwards. Pour three-quarters of a pint of good custard over each layer, and repeat until the mould is full. Let the pudding soak for an hour, then bake in a quick oven, and turn out before serving. Wine or brandy sauce may be sent to table with it. Time, an hour and a quarter to bake. Probable cost, 1s. 6d. Sufficient for four or five persons.

Cassell's Dictionary of Cookery, Cassell, ltd [1883] p.344

JUBILEE PUDDING. — Beat eight ounces of fresh butter to a cream, and mix with it eight ounces of finely sifted sugar, the same weight of fine flour, dried and sifted; two ounces of candied peel, sliced thin; six ounces of picked currants, and a few drops of essence of almonds, vanilla or lemon. When these ingredients are nicely mixed, moisten them with six fresh eggs, well beaten. Beat the mixture for a few minutes, then pour it into a buttered pudding basin or mould, cover the top with a sheet of buttered paper, and tie a pudding cloth over all. Plunge the pudding into plenty of fast boiling water, and let it boil hard for three hours, or if preferred, it may be steamed, in which case it will require half an hour longer. Turn the pudding out carefully on to a hot dish, pour wine sauce round about, and serve.
AUNT CHLOE. London, Eng.

The Cultivator & Country Gentleman, vol.52, Luther Tucker & Son, Albany, N.Y. [1887] p.845


Jubilee Pudding.
Pouding à la Jubilé.

Take six nice-shaped apples all about the same size; remove the cores and put a piece of cinnamon in each. Place the apples in a flat-bottomed basin; pour a teaspoonful of brandy over each. Cover the top of the basin with a sheet of paper and set it in a pan of boiling water to steam. When soft remove the cinnamon and put a teaspoonful of strawberry jam in its place. Then dish them up in a pyramid and pour over them all half a pint of whipped cream flavoured with a few drops of vanilla and sweetened with sugar. Sprinkle ratafia cake crumbs over all.

Sweets and Supper Dishes à la Mode, Mrs. De Salis, Longmans, London [1888] p.28


JUBILEE PUDDING — (1) A border-mould of claret jelly, center filled with whipped cream mixed with cut candied fruits and preserved ginger. (2) A hot vermicelli - pudding made like a bread-custard and baked; strawberry jam and cream spread on top, and meringue over — like queen pudding.

The Steward's Handbook and Guide to Party Catering, Jessup Whitehead,

J. Anderson & Co., Chicago [1889] p.355


Cold Puddings and Frozen Puddings. — Some of these "puddings" might just as appropriately be called creams; however, fashion ordains that they shall be puddings. One of the newest is the

Jubilee Pudding. — Make a pint of claret jelly; pour it into a small border mould; whip half a pint of cream in which is a quarter of an ounce of dissolved gelatine. When it is whipped solid, stir in one ounce of preserved or candied cherries, one ounce of candied angelica, one ounce of preserved ginger, and one ounce of preserved apricot — the ginger and angelica cut small. Set on ice; then turn out. Pile the whipped cream and fruit in the centre, and decorate according to fancy.

Choice Cookery, Catherine Owen, Harper & Brothers, New York [1889] p.230

Jubilee Pudding.

Take two ounces of grated bread-crumbs, two ounces butter, the same of castor sugar, two well-beaten eggs, and two large tablespoonfuls of preserve. Mix thoroughly, put in a mould and steam for an hour and a half, and serve with wine sauce.

Puddings and Pastry à la Mode, Mrs. De Salis (Harriet Anne), Longmans, London [1889] p.33


Jubilee Pudding. — Half a pint of cream, ½oz. of gelatine, 2oz. of caster sugar, and 1oz. each of preserved ginger, apricots, cherries, and angelica, with a tablespoonful of ginger syrup. Whip the cream till perfectly stiff, with a tiny dust of salt, then mix in lightly the fruit, sugar, syrup, and lastly the gelatine previously dissolved in a little water to avoid lumps. Mould in the usual way, turn out, and serve.

The "Queen" Cookery Books, no.7 (Sweets Part 2) S. Beaty-Pownall, H. Cox, [1904] p.60


QUEEN'S JUBILEE PUDDING.

(Canadian Receipt.)

Take 3 table-spoonfuls flour, 1 table-spoonful corn-starch, a pinch of salt. Mix together with a little cold milk. Boil 1 pt. of milk, stir in the mixture, take from the fire. When it gets cool add 4 eggs, yolks and whites beaten separately. Beat in the yolks, stir in the whites, pour all into a pudding dish and set in a pan of cold water. Steam ½ hour in the in the oven. Serve with liquid sauce.

Choice receipts: tested by experienced housekeepers, Fort Orange Press, Albany, N.Y. [1903] p.60

Jubilee Cakes and Ale

From Jubilee Cake by Alice Wellington Rollins in St Nicholas, Vol. 14, Part II, Scribner and Company, 1887. The illustration is by J. M. Nugent.

Food History Jottings' research assistant Plumcake has been investigating the evolution of the wedding cake in Victorian England. She has discovered a rich horde of new material which could well be the subject of a future posting (or two) on this blog. She has also unearthed some fascinating references to a number of cakes made for Queen Victoria's Golden and Diamond Jubilees. The most interesting of these is illustrated above, a 10 foot high monster made by Gunters of Berkeley Square in 1887. Completely forgotten now, but at the time news of this massive cake rapidly spread far and wide. The illustration above is from an American children's magazine, the description below from a New Zealand newspaper

HER MAJESTY'S JUBILEE CAKE. Months ago tho firm of Messrs Gunter in Berkley Square asked permission of Her Majesty to present her with a jubilee cake, on the plea that fifty years ago the same firm supplied the inevitable cake at the Coronation. A special stand has been built for this giant cake, and standing on a splendid cloth of crimson plush, it is certainly a monument and a triumph of the confectioner's art. The following description of the jubilee cake may serve to give some idea of its size and appearance. The cake is about 9ft. 6in. in circumference, 10ft high, and weighs, without the decorations, over a quarter of a ton. The design represents the crown, guarded by lions, surmounted by a temple bearing figures of Fame and Glory, with trumpets in their hands, heralding the Jubilee to the four quarters of the world. These again are surmounted by temples crowned by a winged figure of Peace, bearing the crown of Empire; the panels of the base, embroidered in gold on white satin, and each of which is worth three guineas, bear the Royal monogram, and between them are figures in relief representing the four quarters of the world.
Evening Post, Volume XXXIV, Issue 50, 27 August 1887, Page 1.

A child with a slice of the giant cake as imagined by J. M Nugent.

When I first saw J. M. Nugent's illustration of the cake in Alice Wellington Rollin's article, I was immediately reminded of a confectioner's mould in my own collection which is designed to make two little winged figures of Fame and Glory with trumpets in their hands. This is one of a number I possess which were formerly owned by the celebrated German cake decorator Ernest Schuble. The mould has his initials on the back. Schuble was working in London in 1897 and I wonder if these figures were designed for a Jubilee Cake he made for that year's celebrations.

As well as Gunter's mammoth offering, which was the Queen's official Jubilee Cake for 1887, other confectioners tried their hand at these massive architectural caprices. An article entitled Famous Wedding Cakes in The Harmsworth Magazine (Volume III. Aug. 1899 - Jan. 1900) includes the two illustrations of Jubilee Cakes below, which are quite different to Gunter's creation. Unfortunately the author Walter St. John does not tell us who made these two impressive cakes.

The Queen's Jubilee Cake 1887. This is very different to the cake made in the same year by Gunters illustrated above.

The Queen's Jubilee Cake 1897. Like Gunter's 1898 creation, this cake also features winged figures of Fame and  Glory.

Giant Jubilee Cakes are also a big thing this year. The contemporary London bakers Conditor and Cook are planning to assemble a massive portrait of Queen Elizabeth II out of hundreds of small blocks of gingerbread iced with varying flesh tones. This pixelated portrait will measure 94 square feet and contain over 3120 diamond shaped gingerbread blocks. It will be put together in Battersea Park on June 3rd. You will be able to buy one of its ginger flavoured diamonds for £1. Bettys of Harrogate have made a large, tiered cake based on designs submitted by Yorkshire school children, which is on its way to Buckingham Palace as I write. 

Celebratory cakes associated with royal jubilees have been around since 1809, when small cakes were thrown from the Market Hall in Abingdon, Oxfordshire for the pleasure of the crowds whooping up the jubilee of George III. In a little book called Jubilee Jottings (London: 1887), the historian Thomas Preston gives us some details, 

'In the evening several barrels of beer were set out in the Market Place for the poor, and Jubilee cakes in great number were thrown amongst the crowd from the top of the Market House, this being a repetition of a similar ceremony which took place at His Majesty's Accession in 1750. One of the cakes then scrambled for was exhibited by Mr. John Waite, a member of the corporation, who had carefully preserved it during the long period of close on half a century. This souvenir was considered of sufficient interest to be shown to the king.'

Jubilee cakes will be thrown again in Abingdon this June. If you visit the museum housed in the old Market Hall, you can see authentic examples from both Victoria's 1887 and 1897 jubilee celebrations. These ancient mummified cakes inform us that the Abingdon Jubilee Cakes were fairly commonplace current buns. They were washed down with plenty of beer.  Special beers were brewed for George III's Jubilee celebrations all over the country, an exercise I am pleased to say is being carried out again this year by a number of contemporary breweries. We learn from Preston that the brewers in Towcester, Hadley, Stoneleigh, Northampton and a few other towns, concocted a special commemorative ale, a 'two year old October' especially for the event. The 1809 celebrations were held on October 25th, so the brewers made a special version of their customary October Ale in 1807 and laid it down for two years to mature. Across the country, similar strong ales were doled out to the poor with an allowance of 'two quarts for a man, one quart for a woman, and half a pint for each child.' Preston also gives us some interesting statistics regarding the number of barrels brewed by the large London brewers in the year 1809-10, as a result of the celebrations a much greater quantity than usual.

Free buns also featured prominently at an open air party for children in Hyde Park during Queen Victoria's 1887 Jubilee, though by this time, the kiddies' half pint of beer had been replaced with ginger beer and lemonade. Another contemporary newspaper report in far off New Zealand offered some impressive statistics.

Jubilee buns like those hurled at Abingdon were plain current buns, while the cakes hidden under the giant Victorian fantasies were made of rich fruit cake. There are very few historical recipes for Jubilee Cake, but here is one Plumcake found which you might like to try.


Jubilee Cake

Ingredients: 1 bag of flour (3½lbs.), cost, 6½d.; 1 tablespoonful of baking powder, 1d.;

½lb. lard, 3d.; 1lb. raw white sugar, 1½d.; 1lb. raisins, 4d.; ½lb. sultanas, 2d.;

½lb. mixed peel, 2d.; 1½ pints milk, 1½d.;

Total cost, 1s. 9½d.

Method: Mix the flour and baking powder well together; then rub in the lard till none can be found; add the fruit, sugar, and peel (cut into neat pieces), and mix thoroughly. Stir all well together with the milk, adding a little more if not sufficient to make a stiff batter. Divide into two cakes, and bake about two hours in well-greased tins. This cake is quite wholesome for children, who may eat quite a large piece without harm. I have used it 20 years. I never use currants, as they are very unwholesome for children, for they never digest. It is better to seed the raisins, as they are apt to cause irritation to the stomach of children. This cake may be made by leaving out the raisins and sultanas, adding four eggs instead, or a few seeds. ― W. A. BISHOP

From Favourite Cakes of Rural England, The Cable Series of Farm and Household Books No.2, 2nd ed. [1899] contributed by Country Housewives.

What did George III have for his Jubilee dinner? According to this satirical print, a pie filled with troublesome baronets! The 25th October 1809 was not a good day for turtles, as many were consumed at the Jubilee feasts of the wealthy.

Perhaps the most fascinating story relating to a 1809 Jubilee dinner was the decision by the Corporation of London to forego their feast and donate the money to the liberation of debtors. They passed the following motion, 'That this Court is of opinion that it will be more acceptable to Almighty God, and more congenial to the paternal feelings of our beloved Sovereign, to promote the liberation of the prisoner and the captive on the joyful Jubilee about to be celebrated than in expending sums of money in feasting and illuminations; therefore do resolve that the sum of 1000l. be subscribed out of the City's cash to the Society for the Discharge of persons confined for debts in the prisons of this city.' However, the Lord Mayor was so pleased with this altruistic decision that he invited the Corporation to a light repast of cold beef in the  Mansion House at his own expense. He then changed his mind and informed them, 'Gentlemen! As hot beef is better than cold, if you please you shall have it hot.' The hot beef developed into a full meal and the Corporation enjoyed their feast after all, served on silver plate in the beautifully llluminated Egyptian Hall of the Mansion House.*

An 1887 artist's impression of debtors being released from Jail in 1809

An 1887 artist's impression of the feast in the Mansion House on October 25th 1809

*John Ashton, The Jubilee of George III. The Graphic, April 23. 1887, pp.433-4.

Read more on Jubilee dishes

Food for Jubilees and Other Royal Occasions

I used to think that the peg-footed creamware mould which I used to make this flummery honouring George III dated from the 1790s. But its motif of the king's cipher, crown and laurel wreath have convinced me that it was made to commemorate his 1809 Jubilee.

All over Britain, towns and villages are preparing for their street parties and other events on June 5th to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. The internet and the popular magazines are full of articles by food writers and chefs with suggestions for dishes for the great event. As well as such predictable comestibles as Coronation Chicken, Beef Wellington and mini pork pies, one writer suggests that old British standby - Wild Mushroom Lasagne! The Duchess of Cornwall is heading up a fun competition aimed at school children, who have been asked to design a 'menu fit for a queen'. The royal chefs at Buckingham Palace are going to turn the children's recipes into canapés, yet another ancient British dish! As has always been the case on these occasions, a great deal of merchandising is going on, even at a very high level. Balmoral Castle is marketing a Diamond Jubilee Shortbread Biscuit Tin at £12.95, with a design specially commissioned by the Royal Collection. Harrods have launched an 'exclusive' range of Diamond Jubilee edible gifts, including a Diamond Jubilee Chocolate Coin at £4.95 and a Diamond Jubilee Shortbread tin which plays Rule Britannia when the lid is removed at £11.50. The shortbread biscuits inside are of course stamped with the union jack. No doubt just as I am writing this, frenetic post-production activities are going on in the TV world, with celebrity chefs, domestic goddesses and other culinary high priests all devising special dishes for the day.

Merchandising for royal occasions has always been big business

But what did British people eat in the past to celebrate these important national occasions? It was certainly not wild mushroom lasagne or union jack cupcakes. Before I attempt to answer this question, it is important to point out that Golden and Diamond Jubilees of English monarchs have been very few and far between. The first recorded celebration of a sovereign's jubilee, was that of George III on 25th October 1809, when the 71 year old monarch had completed fifty years on the throne. This event was celebrated all over Britain and the Colonies - and as you will see, in much more lavish style than we manage today. It was to be another 78 years before there was another Golden Jubilee, that of Victoria in 1887. The interval between these two events was much longer than the life span of the average Victorian (about 40 years). So there would have been very few people alive in 1887 who could remember George's 1809 extravaganza. It had been such a long time since the last one that loyal British subjects were not sure what to do for the 1887 Jubilee. But help was at hand. In 1809 a little book entitled The Jubilee of George the Third had been published anonymously by (A Lady) the Wife of a Naval Officer.

In order to help with ideas for the celebrations of Victoria's Golden Jubilee, this scarce little volume was re-printed in 1887 to kickstart the national memory. On the title page of this new edition, it proclaimed that it offered, 'AN ACCOUNT OF THE CELEBRATION IN THE TOWNS AND VILLAGES THROUGHOUT THE UNITED KINGDOM OF THE FORTY-NINTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE REIGN, 25TH OCTOBER, 1809.' 

Unless good records are kept, the fine details of rare ritual occasions like coronations and royal jubilees are easily forgotten. Food events are particularly vulnerable to this form of national amnesia. Because a jubilee dinner was a transient affair, unless someone took the trouble to record a bill of fare, memories quickly faded. Having a book was a great help, so the 1887 re-issue of the account of George's jubilee was a boon to those wanting to organise celebratory events, because they could find out what had been done in their towns and villages seventy eight years before. 

Above - the 1st edition of 1809. Below - the 2nd edition published for Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887

A similar phenomenon happened at the time of the restoration of the monarchy in 1660. The most recent coronation, that of Charles I had been back in 1625. During the intervening thirty five years (coincidentally the average life expectancy of the period), there had been a civil war, a regicide, the abolition of the monarchy and an interregnum. Most of the records on coronation ritual and all the necessary regalia had been destroyed. As a result, Charles II's coronation on April 23rd 1661 was a rather improvised affair. In a record he kept of the occasion, Sir Edward Walker, Garter Principal of Arms, tells us,

'And because through the Rapine of the late 
vnhappy times, all the Royall Ornaments & Regalia heretofore p'served from age to age in the
 Treasury of the Church of Westminster, were
 taken away, sold & destroyed, the Comittee mett
 divers times not only to direct the remakeing such
 Royall Ornaments & Regalia, but even to setle
 the form & fashion of each particular; all which
 doe now reteyne the old names & fashion, although 
they have been newly made.
'

On the left, Francis Sandford holds a copy of The History of the Coronation of the Most High, Most Mighty, and Most Excellent Monarch James II (London: 1687). The only important 'festival book' published in seventeenth century England, Sandford's detailed work has been used to organise every coronation since, including that of Elizabeth II in 1953. Sandford and a fellow herald are depicted here in the coronation procession, walking on the 'flower-strewan way.'

As a result, there was no such lack of crowns, orbs and suchlike in 1685, when Charles's brother James II was crowned. But to ensure the continuity of the highly complex coronation rituals, James commissioned the Lancaster Herald Francis Sandford to make a detailed record of the event for posterity. Unlike Walker's account of Charles II's coronation, this was published by the Crown in 1687. Sandford tells us.

'all necessary Care having been taken, both before and immediately after the Coronation, to preserve the Exact Draughts and Admeasurements of all such Transient Things both in the Hall and Church.' 

Sandford's aim to 'preserue the
 Memory of this Glorious Solemnity, in all its Incidents and Circumstances, so nothing has been so much Endeavour’d, as to render it truly 
Useful to Posterity' was fulfilled, as his incredibly comprehensive account has been used to organise all the coronations since that of James II. Sandford gives a remarkable account of the coronation feast laid before James and his diminutive Queen Consort Maria de Modena in Westminster Hall. If you include the obligatory ritual dish of dillegrout, this feast consisted of 171 different dishes, just for two people! More on this particular beano in a future posting.

To return to the little book about the celebrations surrounding George's Jubilee in 1809 republished to help with the planning of one in 1887, what can it tell us about the celebratory food of the time? Well actually rather a lot. The most important national event was held in the town of Windsor on the ancient playing field of Batchelors' Acre, where an ox was roasted for the royal party. The king did not attend this event, but at 10.30 in the morning, Queen Charlotte and many of the other members of the royal family sampled the beef,

'Fifty Batchelors were ready, at the outside of the gate, which opens to the Acre: and when the royal party descended from the stand, guarded them at the fire-place, where the ox was roasting; they then proceeded to view the construction of the grates and walls for roasting the ox, which were so well contrived as to roast two whole sheep at the same time, and then returned to the booth. The butchers employed in managing the cooking of the whole animals, were dressed upon the occasion in blue frocks and silk stockings: they cut the first prime pieces from the ox and sheep, and put them upon silver plates, and the bachelors and butchers waited upon the royal party with them. They all tasted and appeared highly pleased with the novelty.' 

After the jubilee service in St George's Chapel, Queen Charlotte returned for a second helping,

'The Duke of Sussex, with his hat off, held the 
tray from which Queen took two or three pieces of beef and bread. The Duke of Clarence distributed the plum pudding.' 

Although this event was attended by the royal family, the original intention of the ox roast was to feed the Windsor poor. The whole extravangaza was paid for by the Prince of Wales and his brothers. I am very pleased to report that Windsor is one of the very few places in Britain that keeps up the tradition of roasting an ox for the jubilee celebrations. One was roasted there in 2002 and another one is planned for this year. Well done Windsor! Hundreds of similar ox roasts took place all over Britain in 1809. All were aimed at feasting the poor, the oxen and other animals usually being donated by a rich squire or landowner. Local butchers prepared and roasted the beast, a process that could last up to 29 hours. Unlike, modern 'hog roasts' where a pig is rotated over burning charcoal or gas flames, these animals were roasted properly in front of a large temporary fireplace. It is amazing how the British have almost completely forgotten how their national dish was originally cooked. These affairs were highly ritualised, as can be seen in this account of the 1809 ox roast in the city of Chester,

An ox, the gift of John Egerton, Esq. of Oulton Park, which had been slaughtered for the purpose of roasting whole, was paraded on the preceding evening being ready spitted, with horns and tail gilt, decorated with ribbons and attended by a band of music, with the colours of the several clubs of the city. Behind the ox, on the same carriage, rode the butcher, with knife drawn; thus the procession proceeded to Power Field, near the walls of the city, where a building was erected for the purpose of roasting. The fire was lighted at two, and the ox put down at eight on the Tuesday evening; by twelve o’clock the next day it was as well and as regularly roasted as any joint of meat could have been done by the most experienced cook.

An ox about to be prepared for the spit to celebrate Victoria's Golden jubilee in Skipton in 1887

Ten years later an ox roast at Batley Carr near Leeds in 1897 to celebrate Victoria's Diamond jubilee. The temporary brick roasting range is behind. Two workmen are turning the spit with a large wheel over a dripping pan.

A souvenir plate from the Batley Carr ox roast above

An even more patriotic ritual took place at Norwich, when the mayor and corporation sat down not to a whole roasted ox, but to a 'royal baron of beef',

" At five o'clock, the
 company, invited by the Mayor to partake of a roast beef dinner 
assembled at St. Andrew's Hall; and soon after the joyful note of 
preparation was given, by the drum and fife playing " O the roast
 beef of old England," at the head of a royal baron of beef, weighing 
172 lbs. surmounted with the Union flag, which was brought in by
 four grenadiers, who carried it twice round, and then placed it at
 top of the hall. The company seated themselves at three tables, 
which extended the whole length of the middle aisle, which was 
brilliantly lighted up with chandeliers, &c.
On the baron of beef being placed under the picture of Lord Nelson, the curtains were drawn up."

It was customary to decorate the royal baron of beef with the British Standard and adorn it with flowers

At Garnons in Herefordshire, Sir J. G. Cotterel regaled 'several thousands of the local peasantry' with a massive feast,

'On the preceding evening, a large ox was set down to roast in a temporary building erected for the purpose, with more than a bushel of potatoes in his belly, which being ready by one o'clock on Wednesday, was distributed, with great quantities of plum pudding, many other smaller articles of provisions, and five hogsheads of cider, among the crowd who assembled to partake of the bountiful and hospitable fare on the lawn, in front of the Mansion House.' 

Similarly at Itchen Abbas in Hampshire,

'The whole of the poor of the parish of Itchen
 were regaled by A. R. Dottin, Esq., of Itchen Abbas. Three sheep,
 stuffed with potatoes, were roasted whole; puddings, ale, and a tub
 of punch, were served to all the happy villagers in great abundance,
 and a sum of money distributed to the poor females. The King's 
health was drank with three distinct cheers, and several other loyal 
and patriotic toasts.'

So ox roasts were the order of the day throughout Britain in 1809. Local bakers often donated bread and plum puddings. The butchers always took care of the hearth construction and roasting.The scale of these events was often huge. Sometimes thousands were fed. I have found no images of any gatherings for Jubilees, but below are two images of dinners for the poor given in Lewes and Wisbech in 1838 when Victoria was crowned.  After overseeing the distribution of meat and bread to the poor, the wealthy patrons of these events usually had their own private parties in their own dining rooms. These consisted of much more sophisticated fare than roast ox and plum pudding.

The 5th Earl of Lonsdale's ox carving set - the knife is a massive 25.4 inches long. Photo - Michael Finlay

Open air dinner for the poor to celebrate Victoria's coronation in Lewes 1838

Open air dinner for the poor in Wisbech to celebrate Victoria's coronation. These extraordinary events are the true origins of our street parties

The 1809 edition of the book about George III's Jubilee celebrations and the creamware mould I used to make the flummery at the beginning of this post

The culinary equivalent of coronation mugs, these food moulds were marketed for the 1902 coronation of Edward VII 

Apart from the copper entrée mould, all these are for making ice cream crowns

A pewter ice cream pillar mould surmounted by a crown and cushion made to celebrate either the 1887, or 1897 jubilee. Photo Michael Finlay.

The two jellies at the back were made from moulds issued to commemorate the marriage of Edward Prince of Wales to Princess Alexandria of Denmark in 1863. Victorian edible kitsch associated with coronations, royal weddings and jubilees could be very elaborate.

The Alexandria Cross jelly on the left has the Danish flag running all the way through it. The Brunswick Star has the garter star in white running all the way through the jelly. This was achieved with special tin liners.

Jubilee edible kitsch 2012 - American style cup cakes - patriotic, but such a lack of ingenuity compared to the Victorian celebratory food illustrated above!

There were also many hundreds of ox roasts throughout Britain in 1887 and 1897. The great and the good may have looked on at these events with a sense of pride as they had usually financed them, but what they sat down to eat themselves was on a completely different plane. Complex dinners of many dishes in sophisticated Anglo-French style were the fashion at the time of Victoria's Jubilee entertainments. Here for instance is the menu for Her Majesty's Dinner for 1897 followed by some others from the period. Many nowadays think that Victorian food was over boiled and rather heavy on suet, but this is a terribly lazy and ignorant viewpoint based on poor and cliché-ridden research. Whether on the streets at on ox roast, or in the finest dining rooms in the land, Victorians knew how to dine. Just how many of you are going to sit down to a dinner like these on June 5th?

The menu for Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee banquet, held in the Ball Supper Room at Buckingham Palace

Her Majesty's Dinner

Tuesday, 21st June 1887

Potages.
à la Tortue
Au Printanier
à la Creme de Riz

Poissons.
Whitebait
Les Filets de Soles farcis à l'Ancienne
Les Merlans frits

Entrées.
Les Petits Vol au Vents à la Bechamel
Les Côtelettes d'Agneau, Pointes d'Asperges
Les Filets de Canetons aux Pois

Relevés.
Les Poulets à la Financière
Haunch of Venison
Roast Beef

Rôts.
Les Cailles bardées
Les Poulets

Entremets.
Les Haricots verts à la Poulette
Les Escaloppes de Foies-gras aux Truffes
Sprütz Gebackenes
La Crème de Riz au Jus aux Cerises
Les Choux glacés à la Duchesse

SIDE TABLE.
Cold Beef
Tongue
Cold Fowl

The previous day, the ladies who were to wait on the Queen and her Royal guests were treated to their own special celebration dinner.

The Household Dinner given at Buckingham Palace, on Monday, 20th June, 1887, to the ladies in attendance on the Queen and Foreign Royalties
Potages.

À la Chiffonade.
Au Vermicelle à la Windsor

Poissons.

Turbot. Sauce Cardinale.
 Merlans Frits.


Entrées.

Croquettes de Volaille.
 Ris de Veau panés sautés aux Pois. 
Levrauts à la Crème.


Releves.
Poulets garnis de Langue a la Jardiniere.
Selles de Mouton roties.
Boeuf Roti.


Rōts.
Canetons. Poulets.


Entremets.

Epinards au Veloute. 
Aspics de Galantine en Belle Vue.
 Bombes glacees au Chocolat. 
Condés fourrés à l'Abricot.
 Savarins au Curacoa.

Celebration dinners continued for much of June. Here is the menu for Her Majesty's Dinner on June 25th.  This lovely recipe card is published here courtesy of my dear friend and follower of this blog Janet Clarke.

CELEBRATION OF THE QUEEN'S JUBILEE.
 BALL AT GUILDHALL,


28^TH JUNE, 1887.


MENU

Aspics of Eels.

Aspics of Lobster.


Aspics of Fillets of Soles.


Salmon Mayonnaise.


Lobsters.
  Spring Chickens.


Ox Tongues             York Hams.


Roast Lamb.                        Roast Beef.               Pressed Beef.


French Pies


Galantines of Capons.   Galantines of Veal.


Lobster and Plain Salads.


Neapolitain Cakes.


Wine, Noyeau and Maraschino Jellies.

Italian, Vanilla, and Lemon Creams.


Meringues a la Française.


Pastries.                    Maids of Honour.


Strawberries and Cream.              Hot House Grapes.


Lemon and Apricot Water Ices.


Fresh Strawberry Cream Ice.

However, my favourite menu from the 1887 jubilee is this one in verse,

'The following is a unique menu of a charming little
 dinner given to a party of twenty-two at Bryanston 
Square, on Thursday, June 23rd inst. : -' 

This is, my friends, the Bill of Fare,

Of your dinner to-night in Bryanston Square.

The Potages I need scarcely name;

They are Printanier and la Reine.

Of Fish, a double dish you'll find:
Saumon with Sauce Tartare combined;
And that delicious little Fish

Called Blanchailles is our second dish.

The Entrées next before us rise:

Des Cailles en Chaudfroid they comprise;

And what is even daintier still,

A Ris de Veau à la Buffalo Bill.

The Selle de Mouton now will come,

With Branches d'Asperges à la Yum Yum.

Les Canards Rotis then you'll see,

And Creme d'Homard à la Jubilé.

A Gelée à la Vin Madere,

A Macedoine de Fruits most rare,

And Boudin Glacé, best of Fruits,
Our little menu just completes.

And finally, Her Majesty's Dinner from the 1897 Diamond Jubilee, reproduced here once again courtesy of Janet Clarke Antiquarian Books. Janet specialises in gastronomy. Janet Clarke's website.

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