This is yet another in Penguin UK’s English Journeys series which I swear runs into the dozens of slim volumes covering every aspect of what I’ll term pastoral England — architecture, bits country gardens, country houses, country lore, food, music.. Well you get the idea. Most of the books in this series are older titles being reprinted by this House, some over a century old. This one is just over a decade old.
Davison was a British diplomat and historian who best know for his books about food including The Penguin Companion to Food which this is excerpted from. It’s less a book than a well-crafted enticement to buy the massive book it’s excerpted to as it’s just over a hundred pages long. It doesn’t even have an introduction to the entries here!
It however is a fascinating read as it gives details about some culturally important foods that almost no one outside of their region, let alone outside the UK, will heard of such as stargazey pie. What’s that, you ask? It’s a Cornish delicacy made with a fish that’s very oily whose heads are left sticking above the buttery crust. Interestingly Davison calls it a traditional British pie but I’ve never heard of it being served outside of Cornwall except by those from there. It’s no different in that than the deep fried frozen Mars bar that’s found in Scottish circles. No, I’m not kidding — it really is considered a Scottish delicacy originating in Aberdeen. but then there’s nothing that many Scots won’t deep fry.
He also covers everything from afternoon tea to Yorkshire pudding. The entries can be quite good as is the case of the one on gingerbread which details the regional variations on this treat, fruit cakes which even has a recipe which is something rare in this book, and a stunning entry on steak and kidney pie.
As I said before, it’s very obviously an enticement to buy the <cite>Companion</cite>. And it works very nicely as that. Just don’t think of it as a full-blown guide to English food.
(Penguin UK, 2002)
