‘Put down to a clear bright fire’: The English Tradition of Open-Fire Roasting

Abstract

A valuable insight into the diet of the English in the mid-eighteenth century is provided by Pehr Kalm's account of his visit to England in 1748. A Swedish naturalist with a capacity for acute observation, Kalm noted a heavier reliance on butchers' meat than in other countries. He found that it was prepared in several ways, although boiling and roasting were most common; roast meat, he stated was the nation's ‘principal dish’.Englishmen understand almost better than any other people the art of properly roasting a joint which also is not to be wondered at; because the art of cooking as practised by most Englishmen does not extend much beyond roast beef and plum pudding.