Recipes from an Edwardian Country House: Classic Tastes from the English Stately Home

Cookbook and gardening author Whittingstall (mother of British celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall), who lives in Gloucestershire, England, here offers recipes inspired by her childhood at her family’s country estate in Wiltshire, “immersed in a way of life that pre-dated even the First World War… [where] the sources of our food were all around us, in neat, weed-free vegetable rows, under fruit cages draped with black cotton fishing nets, on the trees in the orchard, and in the chicken run.” Recipes are organized by meals, and feature British classics as well as dishes adapted for the modern cook. Recipes may not be familiar to most, but are certainly intriguing, especially to anyone interested in British cuisine. For Breakfast there’s Devilled Kidneys, made with lamb kidneys; Kedgeree, with smoked haddock; and Hot Cross Buns. Sunday Lunch includes Boiled Beef and Carrots with Diana’s Dumplings, and Mid-week Meals feature Gloucestershire Squab Pie, and Herby Lamb Chop Gratin. Other sections in this tasty slice of English life are: Saturday Stews, Teatime, Soups, Starters and Savouries, and of course, Puddings. (Nov.)