Photo of
May 24, 2012
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Parrot pie was once popular

The blog has always been a sucker for weird and wonderful foods so we’re well chuffed to learn that the British Library has just published a book called The Curious Cookbook: Viper Soup, Badger Ham, Stewed Sparrows & 100 More Historic Recipes.

As the title suggests, it’s a collection of some of the most unusual recipes from historic cookery books, from the Middle Ages to the Second World War.

Lavish feasts

Gathered together by librarian Peter Ross, the book includes recipes from the earliest manuscript and printed cookery books in the English language and takes the reader through the lavish gastronomic spectacles of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to the austerity of the Victorian kitchen and the imaginative ration-book cookery of wartime 1940s Britain.

BBQ otter

These days, chicken, pork, lamb and beef are the dominant meats on our plates but, back in the day, there was little that our ancestors wouldn’t tuck into. From barbecued otter and sautéed tortoise to kangaroo soup, roast peacock and sparrows on toast, neither common nor exotic species were safe from the adventurous cook.

Bunny hugs

It comes and goes but, at the moment, there is a fashion for restaurant menus to describe dishes as simply as possible. This wasn’t always the case and some old school chefs liked to play with the names of their dishes. Walk into a restaurant now and it’s unlikely that you will see bunny hugs, a bosom caresser or whore’s farts on the menu. In fact, they were esoteric names for mutton pancakes, an egg-based cocktail and deep-fried fritters respectively.

The book is available, at £14.95, from the British Library Shop (tel: +44 (0)20 7412 7735 / e-mail: bl-bookshop@bl.uk) and online at www.bl.uk/shop as well as other bookshops throughout the UK .