Serving a Main Course in Jane Austen Culinary Studies

There's a tendency to relegate culinary conversations to the tea table, to create Mrs. Elton's Rout Cakes, or contemplate the dinner Mrs. Bennet might have served Mr. Darcy. But the realities of food history offer more sustenance than fictitious dishes. A deeper examination of the food references in Jane Austen's writing contributes to meaty discussions of women's roles, social class, agrarian life, and other aspects of life in the long eighteenth century.

On the surface, food references in Austen's writing appear incidental. Lady Lucas inquires about her daughter's poultry (PP, vol. 2, ch. 16), Mrs. Palmer visits her chickens (SS, vol. 3, ch. 6), and Jane's brother inquires after his mother's Guinea fowl (Jane Austen's Letters, 11 June 1799).¹ Who cares? We do, because Austen is documenting a critical role for women.

In an era when most of England lived on farms, managing the poultry yard was essential. With their meat and eggs, poultry provided a ready source of protein for the family table. Unlike other livestock, birds from the poultry yard were "fit to be killed" year round (PP, vol. 3, ch. 11, 331). Women managed this important food source in homes ranging from simple parsonages to great houses. Austen shows us that the poultry yard mattered—and that women were in charge. She documents the parallel duty of women managing the dairy, which could yield quantities of butter sufficient enough to shock Aunt Norris and enable Mrs. Austen to sell the surplus at market.

Equally revealing is the exchange between Mr. Woodhouse and Emma over a gift of pork. When first read, the dialogue shows the fussy and exacting nature of Mr. Woodhouse offset by his daughter's spontaneity and generosity. An examination of the precise wording reveals the author's rural upbringing. In three paragraphs, Austen uses more than a dozen terms demonstrating her knowledge of butchering, cooking, food preservation, and food seasonality (E, vol. 2, ch. 3). Like women of her day, Austen was raised with farm-to-table food expertise.

Through food, Austen depicts capable women managing the household and scorning those who do not. Lady Catherine judges Mrs. Collins's meat selections (PP, vol. 2, ch. 7), and Fanny Price notes the mote-ridden milk and greasy butter of her mother's inadequate housekeeping (MP, vol. 3, ch. 15). Austen herself claims their black butter would have turned out better if she and sister Cassandra had been present (Jane Austen's Letters, 27 December 1808). These standards reflect the Georgian principle that women appear to best advantage "at the head of a Well-Regulated Table" (Mason 23).

When we read Austen through a culinary lens, we see greater aspects of her era. Mrs. Bennet's old country ways reflect social class and urbanization. The exchange of food gifts chronicled in Austen's letters reflects dependence on the land and the interdependence of communities. The lack of a bake oven reflects the Bateses' poorness as clearly as the possession of an icehouse conveys the "Elegance & Ease" of Godmersham (Jane Austen's Letters 144).

Today's culinary trends can be considered alongside their precursors. The current farm-to-fork movement reminds us of life at Steventon, described today as a self-sustaining farm. Recent concern for declining bee populations echoes the decreased honey production from Cassandra's beehives. The trend in home brewing mirrors Austen-made spruce beer and mead.

Regardless of which course of study a scholar selects, it's time for food history to take its place at the table. Encouraging the serious study of Jane Austen culinary connections can lead us to a greater understanding of the author's life and era—inevitably whetting our appetites for more.