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Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management

Cookbooks

During this time period the cookbook was popularized among the middle class, the most popular of these was Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management which was first published in 1861. After Mrs. Beeton’s book was popularized, Almanacs and magazines began to dedicate sections to share recipes among their subscribers. These books, which discussed Philosophy, Science and Nature were especially popular among women because it showed they were educated enough to read and discussed such topics.

Curry and Spices

Before the colonization of India, England was considered to have some of the blandest food to be found. Charles Pierce, author of The Household Manager and The Art of Cookery (1857), expresses concern that "there is nothing else in which England is so much behind the rest of the civilized world as in her eating.” Food in England was made as fuel to live; not a celebration of flavor, therefore it was very bland compared to the “passionate, seductive foods of the Orient.” The spices brought from India during the peak of the British colonization created a cultural explosion that revolutionized how food was made in England. Indian Curry was popularized by Queen Victoria and soon Indian cuisine was beginning to rival the British homestead of Fish and Chips.

Tea

Tea was popularized in 1706 by Thomas Twinings who allowed women to enter his shops to purchase their own tea, a practice that was previously unheard of . Because of this most women who purchased tea would buy from Twinings making the business prosper. By 1733 the British  East India Company lost its monopoly on tea and the price of tea dropped drastically. This caused the average British citizen to purchase 3.26 pounds of tea per year by 1860, per individual.