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Edwardian Recipes

Edwardian recipes, 1901 to 1914: the Titanic’s last first-class dinner, Scott’s Midwinter feast, paper-bag cookery and the first Nobel dinner.

These Edwardian recipes come from the years between Queen Victoria’s death in 1901 and the First World War, and from tables that left a record. The best known is the first-class dinner card on the Titanic for Sunday, April 14, 1912: oysters, consommé Olga, salmon with mousseline sauce, roast duckling with apple sauce, an iced punch romaine and peaches in Chartreuse jelly, a menu for a grand London hotel served on a ship in the North Atlantic. What Was the Last First-Class Dinner on the Titanic? gives the card and four of its dishes.

Far to the south, Robert Falcon Scott’s men sat down at Cape Evans on June 22, 1911, the middle of the polar winter, to seal soup, roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, a flaming plum pudding, mince pies and a savory of cod’s roe, all with champagne; out on the ice they lived on pemmican hoosh. Mrs. Beeton’s 1906 edition gives the home dishes: What Did Scott’s Men Eat for Midwinter at Cape Evans?

At home, the Edwardian kitchen tried new ways to cook. In 1911 Nicolas Soyer, chef at Brooks’s Club in London, promised nearly a whole dinner from a greased paper bag in an ordinary oven, and American households of the same years cooked in the fireless cooker, an insulated box that finished dinner on its own heat. Escoffier’s Guide of 1903 and its 1907 English edition supply the grand dinners: the first Nobel banquet in Stockholm on December 10, 1901, and the Pan American Society’s dinner at the Waldorf Astoria in 1912. Each recipe names its book and says how close it stands to the event.

What Was the Last First-Class Dinner on the Titanic?

  • A whole roast duckling with golden-brown skin on an oval white platter beside its sage and onion stuffing, with apple sauce and gravy in white sauceboats and a silver carving knife and fork.
    Roast Duckling, Apple Sauce

    Meat & Poultry · 2 hr 40 min total

    Roast Duckling with Apple Sauce (1912) 

    Roast duckling with apple sauce, one of three meat dishes on one line of the Titanic’s first-class dinner card of April 14, 1912, cooked from Mrs. Beeton’s 1906 edition with sage and onion stuffing.

  • Pale, snowy punch romaine spooned into small stemmed glasses, with a strip of lemon zest on the cloth and a glass jug of rum behind.
    Punch Romaine

    Drinks, Punches & Ices · 5 hr 40 min total

    Punch à la Romaine (1912) 

    Punch à la romaine, the iced course of the Titanic’s first-class dinner on April 14, 1912: Escoffier’s soft wine and citrus ice with Italian meringue and rum, served in glasses.

  • A clear, pale gold jelly turned out of a fluted ring mold with peeled peach slices set through it, on a clear glass cake stand, with a cut wedge on a small white plate.
    Peaches in Chartreuse Jelly

    Desserts & Sweets · 9 hr 15 min total

    Peaches in Chartreuse Jelly (1912) 

    Peaches in Chartreuse jelly, a dessert from the Titanic’s first-class dinner of April 14, 1912, rebuilt from two of Agnes Marshall’s 1890 jellies: peach slices set in a clear, liqueur-scented jelly.

What Did Third-Class Passengers Eat on the Titanic?

  • Three plain white bowls of thick, nubbly oatmeal porridge on a pale wooden table, a thin ring of milk around the edge of each and a spoon in the middle bowl, with a small white jug of milk behind.
    Oatmeal Porridge & Milk

    Breakfast · 8 hr 35 min total

    Oatmeal Porridge (1906) 

    Oatmeal porridge with milk, the first dish at third-class breakfast on the Titanic on April 14, 1912: coarse oatmeal soaked overnight, from the 1906 Beeton.

  • A shallow cream bowl of plump, dark brown stewed figs in a thin amber syrup, with a small jug of pale yellow custard sauce on a blue-striped napkin and a dessert spoon beside it.
    Stewed Figs & Rice

    Desserts & Sweets · 2 hr total

    Stewed Figs (1906) 

    Stewed figs, the sweet at Titanic third-class tea on April 14, 1912: dried figs stewed with sugar and lemon, with custard sauce from the 1906 Mrs. Beeton.

  • Two white china cups of thin, smooth, pale cream oatmeal gruel on saucers, one on a linen napkin, with a small fine sieve holding the strained-out oatmeal on a plate beside them, on a white enamel table.
    Gruel

    Soups & Broths · 40 min total

    Oatmeal Gruel (1906) 

    Oatmeal gruel, the first item at Titanic third-class supper on April 14, 1912: fine oatmeal simmered in milk and water, then strained, from the 1906 Beeton.

What Did Scott’s Men Eat for Midwinter at Cape Evans?

  • A two-rib roast of beef on a white oval platter with three slices carved, pink through the center, beside a dark tin of Yorkshire pudding baked as one sheet with squares cut out, two squares on a small white plate, and a white jug of brown gravy, on a pale pine table.
    roast beef with Yorkshire pudding

    Meat & Poultry · 3 hr 5 min total

    Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding (1906) 

    Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding from the 1906 edition of Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management: a two-rib roast cooked by her rule of fifteen minutes to the pound, with the batter pudding baked in the dripping.

  • Eleven small lidded mince pies of flaky pastry, each with a slit and a crust of coarse sugar, on a wire rack over a linen cloth, a twelfth broken open on a white plate to show currants, raisins and candied peel, beside an old muffin tin.
    excellent mince pies

    Desserts & Sweets · 2 hr total

    Mince Pies (1906) 

    Mrs Beeton’s mince pies from her 1906 Book of Household Management: suet, currant, raisin and apple mincemeat with candied peel and a little brandy, baked in puff pastry and dredged with sugar.

  • Eight ovals of fried bread on a white plate, each topped with sliced smoked cod's roe, flecks of chives and parsley, a pinch of cayenne and a small pat of anchovy butter.
    a dainty savoury of anchovy and cod’s roe

    Fish & Seafood · 1 hr 30 min total

    Croûtes of Cod’s Roe (1906) 

    Croûtes of cod’s roe from Mrs Beeton’s 1906 Book of Household Management: smoked roe fried in butter on rounds of fried bread with shallot, parsley and cayenne, finished with anchovy butter.

  • A dented aluminum mug of thick hoosh, ground dried meat and swollen broken crackers, with a spoon standing in it, beside a block of granular pemmican with one corner cut and two square crackers on a gray painted bench.
    hoosh

    Soups & Broths · 30 min total

    Sledging Hoosh (1911) 

    Sledging hoosh, the thick camp soup of Scott’s sledge journeys, made at home: beef pemmican boiled with water and broken ship’s biscuit, with an optional pinch of curry powder.

Why Did London Cook Dinner in Paper Bags in 1911?

  • Four fillets of sole flecked with parsley and chopped mushroom in a thin buttery sauce, in an opened paper bag on a white platter, with scissors beside it.
    Filleted Soles, fines herbes

    Fish & Seafood · 30 min total

    Filleted Soles Fines Herbes (1911) 

    Filleted soles fines herbes from the 1911 paper-bag cookery craze: fillets baked in a sealed bag with parsley, mushrooms, shallot, butter and a splash of sherry.

  • A whole pale golden roast chicken on an oval white dish, with a light scattering of buttered breadcrumbs, chopped chives and tarragon in the juices around it.
    Roast Fowl. Savory Crumbs.

    Meat & Poultry · 1 hr 45 min total

    Roast Fowl with Savory Crumbs (1911) 

    Roast fowl with savory crumbs from the 1911 paper-bag supper: a whole chicken roasted in a closed bag with its liver, a shallot and buttered crumbs with chives and tarragon.

  • Slices of braised beef with small dumplings, sliced potato, carrot and turnip in a thin brown gravy, in a deep earthenware dish with a spoon.
    Beef in the good old farmer fashion

    Meat & Poultry · 3 hr 10 min total

    Beef in the Farmer Fashion (1911) 

    Beef in the farmer fashion, a whole Sunday dinner in one bag from 1911: floured flank of beef pressed among potatoes, carrots, turnips, onions and little dripping dumplings.

  • Four whole glazed apples filled with apricot jam on a white dish, in a pale apricot cream sauce.
    Pommes à la Mascotte

    Desserts & Sweets · 1 hr total

    Pommes à la Mascotte (1911) 

    Pommes à la mascotte: peeled, cored apples rolled in vanilla egg and confectioners’ sugar, baked in a paper case inside a bag, then filled with apricot jam and served with apricot cream.

Why Did Kitchens of the 1910s Cook Dinner in a Box?

What Was Served at the First Nobel Dinner in 1901?

  • Two small golden-brown roast birds tied with string on an oval silver platter, strips of browned bacon laid beside them and a small silver sauceboat of pan juices.
    Gelinottes rôties

    Meat & Poultry · 1 hr 10 min total

    Roast Hazel Grouse (1903) 

    Escoffier’s one-line roast hazel grouse of 1903, for the game course of the first Nobel dinner: a small bird barded with fat and roasted hot, with Cornish hens.

  • A white porcelain salad bowl with a thin gilt rim holding matchsticks of pale green celery and black truffle in about equal amounts, lightly coated in a pale mustard mayonnaise.
    Salade d’Estrée

    Vegetables & Sides · 30 min total

    Estrées Salad (1903) 

    Escoffier’s Estrées salad of 1903: curled white celery and black truffle in equal parts, cut in matchsticks and dressed with a mustard mayonnaise and cayenne.

What Was Served at the Pan American Society’s Dinner in 1912?

  • A wide white soup plate of smooth pale green soup with small dice of carrot and turnip, green peas, shreds of sorrel and a few chervil leaves.
    Sorrel Soup, Printanière

    Soups & Broths · 50 min total

    Sorrel Soup, Printanière (1907) 

    Sorrel soup printanière after Escoffier’s Germiny (1907): sorrel melted in butter in consommé, thickened with egg yolks and cream and garnished with spring carrots, turnips and peas.

  • A golden floured fillet of sea bass on a white plate, glistening with browned butter and scattered with chopped parsley, with half a lemon beside it.
    Sea Bass, Meunière

    Fish & Seafood · 25 min total

    Sea Bass Meunière (1907) 

    Sea bass meunière after Escoffier (1907): fillets dusted with flour, fried golden in butter and finished with lemon, parsley and butter cooked until it smells of nuts.

  • Quartered small chickens with golden skin in a brown earthenware casserole, in glossy brown sauce with potato balls, carrot strips and bits of bacon.
    Squab Chicken en casserole

    Meat & Poultry · 1 hr 20 min total

    Squab Chicken en Casserole (1910) 

    Squab chicken en casserole from Fannie Farmer’s 1910 cookbook: two small young chickens baked with bacon, carrot, potato balls, brown sauce and sherry.

What Did a Chafing-Dish Supper Serve?

  • Small pink shrimps in a thick, pale coral cream sauce heaped on four buttered square crackers on a gold-rimmed white plate, with a cut-glass dish of celery sticks beside it.
    Cosmos Club shrimps

    Fish & Seafood · 17 min total

    Cosmos Club Shrimps (1914) 

    Cosmos Club shrimps, a Midnight Feasts spread of 1914: cooked shrimps heated in a cream sauce tinted pink with tomato and sharpened with cayenne and lemon, on hot buttered crackers.

  • Six golden-browned skinless sardine fillets, each laid along a narrow strip of toast and dusted with cayenne, on a white oval platter with two lemon wedges.
    Grilled sardines

    Fish & Seafood · 15 min total

    Grilled Sardines on Toast (1914) 

    Grilled sardines on toast, a Midnight Feasts chafing-dish spread of 1914: boneless sardines turned once in hot olive oil, seasoned with salt, cayenne and lemon, on narrow strips of toast.

More recipes

  • Eight small clear glass cups filled with a smooth, pale apricot-orange set cream with a soft matte top, one with a spoonful taken out, on a pale ash wood tray beside a teaspoon.
    Bavarois aux Abricots

    Desserts & Sweets · 5 hr total

    Apricot Bavarois (1907) 

    Escoffier’s apricot bavarois of 1907: poached apricot purée, sugar syrup and lemon set lightly with gelatin and folded with whipped cream, served in cups.

  • Thick round slices of lobster tail with red-edged rims in a pale ivory cream sauce, in a shallow white porcelain serving dish.
    Homard au Sauternes

    Fish & Seafood · 45 min total

    Lobster with Sauternes (1907) 

    Lobster with Sauternes, after Escoffier’s lobster Newburg of 1907: slices of poached lobster warmed in butter, glazed with the wine and finished in a cream and egg-yolk sauce.

  • Twelve white mushroom caps in a round cream earthenware gratin dish, each filled with a domed pale green purée of green beans under a light brown crust of fine crumbs.
    Champignons Princesse

    Vegetables & Sides · 55 min total

    Mushrooms Princesse (1907) 

    Mushrooms princesse, after Escoffier’s stuffed mushrooms and bean purée of 1907: white caps baked with a dome of green bean and flageolet purée under a crust of crumbs.

  • A whole golden-brown pot-roasted chicken on a white oval platter, a bunch of thin green beans at each end, chopped tomatoes and small black olives around it, and a sauceboat of gravy beside it on a pale oak table.

    Meat & Poultry · 2 hr 35 min total

    Poularde Niçoise (1903) 

    Poularde niçoise after Escoffier (1903): a chicken pot-roasted in butter on aromatic vegetables, with green beans, tomatoes sautéed with garlic and tarragon, and pitted olives.

  • A small stemmed glass coupe holding two scoops of pale apricot-orange fruit ice with a fine, grainy texture, beside an old silver dessert spoon on a worn blue-gray wooden table.
    Glace aux Abricots

    Drinks, Punches & Ices · 4 hr 50 min total

    Apricot Ice (1907) 

    Ripe apricot purée, sugar syrup and lemon juice, frozen smooth: Escoffier’s apricot ice of 1907, the Glace aux Abricots on a 1945 train menu.

  • A gold-rimmed white soup plate of clear golden consommé holding thin sticks of carrot and turnip, green peas, asparagus tips, diamonds of green bean, small rounds of lettuce, chervil leaves and pale yellow squares of custard, with a silver spoon on white linen.
    Consommé Printanier Royal

    Soups & Broths · 1 hr 30 min total

    Consommé Printanier Royal (1907) 

    Consommé printanier royal after Escoffier (1907): clear chicken consommé with tiny rods of carrot and turnip, peas, green beans, asparagus tips and squares of chervil royale custard.

  • An oval white dish heaped with thin, bright green beans glossed with butter and flecked with black pepper, a silver serving spoon resting in it, on a pale marble surface.
    Haricots verts du Saumurois

    Vegetables & Sides · 20 min total

    French Beans (1907) 

    French beans as Escoffier wrote them in 1907: thin green beans boiled until just firm, tossed over the heat to dry, then finished with fresh butter, salt and pepper.

  • Two upright rolls of white sole fillet with pale forcemeat showing at the top, in a pool of butter sauce on an oval white plate, beside a folded half of glossy braised lettuce, with a fish knife on a dark wooden table.
    Paupiettes de Soles Choisy

    Fish & Seafood · 1 hr 40 min total

    Paupiettes of Sole Choisy (1907) 

    Paupiettes of sole Choisy after Escoffier (1907): fillets spread with fish mousseline, rolled, stood upright and poached in fish stock, with braised lettuce for the Choisy garnish.

  • Four round artichoke bottoms, hollow side up, in a smooth ivory velouté sauce in a round white porcelain dish on a linen napkin, with a silver spoon.
    Fonds d’artichauts au velouté

    Vegetables & Sides · 1 hr 5 min total

    Artichoke Bottoms with Velouté (1907) 

    Artichoke bottoms with velouté, after Escoffier’s 1907 method: globe artichoke bottoms simmered white in a lemon and flour court-bouillon, finished in butter and coated with a simple velouté sauce.

  • Four folded white fillets of sea bass under a pale green, herb-flecked sauce on an oval white platter, with a fish knife and fork and a glass of white wine.
    Bar glacé vénitienne

    Fish & Seafood · 1 hr 25 min total

    Bass with Venetian Sauce (1907) 

    Bass with Venetian sauce, after Escoffier: sea bass fillets poached in white wine and fish stock under a white wine fish sauce sharpened with tarragon vinegar and turned green with herb juice.

  • A rolled, tied saddle of lamb on a white platter with three slices cut to show a pink center, and a silver sauceboat of gravy behind.
    Selle de Paulliac moissonneuse

    Meat & Poultry · 1 hr 45 min total

    Pot-Roasted Saddle of Lamb (1907) 

    A pot-roasted saddle of lamb after Escoffier’s 1907 method for house lamb: boned, rolled and cooked in butter in a covered pot on a bed of vegetables, browned at the end and served with its own strained gravy.

What did Edwardians eat for dinner?

A grand dinner ran through many courses with French names. The first Nobel banquet in 1901 served brill in the Norman style, fillet of beef, roast hazel grouse with an Estrée salad and a pastry named for the hotel; our Roast Hazel Grouse and Estrées Salad follow Escoffier. A plainer English dinner was a roast, such as Mrs. Beeton’s Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding.

What was on the Titanic’s last dinner menu?

The first-class card for April 14, 1912, offered oysters, consommé Olga, salmon with mousseline sauce, filet mignon, roast duckling with apple sauce, sirloin of beef, punch romaine, roast squab, asparagus, pâté de foie gras and desserts from Waldorf pudding to peaches in Chartreuse jelly. Start with the Salmon with Mousseline Sauce or the Punch à la Romaine.

What did Scott’s men eat in Antarctica?

In the hut, on Midwinter Day 1911, a full English dinner: seal soup, roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, plum pudding, Mince Pies and Croûtes of Cod’s Roe. On the march, Sledging Hoosh: pemmican boiled with broken biscuit into a thick soup.

What they drank with it

For the glasses on these tables, Forgotten Drink, our sister site, goes through an Edwardian country house, from sherry and champagne at dinner and claret cup at tennis teas to lemon squash, barley water and beer money downstairs, in What Did People Drink in an Edwardian Country House? (opens in a new tab)