“Anyone interested in historic cooking in Britain soon comes across Ivan Day, an extraordinary man who uses his authentic kitchen equipment and encyclopaedic knowledge to discover how our food has been cooked, eaten and served over the centuries. ‘I could cook a meal from any time from the Battle of Agincourt to the First World War and it’ll be different every 10 years,” Day says. ‘That’s not an idle boast. It’s to illustrate that culinary styles change constantly. They were influenced by whatever also changed our clothes, architecture and lifestyles. I’ve cooked for Marie Antoinette, Jane Austen, Francis Drake and Louis XVI, using the correct table settings and methods. I’ve prepared food for all sorts of people who’ve been dead for centuries. But there isn’t anyone alive who could teach me what I do”.History is the next big thing in food. After roaming around the world for inspiration, we are coming back to our past.” link@telegraph.co.uk

“Algernon. Got nice neighbours in your part of Shropshire?
Jack. Perfectly horrid! Never speak to one of them.
Algernon. How immensely you must amuse them! [Goes over and takes sandwich.] By the way, Shropshire is your county, is it not?
Jack. Eh? Shropshire? Yes, of course. Hallo! Why all these cups? Why cucumber sandwiches? Why such reckless extravagance in one so young? Who is coming to tea?”

Cucumber Sandwich Recipe@daylesincrediblelinks.com
The Importance Of Being Earnest@wikisource

“As the story goes, 17th-century Poland was the breadbasket of Europe, and King Jan Sobieski was the first king not to confirm the decree of 1496 limiting the production of white bread and obwarzanek (bagellike rolls whose name derives from a word meaning “to parboil”) to the Krakow bakers guild. This meant that Jews could finally bake bread within the confines of the city walls. Furthermore, when Sobieski saved Austria from the Turkish invaders, a baker made a roll in the shape of the king’s stirrup and called it a beugel (the Austrian word for stirrup).” link@slate.com

“You’ve just landed in the Swedish capital of Stockholm, hungry and eager to indulge in some traditional Scandinavian fare. You wander into a buffet-style restaurant and stare at a smörgÃ¥sbord that looks disconcertingly similar to the raw seafood section at your local grocery store. Mounds of glistening herring prepared in every imaginable fashion stare back. Where to begin? You need a herring primer. Before writing them off as oily anchovies, know that herring are an integral part of Nordic culture and cuisine. They’re known as sill in Swedish. Chances are you’ll be eating either Atlantic or Baltic herring in Sweden.” herringinsweden@worldhum.com

“Kitchen Gardeners more often than not have a strong, independent streak. Rather than worship at the altar of celebrity chefs, they look for practical ways of bringing their own day-to-day cuisine into the realm of the divine by using the best ingredients their land, climate, and skills will allow. Their love of quality and freshness is reflected in the food they buy to supplement and complement their own production. Because Kitchen Gardeners understand where good food comes from and how it is produced, they tend to seek out food that is authentic, local, seasonal, and minimally-processed whenever possible.”

What Is A Kitchen Gardener?@KGI.org

“My Grandma made fantastic scones, white on the sides, golden on the top, light in texture and not so sweet as to make the addition of huge spoonfuls of jam cloying. So my first memory of cooking is being given my own bowl of flour to make a batch of scones, during the shearing season. I can’t remember what these tasted like, but I can remember being annoyed that my grandmother’s scones were much taller then mine, three inches at least I am sure. I now realise that although the ingredient list is simple in making scones truely great scones is a great skill and my fumbling five year old fingers were simply not up to the task. I’m not sure what recipe my grandmother used, if she used one at all but it would have used a similar ingredient list to this modern recipe.” Scones Recipe

“Gnocchi recipes aren’t for the faint of heart. Many, many things can go awry. I’m not trying to scare you off or dissuade you, I just want you to know what you are in for. Gnocchi-making takes practice, patience, and persistance. At their best potato gnocchi can be light and delicate. At their worst, dense, rubbery, and/or soggy. The very worst are the gnocchi that come apart in the boiling water before they even reach your plate.”

Recipe@101cookbooks.com
How To Make Gnocci Video@videojug.com