Back in the year of 2011 Sophie Dahl presented a BBC programme called The Marvellous Mrs Beeton, what a coincidence that I have recently studied Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management in my Literature of Food module at university. The programme is no longer available on the BBC website, but can be found on YouTube, I have provided the links below if you interested in watching, which I highly recommend that you do.
As you may or may not know, Mrs Beeton created the original domestic bible; a hefty whopper of a book which accounts for any possible question raised in the aspect of Victorian household management. Beeton explains how to not only cook and clean your home, but also how to manage your staff (if you are so fortunate as to have such a luxury), how to entertain guests and of course how to prepare and cook the obscurest of dishes, such as the horrifically named Mock Turtle Soup.
It made me think about our modern day eating habits. I am not a massive meat eater, and the only meat I do buy is purchased from the shelves of Sainsburys, wrapped in cellophane and in no way resembling the animal it has originated from. Mrs Beeton's book of Household Management is full of diagrams and illustrations of the livestock from which her ingredients have come from. If our modern day society was better educated on the origins of our food we may have better respect for what we are eating, and consequently we may not waste so much produce. Well enough of my pondering, and lets continue with Dahl.
Dahl goes behind the writing on the page, and explores Beeton's life. The aspect I found most interesting and shocking is the tragic account of Beeton's children. Her first child died not long after his birth and her second child fell ill with scarlet fever and also died. Luckily she had another two children who survived and grew to have successful lives like their mother and father. From the pages of her book, Beeton appears to be a very mature and together lady, yet behind the writing she was dealing with personal grief and woe. Mrs Beeton died at the age of twenty-eight. In her short life she achieved a great deal and her name is still widely known. There is a reason why Mrs Beeton's book of Household Management has never been out of print, and I believe that it is because her book is strong and dictatorial. It answers any possible question a Victorian woman could desire to ask about their home, and even though much of her book is now dated, there are aspects of her advice and her character that can be followed in our modern world. As I mentioned previously, the programme is well worth a watch if only to listen to the delightful commentary from Sophie Dahl.
