Chapter Two: Early Empire
Most of the 18th century was marked by Britain’s wars and expansion in North America, Africa and India. Trade brought untold wealth to Britain and it also brought produce from across the empire. Spices from India, commodities from America, foodstuffs from Africa. But in this period before the American Revolutionary War, it seemed that the new elements were simply added to traditional British recipes as an exotic embellishment rather than a genuine adoption or adaption of cuisines.
One of the major sources of British wealth in this period was the triangular trade between Africa, America and India. As well as generating colossal wealth (for a few) and enormous suffering for the slaves, it caused a major mix up in cuisines. African spices and cooking methods were introduced to North American ingredients, and then ended up exported to Great Britain herself and adapted to suit British tastes. Since this was the food of slaves, it had a certain stigma attached to it. But the taste, and its stodgy make up became popular with port cities’ poor, and from there spread to the growing factories, employing the swarms of unemployed who had stalked Britain since the population boom earlier in the century.
The popularity of foods imported from the Southern American colonies and West Africa led to a domestic demand. In the Fens of England, the naturally wet environment became ideal for the construction of paddy fields and the cultivation of rice. This rice was initially imported from India.
Chillis were the main source of spice, with pepper added liberally. In the starch heavy diet of many of these diets, these spices were necessary to alleviate the monotony. In terms of meat, it remained resolutely British, reliant on beef or lamb depending on where you were.
Spicy beef with rice and vegetables was a not uncommon dish on the tables of factory workers in port cities in Britain, combining African spices with British sourced meat, rice, and vegetables, and cooked in an Asian style, bringing together styles from across the early empire. This example is obviously larger and richer than a late 18th/early 19th century factory worker’s meal, but it is still a valuable part of the British diet today.
500g ground beef
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 glass finely chopped carrots
1 glass finely chopped onion
¾ glass chopped mushrooms
1½ glass finely chopped potato
½ teaspoon grated ginger
5 glasses of rice
2 or 3 chillis
2 eggs scrambled
1/8 glass of hot sauce
1/8 glass of sugar
1¼ glass of water
1 bouillon cube
Brown beef in a large skillet. Drain all but two tablespoons of fat. Stir fry garlic, carrots, onion and potato. Add mushrooms and chillis and cook until all vegetables are tender. Add ginger, rice and eggs. Stir until well mixed. Mix together hot sauce, sugar and a quarter glass of water in a glass until sugar is dissolved. Add bouillon cube to remaining water, and add to sweet diluted hot sauce. Add to mix and heat through or until excess moisture has been absorbed.
This meal remains a favourite in many British homes, with the ground beef often substituted for beef haggis mix, extending the life of a meal, and spicy beef with rice and veg is a classic leftover meal.
Another meal combining North American and African influences is stuffed sweet potato. The sweet potato is usually stuffed with rice, though other stuffings are known. The success of wetland farming also encouraged the cultivation of other wetland foodstuffs especially spinach.
6 sweet potatoes
100g sliced mushrooms
100g chopped spinach
100g rice
6 tbsps butter
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp chilli finely chopped
2 beaten eggs
Bake sweet potato at 190C until tender, about an hour. Cut thin slice from top each potato lengthwise, and carefully scoop out insides. Mash. Sauté mushrooms in 4 tbsp butter. Add spinach and remove when it begins to wilt. Boil rice separately, and when al dente take off heat. Combine spinach, mushrooms, rice and mashed potato and mix. Stuff skins with mixture, and add remaining butter to tops. Bake in 190C oven for 20 mins until brown. Can top with cheese if desired.
Sweet potato was obviously harder to access so other roots were used such as turnips, which had spread in popularity with the rise of the haggis.
The British version of the ‘Holy Trinity’ emerged at this point. Up until this point, the idea of specific ingredients raised up for their taste was a concept unique to southern Europe, but with the importation of West African recipes, the ideas of a holy group of combined ingredients became popular in Britain as well. The combination was virtually identical to that of West Africa, combining chilli peppers, garlic, onions and tomatoes, and cooked in fat, usually pork fat. This was also known as the Holy Trinity (numerically incorrect) until later, when it became known as the Glorious Constitution. This combination as well as later developments mean Britain is famous (or infamous) for a hot palate. An important dish imported to Britain from West Africa which is indicative of this is Diollof rice.
200g rice
¼ glass of oil
2 chopped onions
3 or 4 minced garlic cloves
2 or 3 chilli peppers
3 glasses of rice
¼ glass of tomato paste
2 glasses chopped tomatoes
2 glasses chopped carrots
1 glass green beans
1 glass chopped cabbage
4 glasses of beef stock (constituted from bouillon cube)
Heat oil over a medium flame, add onions and peppers and sauté until onions are soft and translucent. Add garlic and sauté for a further minute. Stir the rice in, and heat through for 2 mins. Stir in tomato paste to coat rice and give a reddish hue. Add the chopped tomatoes and allow to cook down for a few minutes. Add beef stock and remaining ingredients. Season well with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, reduce to a low heat, cover and simmer for 20 mins.
Diollof Rice was an ancient dish of the Wolof people, and it was extremely versatile. Its relative simplicity leant itself well to the changing diet of the British people especially in urban areas.