Marking King George II dishes with the cook's name

This story from 1827, in The Table Book, was copied for years.





MARKING THE KING'S DISHES WITH THE COOK'S NAMES.

"King George II was accustomed every other year to visit his German dominions, with the greater part of the officers of his household, and especially those belonging to the kitchen. Once on his passage at sea, his first cook was so ill with tie sea-sickness, that he could not hold up his head to dress his majesty's dinner; this being told to the king, he was exceedingly sorry for it, as he was famous for making a Rhenish soup, which his majesty was very fond of; 

he therefore ordered inquiry to be made among the assistant-cooks, if any of them could make the above soup. One named Weston (father of Tom Weston, the player) undertook it, and so pleased the king, that he declared it was full as good as that made by the first cook. 

Soon after the king's return to England, the first cook died; when the king was informed of it, he said, that his steward of the household always appointed his cooks, but that he would now name one for himself, and therefore asking if one Weston was still in the kitchen, and being answered that he was, "That man," said he, "shall be my first cook, for he makes most excellent Rhenish soup." 

This favour begot envy among all the servants, so that, when any dish was found fault with, they used to say it was Weston's dressing: the king took notice of this, and said to the servants, it was very extraordinary that every dish he disliked should happen to be Weston's; "In future," said he, "let every dish be marked with the name of the cook that makes it." By this means the king detected their arts, and from that time Weston's dishes pleased him most.

This custom was kept up till late in the reign of George III."

Hone, William.  The Table Book.  London: 1827

THIS WEEK'S TALKS Deleted
Several interesting talks this week include Joseph Conrad's Christmases at sea; Antarctica- Cooking, dining and surviving in the extremes; Flour mill innovations 1735-1865



Feb 1 Tue 7pm Haymaking, Barns, and Farm Memories. Steven Hoffbeck. book The Haymakers: A Chronicle of Five Farm Families. Vermont Humanities HERE

Feb 2 Thu 12-1:30 Burns Night III. “follow the structure of a traditional Burns Night celebration, with the Immortal Memory celebrating the life and work of Burns, followed by the Toast to the Lassies, and the Reply to the Laddies. Toasts and readings. BARS British Association for Romantic Studies, Digital Events HERE

Feb 2 Wed 4 Eating to Extinction: The World's Rarest Foods and Why We Need to Save Them. author Dan Saladino; Paul Freedman. Book Passage CA. info and link HERE

Feb 2 Thu 6:45-8 Rick Steves on Eating in Italy: A Cultured Conversation. Fred Plotkin. “…Italy’s cuisine developed, the food specialties of Italy’s different regions …” Smithsonian $30 HERE

Feb 4 Sat 12-1:30 Black Homesteaders of the South. “African American families who became landowners through the Homestead Act of 1862.” author Bernice A. Bennett. Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture. Hybrid HERE

???Feb 6-10 Seed Week HERE

Feb 7 Tue 3 The Grove Tavern in Dulwich. “buildings themselves but also the men who ran the pubs as well as some of the characters who used them.” Ian McInnes. Bell House. £5 HERE

Feb 7 Tue 6:30 Gladiator Snacks & the Super Bowl: Sports & Food of Ancient Greece. Francine Segan. AARP not have to be member HERE

Feb 8 Wed 3 Local Living: What to Eat in Lisbon, Portugal. Estela Mendes. Context travel learning. $26.50 tape for 30 days HERE

Feb 8 Wed 7 The English Barn in America, An Introduction to its Layout and Carpentry. Jack A. Sobon. Friends of Ohio Barns HERE TAPE may be HERE

???Feb 11-12 S-S Seed Gathering 2023. Full program coming. Dan Saladino (Eating to Extinction) The Gaia Foundation’s Seed Sovereignty Programme. $20-40 HERE. Website HERE TAPES may be HERE

Feb 11 Sat 10:30-11:15AM History in the Kitchen. “Every 45-minute session spotlights a dish eaten by one of the following groups: the Mason family, people enslaved at Gunston Hall, and the white laborers, shopkeepers, and tenant farmers of Virginia.” Kids 10-18, adults. Gunston Hall HERE

Feb 12 Sun 2 Sephardi: Cooking the History. Recipes of the Jews of Spain and Diaspora, from the 13th Century to Today. author Dr. Hélène Jawhara Piñer. CHoW HERE

Feb 14 Tue 6:30 Bread. Catherine Prescott, Mary Tsaltas-Ottomanelli. Keeler Tavern Museum CT donation HERE

Feb 15 Wed 2 “English” Animals in an Irish Landscape? Vicky McAlister. Animal History Group HERE

Feb 15 Wed 6:15-7:30 How contact and colonialism have affected Indigenous food ways. Dr. Daniel Sims. Northern Indigenous Food Ways: Learning Circle Series. Farm to School BC HERE

Feb 15 Wed 7 Crystal Products of the Frost King: Ice Harvesting and the Natural Ice Industry in New England. Dennis Picard. The Bidwell House Museum $15 HERE

Feb 15 Wed 9:30 Food in Space, in Science Fiction and Reality. Richard Foss. Torrance Public Library HERE not up yet

Feb 16 Thu 9AM Street Food and the Hawkers of London. “from the age of Shakespeare to the brink of the First World War.” Dr Charlie Taverner author. Guildhall Library HERE Don’t count on Eventbrite, and if not get an email from library the day before, send them an email for numbers.

Feb 16 Thur 6:30 The Miracle of Salt. Naomi Duguid. Culinary Historians of New York. HERE

Feb 16 Thu 7 Monk's Medieval Cuisine: Medieval Food for Modern Food Lovers. Dr. Christopher Monk. Historic Foodways Society of the Delaware Valley HERE TAPE HERE

Feb 17 Fri 8:15 Hidden Hong Kong: Traditional fishing village. The last one in Victoria Harbour. Heygo HERE

Feb 21 Tue 9AM Hogarth's London “paintings and engravings and 18th century London life.” Guy Rowston. Guildhall Library HERE Don’t count on Eventbrite, and if not get an email from library the day before, send them an email for numbers.

Feb 21 Tue 1:30 Heart Like a Fakir: General Sir James Abbott and the Fall of the East India Company. Chris Mason. The British in India Historical Trust. £5 HERE

Feb 22 Wed 1 St Helena: Napoleon’s Garden Island. “Lying in the path of the trade winds on the homeward voyage of the great East India Company’s fleets from Asia, St Helena became a refreshment station and military bastion and also the resting site for exotic plants from Asia and Africa…” Donal McCracken. Linnean Society of London HERE

Feb 22 Wed 8 Southern Black Chefs in the White House. Adrian Miller. UNC Asheville. HERE

Feb 23 Thu 1 "Protector of the Poor": Iowa's Poor Farms and Midwestern Social Welfare. Megan Birk. State Historical Society of Iowa HERE TAPE may be HERE

?Feb 23 Thu 4:30 Womens Research: Community Cookbooks & what they tell us about our Ancestors. Gena Pillibert-Ortega. Pastfinders of South Lake Co. Genealogical Society. FL HERE

// Feb 25 Sat 5-10am Imagining the Medieval City. many speakers. London Medieval Society HERE

CALENDAR OF VIRTUAL FOOD HISTORY TALKS HERE

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