30+ Strange Foods People From The Victorian Era Actually Ate
What will people think of the food we consume today when they look back? When they consider historical periods like the Victorian era, perhaps they will have the same perspective that we do. The cuisines were distinctive at the time when Queen Victoria assumed control of England. We compiled a list of unusual meals that Victorians actually ate to support our argument. Let’s have a look and see which ones sound okay and which ones don’t.
Broxy
During that time, this dish was highly well-liked by lower-income households. When you are struggling to put food on the table and make ends meet, you will take anything. This was a general phrase for the meat of any animal that had died from sickness and had made it to the butcher. This has recently made a reappearance in some of the more economically fragile nations, such as Venezuela.
Kedgeree
The British Empire continued to colonize the world during this time, and one of the nations it did so in was India. As a result of this colonization, their food became more well-known and an infusion of spices occurred.
Kedgeree
This meal combines smoked haddock with milk and rice that has been stir-fried and spiced with curry, coriander, and turmeric. Even now, people still enjoy it, but unlike in the Victorian era, they now eat it for lunch.
Flour Soup
Combine some water, caraway seed, salt, and butter. Then, bring it to a boil while continuously stirring to ensure that there are no lumps. Does it sound okay? That sounds delicious! Actually, no! Actually, it sounds a little dull, but the Victorians consumed this.
Flour Soup
Some households made flour soup frequently, and while it could have been possible to improve its flavor, there was nothing else added to the pot. Those Victorians were a little odd.
Bone Broth
When money is tight, you make do with what you have. That may be leftover bones from yesterday’s lunch or simply some bones you bought from the butcher. In the lower-income areas, making broth by boiling those bones was a common practice. For its nutritional advantages, bone broth has recently become quite fashionable. It was, however, a dish that was only eaten in the slums in Victorian England.
Bone Broth
Due to its nutritional advantages, bone broth has recently gained some popularity. However, it was a dish that was only consumed in the slums in Victorian England.
Marrow Toast
The soft tissue found in bones is called bone marrow, and during the Victorian era, people enjoyed broiling it and spreading it on toast. One of the Queen’s purportedly favorite foods was this. Simply purchase some bones from the butcher, chop them up, and broil them with some salt.
Marrow Toast
When finished and drained, spread on toast and garnish with parsley, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. In fact, this has just gained popularity again.
Jellied Eels
Like most eras, the Victorian era was difficult for the working class. They were able to find intriguing, convenient, and affordable snacks as a result. The jellied eel was one of them. On street carts, this intriguing delicacy first appeared in the East End.
Jellied Eels
The eels are cooked with various herbs before cooling and being jellied in their own broth. Strangely, you may still find this meal at some places in London.
Brown Windsor Soup
In Victorian England, this soup was the standard. No matter what class of society you were a member of, you consumed this soup voraciously.
Brown Windsor Soup
Naturally, you might assume that meant it was made with premium ingredients, but you would be mistaken. Dried fruits, malt vinegar, pepper, and beef gravy were used to make the soup. Do you like the way that sounds?
Pickled Oysters
Even though oysters are already a specialized food, many people could find the tangy vinegar flavor to be a turn off. but not during this time. In actuality, pickling is an excellent method for preserving food, including seafood.
Pickled Oysters
At that time, oysters could be purchased fresh and eaten right away for a very low price. Pickling them was the only option for those who wanted to purchase more.
Boiled Turkey with Mayo
White meat or fish that has been stuffed, poached, and covered in something is served chilled in a dish called a galantine. This dish of pressed turkey with mayonnaise was one of the choices in the Victorian era.
Boiled Turkey With Mayo
This dish, which was deboned and then wrapped the meat around pistachio stuffing before being served cold, began with a turkey. After boiling, this was allowed to cool. Mayonnaise would be applied to it just before serving. Strange, but it might work.
Rice Milk
Another hot beverage that Victorians cherished drinking to stay warm on chilly days is this one. It is a thin rice pudding that was frequently sold from carts parked along the streets.
Rice Milk
All around the nation, the beverage was poured into cups after being prepared by boiling rice with milk and seasoning it with sugar and spices. The warm beverage had a flavor reminiscent of sweet rice, and it was very filling.
Spotted Dick
Another recipe that has persisted to the present day is this one. Suet, dried currants, and raisins are used to make the pastry, which is then seasoned with lemon and orange zest.
Spotted Dick
This dish was first noted in the middle of the 1800s and has a distinctive name. It is still widely consumed in England and is frequently served as dessert during the Christmas season.
Roast Swan
The majority of us enjoy visiting parks and admiring those majestic swans gliding through the water. However, they used to enjoy a roast swan back in the Victorian era and even earlier.
Roast Swan
One of those special occasion dishes that were really only served to the upper class. The presentation was adored by the socialites of the time, and the bird’s flavor wasn’t bad either.
Peacock Pie
Peacocks are presently mostly regarded as a decorative element, much like the swan. The Victorians, however, treated them more as food, much like the swan. They would roast them and prepare a dish resembling a pot pie.
Peacock Pie
This was a dish that was served on the tables of the wealthier Victorians and was best prepared using young peacocks. It undoubtedly created a classy centerpiece.
Calf’s Head
Okay, so it is clear that vegetarians and vegans would not have been welcome during the Victorian era. Particularly when you take a peek at this next peculiar dish. Back then, boiled calf’s head was quite popular.
Calf’s Head
Many of the cookbooks from this era provide quite detailed preparation instructions. This meal is still commonly served in many nations, despite the fact that it might not be a cow’s head there. However, it may seem unusual to people in other regions of the world.
Mock Turtle Soup
Many of the cookbooks from this era provide quite detailed preparation instructions. This meal is still commonly served in many nations, despite the fact that it might not be a cow’s head there. However, it may seem unusual to people in other regions of the world.
Mock Turtle Soup
This could be constructed out of whatever they could find, which was typically a cow’s head. To remove the meat, they would sear the head and then boil it. The rest of the soup is then similar to most other soups.
Viper Soup
Snakes are hardly the first animal that most people picture when they think of England. However, they do exist, therefore it is not strange that numerous recipes called for them as a meat ingredient in the past.
Viper Soup
One of these was viper soup, which was common both during and before the Victorian era. Is there really a better way to get rid of these annoyances?
Arsenic Wafers
Although we now understand that arsenic is hazardous, throughout the 1800s, it was employed for both therapeutic and cosmetic purposes. One of these was for skincare because many people believed it might make their skin seem better.
Arsenic Wafers
Because of this, many women’s medicine cabinets contained items like these arsenic wafers. The wafer was also intended to treat other conditions like malaria and depression.
Spinach Ice Cream
Everyone is aware of the health benefits of spinach. It is bursting with iron and other necessary vitamins, and Victorians liked to turn it into ice cream so they could enjoy a nutritious dessert. At the very least, that is what we believe.
Spinach Ice Cream
They would simmer the spinach, squeeze the juice out, add it to the milk mixture, and then make the ice cream as usual.
Haggis
Haggis is a dish that everyone is familiar with and has been around for a while, but it gained popularity during this period. The dish is still quite well-liked and frequently linked to Scottish cooking.
Haggis
This sausage is created from all of the leftover interior components of a sheep or cow. The mixture is well-seasoned before being served in the animal’s stomach.
Brain Balls
So eating brains is a common practice in several regions of the world. So it comes as no surprise to us that there would be a place for brains in this odd culinary age. However, compared to other uses, brain balls seem a little odder.
Brain Balls
They would pick their brain, roll it in batter, bake or fry it, and then eat it. Don’t you think that sounds delicious? Or do you think it comes off as a little odd?
Foie Gras & Ice Cream
Therefore, if you enjoy foie gras, you might not find this to be too horrible of a dish. Typically, a mold shaped like a duck would be used to press the foie gras into. The foie gras would then be surrounded by an ice cream that had been specially created.
Foie Gras & Ice Cream
Although it may sound unusual, the cayenne-flavored ice cream that was customarily served went well with the richness of the foie gras. Although it might be one of the strangest ones, this seems intriguing.
Fish Sausage
Although turkey and chicken sausages have been produced in recent years, traditionally, sausage is made from pork or beef. But fish is one meat that most of us don’t consider using in sausage. That was very different in the Victorian era, just like everything else on this list.
Fish Sausage
Of course, making sausage from fish is one way to preserve it. These cod-based fish sausages would be sautéed in some butter and served with your choice of vegetables.
Calf’s Foot Jelly
Whatever was in the jelly, it seems like the Victorians enjoyed eating it. Because they could produce their own gelatin at home, calf’s foot jelly was created. The gelatin in the calf’s feet would secrete and solidify upon simple boiling, creating a mold.
Calf’s Foot Jelly
These were offered without flavoring and were thought to offer the diner many great nutritional advantages. However, they weren’t very attractive to look at.
Creamed Eel
The eel was a fairly well-liked meat at this time. In addition to jellying it, they would also boil it. They would make a delicious creamed eel dish by adding some herbs and cream or even egg.
Creamed Eel
Though it was still rather common, this meal was more well-liked among the lower classes than the aristocracy. Eel is not a food that many of us are accustomed to eating, so who knows—it might be incredibly wonderful.
Brown Bread Ice Cream
One of the most common weird dishes on this list might be this one. In the Victorian era, less expensive ingredients were not used to make ice cream. In reality, most people preferred plain vanilla ice cream, but if they fancied something a little more special, they would choose brown bread ice cream.
Brown Bread Ice Cream
They would toast some bread crumbs and spread them on top of vanilla ice cream. To us, that sounds fairly nice.
Poisonous Purple Pears
We advise against trying to recreate this dish because it was poisonous. Really! Pears were served as a dessert in a rather lovely manner during the Victorian era, but it required a small amount of a bad chemical reaction.
Poisonous Purple Pears
Cooking the pears would take place in a pan with a pewter top. The pears would become purple as a result of the pewter and pear acid reacting.
Sponge Cake
Okay, so this one isn’t very odd in and of itself, but it was undoubtedly a highly well-liked Victorian dish. We believe you might discover some odd pairings using the cake along with a variety of fruits and preserves.
Sponge Cake
It was typically served with a raspberry or strawberry filling, but any fruit, including plums and quinces, was acceptable. That may seem a little odd.
Egg Wine
This could be compared to eggnog, but without the dairy and with a bit more alcohol. In Victorian England, people enjoyed adding an egg, nutmeg, and sugar to a mixture of wine and sherry before calling it a day.
Egg Wine
This beverage was served on special occasions. For us, it sounds a little too strange. How many of you would attempt this alcoholic drink?
Ginger Beer
Ginger beer is still a thing, but many people consider it to be an odd drink that is unquestionably not beer. It is a spiced and herbaceous variation of beer that enjoyed some popularity in the Victorian era.
Ginger Beer
Due to the invasion of spices from Asia brought about by England’s colonization, they were able to experiment with the flavors and blend them with their existing customs, giving rise to ginger beer.
Syllabub
Syllabub was another typical dessert found on the tables of more affluent families. This dish’s Cornish origins led to its rise to fame in the Victorian era. Despite being straightforward, it was elegant due to the use of alcohol.
Syllabub
Cream that has been curdled with sherry or another wine is served in both thick and thin forms. The thinner was occasionally used as syrup on cakes. Fruit was typically placed on top of the dish.
Snail Water
Okay, so we talked about snail soup, but the Victorians also drank other liquids made from this little, slimy animal. This was merely a more robust snail broth rather than adding butter and other ingredients to the snails.
Snail Water
This dish was straightforward but satisfying and a less expensive alternative to the soup that even those with limited resources could eat. A large, old glass of snail water, please?
Roast Badger
There are numerous animals that we simply would not consider eating in this day and age, but they were considered fair game in earlier times. The badger could be one of them. Although we are certain that they are still consumed in some regions of the world, they are primarily regarded as pests.
Roast Badger
The preferred method of preparation for the beast was roasting, just like with any other animal. It would also be served with vegetables, seasoning, and gravy, just like any other roast.
Donkey’s Milk
Today, there are many different varieties of milk available. From animal to nut, donkey milk appears to be one that is missing. If you were to ask someone from the Victorian era, at least, they would say that. Back then, this was a popular item.
Donkey’s Milk
Women were said to look younger after drinking donkey milk. So, in order to make a quick buck, some street vendors would sell knockoffs. Usually, water and chalk were blended together to create these knockoffs.
Bear’s Paws
There were other countries with distinctive cuisine throughout the Victorian era besides England. Bear paws were a popular delicacy at the time in Germany. They wouldn’t be found on just any table because this was regarded as a delicacy.
Bear’s Paws
These would be salted and boiled before being breaded and browned in the oven. The paws would then be prepared, served, and accompanied by gravy and lemon slices.
Sheep’s Trotters
In the Victorian era, no bit of meat was left behind. Sheep trotters were among the cheapest cuts of meat for the working class. They would purchase the sheep’s feet and boil them in the same manner as a calf’s head.
Sheep’s Trotters
They weren’t very substantial, but at least they had some kind of meat. In the less affluent areas, street vendors also offered sheep’s feet for sale fried.
Heron Pudding
This next dish was challenging to prepare if you were a chef in Victorian times. You had to be careful not to break the bird’s bones in order to ensure that your heron pudding tasted perfect. If you did, you would have to start over.
Heron Pudding
These birds’ bones contain a fluid that tastes like fish. The flavor would therefore penetrate the entire dish once it was broken. Delicious fish pudding!
Live Frog Pie
Although eating frogs is not strange, some people might find it strange to eat them in the form of chicken pot pie. This dish actually dates back to the Middle Ages and experienced a resurgence as a treat on special occasions during the Victorian era.
Live Frog Pie
Whereas it is purported that they used live frogs in the past, using meat instead seems more humane and much quieter.
Beaver Tails
During the Victorian era, people in the US would munch on a beaver’s tail across the pond. Like the bear paws, the tail would be braised before being roasted, and it was a common delicacy on upper-class tables.
Beaver Tails
The tail would be cooked until tender in a vinegar and water mixture. It would then be baked in a broiler after being covered in eggs and crackers. Lemons would be served with the finished product.
Snail Soup
Although most people immediately think of France and escargot when they hear the word “snail,” snails are actually eaten in many other nations and cultures. One of those was in Victorian England, where people occasionally enjoyed a small serving of snail soup.
Snail Soup
They would take the snails and boil them in bouillon-infused water. Then, the snails were transferred to a butter bath, and the oil juice was added to the pot until it was transformed into a soup. Snail soup is ready after adding mace and some egg yolks.
Saloop
Saloop was one of the most popular beverages at the time for a hot beverage in the morning or before bed. This drink was created with milk, sugar, and sassafras flour. Although it was a very thick beverage, it was quite nutritious.
Saloop
This beverage was the salep in English, which is a well-known Turkish beverage. The Turkish version, which is still consumed in Turkey during the colder months, is made from ground-up orchid roots.
Water Souchy
What should be done with the leftover fish? In the Victorian era, you would have cooked them in a pot with some water. Seafood water is exactly what water souchy means when it is translated literally.
Water Souchy
The Victorians would boil the leftover fish in water with some wine and herbs to make a sort of weak seafood stew. The food would occasionally be stuffed with bones and have a faint taste of seawater. That’s great!
Mince Meat Pies
One of those recipes that have endured the test of time is this one. The meal is one of those that takes some getting used to, though it’s not completely weird. These pies are both savory and sweet, which may be a little perplexing to some people’s taste buds.
Mince Meat Pies
Mince pies were a special treat during the Christmas season in the pre-Victorian era. They contained sugar, raisins, beef or mutton fat, and ox tongue.
Fish Paste
Herring that had been salted and cured went by the name “bloaters.” Since the fish was cold-smoked, it had a longer shelf life, which was perfect for a time before refrigeration.
Fish Paste
Then, a paste made from that fish was created. The paste added a salty note similar to anchovy paste and was used to flavor other dishes. Some people even spread it on toast or sandwiches like paté.
Treacle
Treacle, a sweet syrup, was very well-liked during this time. The thick syrup is a common sweetener used in desserts all around the kingdom. But it could be used for much more than just a treat.
Treacle
In reality, the treacle was also utilized as a medical instrument in several texts from the time. They believed it was useful for cleaning the blood and applied it to poisoning cases.
Pressed Duck
This recipe wasn’t for the faint of heart. The chef would choke the duck before starting anything else. This was believed to help keep the bird juices inside the duck where they belonged.
Pressed Duck
After that, the liver, breast, and legs would be removed. The duck was squeezed after roasting, and all the fluids were used to make the gravy. For a few pieces of roast duck, that’s a lot of work!