Encore for Jane

On Tuesday, February 19, we waved goodbye to Jane-uary with an encore presentation of “The Torments of Rice Pudding and Apple Dumplings” at the Plaza Library. Over 100 people dipped into Earl Grey tea and blueberry scones and then sat down to hear Sheryl Craig discuss the different foods and customs of Jane Austen’s time period and those that appeared in her novels.

  Aside from the interesting tidbits  regarding table  settings and specific dishes; Sheryl also talked about the various mealtimes in Austen’s novels. She pointed out that when a gentleman was taken with one of the ladies, he was less likely to sit next to her and more likely to sit across from her. Sheryl also mentioned that while ladies were seated first, they’d sit wherever they liked and leave the menfolk to take up the empty places at the table. (I think this was a ploy to sit near the desserts.)

Sheryl talked at length about the first celebrity chef, Antonin Careme, who lived during Jane Austen’s time. She certainly would have heard of him as he was the personal chef to the Prince Regent. At the time he was most well known for baking Napoleon’s wedding cake. He made French cooking fashionable and French chefs were highly prized in Regency society.

Sheryl also talked about Jane Austen’s mysterious china pattern and the kitchen restoration project at Chawton House. In the future, Sheryl said, hopefully, staff at the Jane Austen house will cook Regency era food using cooking methods of the early 19th century.

After the program Sheryl shared with me what she does with all the speaking fees she receives from various Jane Austen events. She donates them the to the Jane Austen kitchen restoration. Once the kitchen is complete, Sheryl deserves more than a fireplace brick with her name on it, she should receive her own delicately engraved tea cup and saucer.

Dedication and drollery

Oh, that Jane Austen. Can’t tell her what to do. Well, you can if you’re the Prince Regent, but be prepared for some Regency-flavored passive-aggressive compliance.

The Prince Regent liked Jane’s novels so much he sent ’round his own personal librarian to invite (read: politely command) our authoress to dedicate her next novel, Emma,  to him. One cannot respectfully decline such an invitation if one is attached to one’s head, so to speak.

Thus, in her own inimitable fashion (and likely after a few choice Regency cuss words), Jane penned a dedication to the original Playboy Prince using all his favorite words, and some of them three times, “His Royal Highness.”

Wonder if he even read the book?

Torments of Rice Pudding

The Jane hits just keep on coming! Last night, to close out Jane-uary, the Waldo Community Library graciously hosted over 80 people for “The Torments of Rice Pudding and Apple Dumplings.” Don’t be alarmed. It’s not as academic as it sounds. Sheryl Craig presented a detailed and scrumptious program on the food in Jane Austen’s novels. Not willing to leave us with that, she also discussed the methods and manners of dining in Jane Austen’s time.

Interesting tidbits to come out of the evening’s tea-laced and tart-graced conversation included the following facts:

• Dessert was frequently served with the first course and no one minded if you ate that first.
• Peas were eaten with knives.
• No one passed the potatoes. Rather, if you wanted something in a dish at the other end of the table, you passed your plate and someone sitting near the potatoes would dish them out for you.
• If nothing is getting passed around to all the diners, there’s a lot of grabbing at spoons, bread, and wine. This is not considered rude.
• Conversation is a must. Never mind the wallflowering. Even the most boring people were expected to make small talk. See: Mr. Collins in Pride & Prejudice.
• Breakfast was a simple affair–tea and toast–and in the Austen family it was Jane’s responsibility to prepare the morning repast.

Anyone who missed the above event can catch the repeat performace on February 19, 2008 at 6:30 pm at the Plaza Library. Look for another Jane-uary event in February, “Love and Jane: A Mother/Daughter Tea” on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 4 pm also at Plaza.