Calling all avid fans of the award-winning British historical drama! If you’re among them, then this official guide to Downton Abbey dining is a must-have.
I thought I knew what to expect from the book at the first sighting of its title: The Official Downton Abbey Cookbook. You’d expect a plethora of recipes filled to the brim with history, right? The colorful cookbook, however, exceeded my expectations thanks to the warm tone of author Annie Gray.
Gray argues that she is not a big fan of the series herself. Still, the care she takes to make this cookbook an enjoyable read says otherwise. Whether you’re a professional chef or the average homecook, there’s plenty to learn in this edition.
Gray is a widely-acclaimed food historian and that gives this cookbook an unsurprising richness. The book is filled with over 100 recipes, mostly culled from the television series that follows the Crawley family as they live through some of the most talked-about historical events ever.
Downton Abbey: Dining Like the Crawleys
I also found the simplicity of the book surprising, because the serial drama was anything but! But kudos to Gray for managing to tell the Downtown Abbey story from an unusual vantage – the Crawley family dinner table.
I prepared myself for a complex and somewhat dull read – yeah, I said it! – even though it was about food. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case. Complementing her casual tone, Gray made it easy reading by classifying the recipes into those of meals served in the upstairs and downstairs of the now-famous manor.
The meals are further divided into those most appropriate for breakfast, lunch, dinner, tea. You know, just all fancy-schmancy like the typical British manor in the Victorian era.
The Pros and Cons of Historical Cooking
As for how adaptable the recipes are, they all look like they’d be easy to follow. At least I’ve had little to no trouble trying some of them out in my own kitchen. Although some of them look a bit high-end, Gray makes the narrative interesting that I couldn’t put the book down.
The additional anecdotes and tidbits about the history of food, all with the dramatic hue of the Downtown Abbey cast over it, made reading the cookbook a pleasurable and exciting journey.
Indeed, this cookbook is an out of this world experience for the devoted Downtown Abbey fan. With the recipes come vivid descriptions of the marvelous settings where the family members ate the food. A pleasure to read and a wonder to participate in.
With the series having ended a while ago, this makes the cookbook a unique gateway back into the drama. Reading every page turns into reimagining the events, with the main characters now being yourself and your loved ones. For a daydreamer like me, this book worked wonders!
I must not omit the fact that, much like the series, this book doesn’t do an excellent job of detailing actual historical events. The resulting meals, however, will make you more forgiving of that flaw.
If you are able to forgive, you’ll find that Gray is diligent at proving that history doesn’t have to be limited to boring topics. History can, instead, be enjoyed in one of the most pleasurable ways ever known to man – food!
More Downton Abbey food and beverage suggestions:
I’m Lois, a content writer of four years. I love creating pieces that will be as entertaining as informative as it is for every reader. My writing journey started in high school when I discovered a love for expression through writing forms. I then studied the arts for three years, which made me develop a keenness to finding aesthetics even in the least expected places.
Thus, the birth of my belief that food is more than just a source of sustenance, it is perhaps one of nature’s purest art forms. A self-labeled “food worshiper,” one of my greatest hopes is to deliver optimum food-related content that will make my love for food very infectious to others.
When I’m not writing, I’m trying out new recipes, listening to music or fangirl-ing over everything Korean and Lana Del Rey.
