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Vegan Victorian Style - What Vegan Victorians Ate And Recipes For A Vegan Victorian Dinner Party!

Ever wondered what life was like before tofu?  Wot, no veggie bacon or cheatin' ham?  What did those people do?  Well, tough though it was, even in Victorian times there were brave souls out there who ate no animal products and they had to work very hard with limited ingredients.

Although the word ‘vegan' wasn't used until 1944, the word ‘vegetarian' had been coined a hundred years before and within that movement there were always those avoiding milk and eggs.  Not only were there recipes which avoided all animal products, but by 1900 a selection of vegan branded goods too.

In his 1908 book, ‘Manual of Vegetarian Cookery', George Black describes the menu at vegetarian weekend house party in Devon (see, even then veggies knew how to have a good time!), and lists a breakfast dish ‘Protose and Tomatoes – Fried'

(Arranged for six persons)
1lb tin of Protose
½ dozen Tomatoes
Pepper and Salt to taste

Dip the Tomatoes in Boiling Water, peel, slice and fry them in Nutter or Albene.  Slice the Protose and fry in like manner.  Season, garnish with Parsley and serve.

Protose was one of a number of ‘nut meats' available (the others included Nutose and Meatose), similar to the stuff in cans available in health food stores today, made usually from peanuts and flour or wheat gluten.  Nutter and Albene were both butter substitutes. Albene was a vegetable fat, while Nutter was made from coconut butter and could be bought as Cooking Nutter, a white fat, and Nutter Suet for baking. 

Florence George also writing in 1908 recognises the avoidance of eggs and dairy products as one of the three kinds of vegetarian diet, and in her list of suggestions for a week's menus, Thursday's Dinner sounds pretty vegan: Green Pea soup; Butter-bean Cutlets; Mushroom pie (No. 2), Vegetable marrow; Fruit Salad.

You have to admire the inventiveness and strenuous efforts of early recipe writers, even where the results might not match today's tastes, like in this recipe from  the 1866 book ‘Vegetarian Cookery  by a Lady' for Omelet without Eggs or Butter

One pound of bread crumbs, half a pound of onions, quarter of a pound of macaroni, three ounces of chopped parsley, one table-spoonful of tapioca, two table-spoonfuls of salad oil, and one tea-spoonful of baking-powder.

Boil the macaroni in water, adding a little salt; or cook it in the oven with plenty of water, covered with a plate, till tender, but not soft; drain the water from it, and, when cool, cut it in small pieces; boil the tapioca in a quarter of a pint of water five or six minutes; mix it with the onions, boiled a little and chopped, the breadcrumbs, parsley, and baking-powder; season with pepper and salt.  Put the oil in a dish, then a layer of the mixture and the macaroni alternately, having three layers of the mixture and two of macaroni; bake in a moderately hot oven, and turn it over on a hot, flat dish.

Still, it is possible to impress your friends with a Vegan Victorian Dinner Party, and there are plenty of good recipes.  Here's a few to get you started (more recipes can be found in Early Vegetarian Recipes):

Hotch Potch by Job Caudwell 1865
A delightfully simple recipe which is especially good if cooked in a stock made from the peelings of the vegetables.

Turnips 4; carrots 1lb; onion 1; lettuce; parsley.

Put 4 quarts of water into a pan, set it on the fire and put in the carrots and turnips, part of which must be grated, and the remainder cut in small square pieces with the other vegetables, cut small.  Season with pepper and salt, and let all boil very well together slowly.  Young green peas may be added, part of them to be put in with the other vegetables, and the remainder an hour before the soup is ready.

Lentil Cutlets by Charles Walter Forward, 1891
Since discovering this recipe, it has turned into one of my standbys.  I cook the rice and red lentils in stock.

1 pint shelled lentils
2 tblsp rice
1 onion
1 carrot
1 quart water

Boil all the ingredients together into a stiff paste, season with pepper, salt, chopped parsley, and powdered marjoram,  Turn out on to a board, divide into cutlet shape with a large knife; cover the bottom of a frying pan with oil, and after rolling in bread crumbs make the oil hot and fry them on both sides until brown.  Serve with any kind of green vegetables.

Raspberry Sauce by John Smith, 1866
You can get potato flour in health food shops, or substitute it here with arrowroot, or even cornflour.  This goes really well with the lentil cutlets above.

Stew some raspberries with a little water til they are quite soft; mix a teaspoon of potato flour with a very little water; add it to fruit, and when well mixed strain the whole through a sieve; add a little sugar, cinnamon, and glass of water, vinegar or wine, and boil the mixture till it is clear.

Winter Salad by John Smith, 1866
A simple filling salad, which is actually good at any time of year, and works well with new potatoes in the summer.

Potatoes, onions, and red beet, should be boiled till tender, and when cold, cut in slices, and eaten with vinegar and oil, or any other salad sauce.  A little pepper, salt, or other seasoning may be added.

Apples Stewed a la Gloire by Mrs Bowdich, 1892
If you are hosting a dinner party, it's worth making a bit of effort for the impressive splash at the end.  These look as good as they taste and are very popular!

10 or 12 stewing apples
1 ½ pints of water
½ pound loaf sugar
1 dozen crystallized cherries
2 bananas
1 strip of lemon peel
12 cloves
1 small stick of cinnamon tied in muslin

Place the water, sugar, and flavourings in a large enamelled stewpan, and stand over a gentle heat until the sugar is dissolved.  Peel the apples, carefully remove the cores, leaving the apples whole; place them in the syrup, and simmer until perfectly tender, but not broken.  When done, lift them out into a glass dish (which should have been previously warmed to prevent cracking), press them slightly with a spoon so as to make a smooth surface slightly raised in the centre, and stand them on one side to get cold.  When the apples are cold, strain the syrup into a small stewpan, and reduce over a moderate heat for fifteen or twenty minutes.  Cut the bananas into quarter-inch slices, stamp out the seeds, and arrange the rings on the apple, placing a cherry in the middle of each ring.  Pour the syrup over the top, when if it be sufficiently reduced, it will immediately set, and form a very ornamental as well as delicious dish.

About the Author

Anne is a food and travel writer, author of Early Vegetarian Recipes and the website offmotorway.co.uk. She also runs Hollyfoods, a small food company selling locally at fairs around London.

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