A Woolf at the Table by Gary Allen

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eader Ann Drak recently wrote us: "I'm looking for foods of England in the early 1900s, particularly the foods of the Virginia Woolf set."

In reading the diaries and letters of author Virginia Woolf and her Bloomsbury friends, it's plain to see that meals were little more than an excuse for interesting people to gather and talk. The comestibles played a secondary role and were beneath consideration. While Woolf was concerned about the actual food and understood its importance to her work, she was also aware that in the writing of the day — largely in the work of her male colleagues — that too much attention to such mundane topics would be regarded as de classé. After all, Woolf and her friends were of the class that had servants to do the cooking. Her literary friends were products of British universities, where the Classics were regarded as the foundation of literature, and the epic authors of ancient Greece and Rome rarely mentioned the preparation of meals.

Because the educated classes of the day didn't cook, it can be assumed that the study of the Classics didn't include hands-on testing of recipes in Apicius. Yet Woolf, clearly torn between what she knew to be significant and what she knew to be literary decorum, described this conundrum in A Room of One's Own: "It is part of the novelist's convention not to mention soup and salmon and ducklings, as if soup and salmon and ducklings were of no importance." When food was mentioned in her novels, it was only in passing or because it was natural for her female characters to be involved in things of the table. There are three notable exceptions:

In Orlando, she writes about the time Orlando spends with gypsies in Greece, where he discovers that the Greek language had no word for beautiful. To describe a beautiful sunset, Orlando has to exclaim the closest approximate: "How good to eat!"

In A Room of One's Own, Woolf compares the dinner fare served at male and female colleges. While the men eat sumptuously, the women have to make do with bland, dreary foods. "A good dinner is of great importance to good talk," she complains. "One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well."

Countless small domestic scenes of coffee cups and ordinary meals abound in To the Lighthouse. But, just once, we see an indication that Woolf could be passionate about food. She serves up two pages of rapturous description of a boeuf en daube, contrasting its succulence with the abomination that "passes for cookery in England."

It's tempting to think that Woolf's appreciation for French food came from food writers like Elizabeth David, but Woolf's suicide occurred a decade too early. Nonetheless, David's books can provide an outline of what good cooking was at that time, at least in the south of France and Italy — places that people of Woolf's class would have known well. Here are two of David's recipes over which Woolf might very well have swooned.

Boeuf en Daube a la Niçoise
David recommends a hearty red wine from the Rhone region to accompany this meal — perhaps a Gigondas or Châteauneuf-du-Pape — or, if you're on a budget, a Vin de Pays from the Ardeche or Mt. Ventoux.

Marinade
Olive oil, 1/2 cup
Onion, 1 sliced
Carrot, 1 chopped
Celery, (half a stalk) chopped small piece
Shallots, 4 chopped
Red wine, 2/3 cup
Garlic, 3 cloves
Parsley, 2 sprigs
Peppercorns, to taste
Herbs*, to taste
Salt, to taste

Daube
Round of beef, approximately 3 pounds
Carrots, 1/2 pound cut in 1 inch rounds
Garlic, 3 cloves
Herbs*
Slab bacon, 1/2 pound
Black olives, pitted 1/2 pound
Tomatoes, 3 peeled and chopped

*David suggests bay leaves and typical herbs de Provence (thyme, marjoram, and rosemary). She says they may be fresh or dried; consequently, the measurements are "to taste." Note that all temperatures and measurements have been adapted for use in American kitchens.

Method
1. Heat the oil in a small pan, then add onion, carrot, celery and shallots. Sweat them for a minute or two.
2. Add remaining marinade ingredients and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Cool then strain the marinade before using.
3. Choose an earthenware or other flameproof casserole that is just large enough for the beef.
4. Arrange the carrots, garlic and herbs around the beef.
5. Pour over the cooled marinade, then top with the slab bacon.
6. Cover the casserole with greased paper and the lid.
7. Cook in a slow oven (300°F/150°C) for two and a half hours.
8. Remove lid, add olives and tomatoes, and cook for an additional half hour.
9. Cut the bacon into cubes, slice the beef thickly, and serve moistened with a bit of the cooking liquid.

Aigrossade Toulonnaise
Aiöli
Egg yolks, 2
Garlic, 2 or 3 cloves crushed to a paste
Dry English mustard, 1 teaspoon
Salt and pepper, to taste
Olive oil, about 1 cup
Tarragon vinegar, a few drops
Lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon

Aigrossade
Mixed vegetables, approximately 3 pounds steamed or boiled, such as green beans, dried beans or chick peas, and artichokes.

Method
1. In a heavy bowl or mortar, combine yolks, garlic, mustard, salt and pepper. Stir until uniformly mixed.
2. Slow add oil, a few drops at a time, and stir until all the oils absorbed. Slowly add more oil, stirring all the time. Ms David says you should "Stir steadily but not like a maniac."
3. From time to time add tiny amounts of tarragon vinegar, and then — when almost done — add the lemon juice.
4. Strain the cooked vegetables, coat with the aiöli, and serve in a warmed dish. Do not attempt to reheat. Serve as a side dish with the daube.

References
David, Elizabeth. A Book of Mediterranean Food. London: John Lehman, 1950. (reissued in Elizabeth David

Drummond, Jack Cecil, Sir, and Anne Wilbraham. The Englishman's Food: A History of Five Centuries of English Diet. London: Tralfalgar Square, 1993.

Flandrin, Jean-Louis and Massimo Montanari. Food: A Culinary History from Antiquity to the Present. New York: Penguin, 2000.

Hartley, Dorothy. Food in England. London: Warner, 1999.

Mennell, Stephen. All Manners of Food: Eating and Taste in England and France from the Middle Ages to the Present. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1996.

Tannahill, Reay. Food in History. (rev. ed.) New York: Crown, 1995.

Toussaint-Samat, Maguelonne. History of Food. Anthea Bell, trans. Cambridge: Blackwell Publishers, 1994.

Wilson, C. Anne. Food and Drink in Britain: From the Stone Age to Recent Times. London: Constable, 1973.