Downton Abbey & 1912

A Serious TV Feast...

I think Downton Abbey, ITV’s new costume drama, is pure brilliance – the perfect antidote to impending Monday blues on a Sunday evening.  

It's four episodes in – if you haven’t see it click here to catch up - and a second eight-part series has just been commissioned.

Episode one opens with news reaching Downton about the sinking of the Titanic – dramatic, yes but it sets the tone both in terms of time and class.
And if you’re inspired by the series like me, check out (and recreate?) this Titanic Menu from Rayanne House restaurant in Belfast. Chef Conor McClelland has produced a lavish nine-course menu boasting everything from champagne-laced asparagus and watercress salad to filet mignon topped with foie gras and truffle.

 Rayanne House Titanic Menu

First Course ~ hors d’oeuvres

Canapés a`L’Amiral

Second Course ~ Soup

Cream of Barley finished with Bushmills Whiskey and Cream

Third Course ~ Salad

Asparagus and Watercress Salad with Champagne – Saffron Vinaigrette served with Roast Squab

Forth Course ~ Fish

Poached Salmon with Mousseline Sauce garnished with Cucumber and Fresh Dill

Fifth Course ~ Sorbet

Rose Water and Mint Sorbet

Sixth Course ~ Entrée

Pan~Seared Filet Mignon topped with Foie Gras and Truffle drizzled with a Cognac, Madeira and

Red Wine Reduction served with Potatoes Anna, Creamed Carrots and Zucchini Farci

Seventh Course ~ Sweet

Spiced Peaches in Chartreuse Jelly and French Vanilla Ice Cream

Eighth Course ~ Dessert

Cheese and Fruit

Ninth Course

Coffee and Petit Fours

The year was 1912

In honour of my new fav programme, here’s a few other food highlights from 1912.

Food Loves Hellmans...

Richard Hellmann, a New York deli owner creates his recipe for bottled mayonnaise in 1903 and starts to market it in 1912.

Cookie Monster...

The Oreo cookie makes its debut.  

Say cheese!

The term 'cheesecake' was also invented when an actress arriving in New York posed for photographers and revealed more leg that was customary.

What you need to know about Downton Abbey

Downton Abey is written and created by Oscar-winning writer Julian Fellowes and stars the impressive Maggie Smith as Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham.

Set in an Edwardian country house in 1912, Downton Abbey portrays the lives of the Crawley family and the servants who work for them.

“In 1912, England was teetering on the brink. Apparently placid, still rooted in the traditions of many centuries, it would be less than 10 years before the First World War and the Jazz Age had ripped every certainty to shreds. This is the moment when we enter the world of Downton Abbey, the great house of a great family, where the Granthams and their daughters preside over a household in the charge of Carson, the butler, and Mrs Hughes, the housekeeper. All these people must, in their different ways, deal with the changes that are coming.”

Downton is the home of the Crawleys, who have been the Earls of Grantham since 1772. In the drawing rooms and library and beautiful bedrooms, with their tall windows looking across the park, lives the family, but below stairs are other residents, the servants, as fiercely possessive of their ranks as anyone above. Some of them are loyal to the family and are committed to Downton as a way of life, others are moving through, on the look out for new opportunities or love or just adventure. The difference being that they know so many of the secrets of the family, while the family knows so few of theirs.

Downton Abbey - Episode 5/7 on Sunday, October 24 at 9pm on ITV1