Food, Food, and More Food

Remarkably, no fewer than six or seven courses would be expected at a house party like that in Downton Abbey Season 4. Heathcote describes a typical menu: a clear soup to start with; a fish course; an entrée, (a dish with a sauce); a roast; a cheese and fruit course; a pudding; and "a savory, which is a tiny little mini morsel of something savory, a weenie little thing upon a plate.  It's a lot of food."

But the food didn't end there: "If it's a grand Edwardian house party, the men would go off and play cards late into the night, depending upon what they were doing the next day. If they were getting up early to go hunting, they may retire early. But in the winter months, they'd be playing into the night, so there would be a light buffet supper for them to help themselves to because they'd be peckish."

Buns in the Oven

On set, Heathcote busily pieces together and decorates the components she's prepped offsite. When footman Alfred was showing Daisy how to make a profiterole-like pastry called choux buns, the script described the buns going in and out of the oven, requiring versions of them in their raw and cooked state. Heathcote describes, "Over in the inky darkness at the side of the set, I was beating away and piping things, which we put in the prop oven. And then Alfred takes them out and they look like they're fantastically risen and puffed and cooked and wonderful!"

Beyond the Pig Farm

Downton Abbey's pig farm tells only part of the story of the estate's economy. Heathcote describes how grand estates like Downton Abbey at their height were completely self-sufficient. "All the vegetables, the fruit, the meat, the dairy, the cheese, would have come off the estate and it would all have been absolutely delicious. At the time it all would have been organic and produced straight out of the ground and put into the pot. It would have been very good country fare, good wholesome food but elegantly decorated."

Pages: 1 · 2 · 3

More Articles

• Encore: Kitchen Stigmata and There Are Many Ways to Identify a Good Cook by Julia Sneden
• Adrienne G. Cannon Writes: Those Lonely Days
• In the We Couldn't Resist Category: Just Icing on the Cake, Part One, by Roberta McReynolds
• Elaine Soloway's Hometown Rookie: Synchronized Flopping, Guest Towels And Friends - Floors, Doors or Blocks Away
• Rose Mula Writes: If You Can't Stand the Heat ... How About a Subscription to One of the Popular Meal Preparation Kit Services; What an Inspired Idea!
• My Mother’s Cookbook Frosted Cakes: Seven-Minute Frosting, 1234 Cake, Pound Cake Torte and Carrot Cake
• The Making of Masterpiece Theater's The Miniaturist and Petronella Oortman’s Dolls' House in Amsterdam's Rijksmusum
• Secrets, Seductions from the Cliffs of Cornwall to the Shores of Corfu and Streets of Paris: A New Masterpiece Schedule for Fall 2017
• The Creativity Sweeps: Everything Those Teachers Did, They Did With Flair; They Knew No Bounds
• The Themes Behind Grantchester; The Younger Version of Jane Tennison of Prime Suspect