Foods, Drinks, and Edible Things
- The people of the Victorian Era loved to eat, though they had people who typically got to eat 2 meals per day. An average day in the cuisine life of the Victorian era consisted of a large breakfast, light lunch, and late supper. Breakfast and supper often consisted of 9 courses, though the courses might have been very petite. Due to having a large time frame between lunch and supper, people were usually very hungry. This is where the idea of afternoon tea was invented by The Duchess of Bedford, Anna Maria Russell. Food, during the Victorian era, was vastly different between the rich and the poor. Poor folk would often have to eat potato scraps and rotten vegetables. The rural poor often ate birds, while the urban poor ate prematurely born calves and broxy (diseased sheep). While the wealthy Victorian families would have daily meat, cheese, and bacon for supper. The newfound middle class would have bacon, eggs, ham, haddock, coffee, fruits and bread. The basic food during this time was: bacon, mutton, potatoes and eggs. Due to lack of refrigeration groceries were bought daily at the local markets. Saloop was a popular hot drink, made from ground orchid roots, sassafras, or a similar herb. It was used medically as a medicine, because it was nutritious and heavily sweetened