Christmas at Chatsworth




In the current number of The Spectator, the Duchess of Devonshire describes the season at Chatsworth House, as it is and the way it used to be.

Granny had a famous cook who trained under Escoffier, no less. Mrs Tanner has left books of receipts and the Christmas food was rich and rare — as were the menus, which seemed to go on for ever. The dining room, schoolroom and nursery all had different menus. The poor children had to eat the hateful bland food thought suitable for their ages. Even the Christmas puddings were made of different ingredients according to where they would be eaten. Those for the staff were mostly suet and breadcrumbs mixed with stout and milk, whereas Mrs Tanner’s ‘Best Christmas Pudding — Buckingham Palace receipt’ included French plums, stoned raisins and half muscatels, plus half a bottle of brandy — underlining the great unfairness of life. It is too late to give recipes for these; they should have been made months ago, like the rich fruit cake in the Chatsworth farm shop which matures in the loft and is not sold till it is nearly a year old.




Much more here.