Peter Brears was directeur van de stadsmusea van York en Leeds en adviseur voor het National Trust, English Heritage en de Historic Royal Palaces. Zijn uitgebreide geschriften verkennen traditionele voedingsmiddelen en kookkunsten, met name in Yorkshire, naast een baanbrekende geïllustreerde catalogus van huishoudelijke materialen. Brears heeft ook toezicht gehouden op de reconstructie van belangrijke historische keukens, waarmee hij zich vestigde als een toonaangevend autoriteit op dit gebied.
The book explores the various cooking departments found in large households, including the counting house, dairy, brewhouse, pastry, boiling house, and kitchen. Each chapter is richly illustrated with architectural perspectives of existing examples from castles and manor houses, providing a visual journey through historical culinary practices and domestic architecture.
The book describes how jellies are assembled by layering, embedding, lining and inclusion of fruit, nuts, gold, in jelly moulds.
Petworth House has been the home of the Leconfield family since it was granted to them by Queen Adeliza, the second wife of Henry I, in 1150. The kitchens dealt with a myriad of natural ingredients from eels and oysters to black pudding and quince jellies. The recipes include Oeufs Soubise made with onion and cream, Petworth Venison Pie, Mint Ice, Friar's Omelette, an apple pudding which in fact has no eggs, and delicious sounding Carrolines au Parmesan, savoury cheese-filled eclairs. Peter Brears is former director of the Leeds City Museums and one of England's foremost authorities on domestic artefacts and historical kitchens and cooking technology
The book opens with a survey of the inhabitants of Northumbria: the pitman, the farmers and their labourers, the lead miners, the fishermen and the mariners, not forgetting the poor. It then moves on to the food itself with separate chapters on meat, fish, vegetables, puddings, cakes, drinks, breads, the store cupboard, and the dairy. The author closes with three chapters that look at feasts and celebrations, calendar customers, and rites of passage.
The culinary traditions of country houses flourished for centuries, particularly during the Victorian era, thanks to technological advancements and professional cooks. The era's adventurous trade introduced a variety of new ingredients, enriching the dining experience. However, this vibrant tradition began to fade around World War I and effectively disappeared by 1939. Peter Brears' book aims to rekindle interest in this forgotten culinary heritage, encouraging appreciation for its diverse and rich history.