Saturday, June 23, 2012

Weekend Cooking: Supersizers Go Restoration

This week I thought that I would share a TV show that I find very interesting and amusing to watch! It's not a food show with recipes, but rather one that concentrates on a particular era from history and looks at the kind of food that they would have eaten on a daily basis and the effect that diet would have had on the body. They have doctors who look at their health before they do spend a week eating as they would have done in the era and then take a look at the impact that had on their bodies.

Supersizers Go is hosted by Giles Coren,a journalist and restaurant critic (and as he says in the intro unashamed glutton), and Sue Perkins who is a broadcaster and comedian. They take on the guise of a couple of the chosen time and look at not only the food but also the kinds of activities that the men and women of the time would have participated in.

There are a number of different eras that they visit including Wartime Britain, the Seventies, Victorian era, Elizabeth era and Regency Britain, all of which can be found on Youtube. There was a second series called Supersizers Eat where they also visited the court of Marie Antoinette and Ancient Rome as well as several other times.

This week, I thought I would share the Supersizer's Go episode that concentrates on one of my favourite periods in history to read about - The Restoration when Charles II returned to the throne during the 1660s. Having watched this episode though, I think I am pretty glad that I am eating in this time. To be fair though, if someone was to look back through my diet for the last few weeks they would possibly be just as mortified as I am looking at this Restorations diet.

The show goes for about an hour, but is broken up on Youtube into approximately 10 minute grabs.

Some of the things I found amusing or very interesting include:


  • Breakfast consisters of a barrel of oysters, bread and cream, ale.
  • 'Always with the sword'
  • The pastry for the pies was made on one day a week. The pastry was made two inches thick and cooked but it was never eaten. Instead the filling was cooked inside the pastry crust and that had the effect of preserving the filling for up to a week.
  • At one stage, Sue talks about being half drunk from 9am in the morning because they started drinking ale early each morning but there was no water or anything.
  • Sue's mobile corn (as in hard skin on the feet corn) preparation! Ugh!
  • The latest crazes were for using the difficult new eating implement, the fork, and for ice cream and pineapple.
  • Sue's embroidery! lol
























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37 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing that - I saw the Victorian one of this series, and thought it was excellent fun - again there was a terrifying amount of alcohol and fat. I must chase down the rest. We do have it good, don't we?!

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    1. We do have it good if we choose to eat well!

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  2. Wow! Never heard of this series before. Love this sort of thing, and now want to watch all of them. Thanks for sharing :).

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  3. What a great show! I watched the first video here and now I'm going to have to watch the rest and track down other shows. Fascinating. I think I'd be passed out from alcohol by noon!

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    1. I would pass out from alchohol before 5pm!

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  4. alcohol before noon is an issue?? who knew?? ;-)

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  5. I love how they attack it all with such good humor. Oysters for breakfast? I'd starve :)

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    1. I wouldn't be eating breakfast either. Another day they had venison pasties. The pasties looked okay but then they cut into it and I wasn't as keen.

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  6. My little brother was just asking the other day how breakfast food got to be breakfast food (instead of eating lunch or dinner foods). But Oysters?! ;) Fun post!

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    1. It is interesting to think about given the different breakfast foods in different cultures.

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  7. This is an interesting show. I love history too, and this is right up my alley. Thanks for sharing!

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  8. This is absolutely wonderful. Does anyone know if the show is on in the US? Sounds like it's just my speed!

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  9. Thanks for sharing this! Can you imagine being drunk every morning? ;-)

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    2. Some of us don't have to imagine, haha. ;) (kidding)

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    3. I couldn't imagine eating a lot of the food they mentioned!

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  10. I love this show, too! It airs on the Cooking Channel for those of us in the US, and I have about 9 episodes on my DVR. My personal favorites are the Edwardians and French Revolution. After watching the Restoration episode I seriously felt sick--SO glad I didn't live during that era. :)

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  11. What an interesting concept for a show! I am amazed that they were able to pull this off - quite a feat and very, very cool. That's the history geek in me, I think.

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    1. It is such a fun concept. I think that they have said that they won't do anymore, which is a shame, but luckily we can access all the old episodes.

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  12. Marg, I am a Food Network addict - I either have it or the news on when I am cooking. It has led to the occasional culinary disaster....

    Have a great week.

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    1. I go through phases watching our equivalent. Sometimes it is on for days and days, but I don't think I have actually watched anything on it for months.

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  13. I too am glad I don't live in that era! Never heard of this show will check it out. Can't wait to see what their health was like eating like that!

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    1. It was amazing to see what the impact was in such a short time.

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  14. I just love The Supersizers. Can't remember where I heard of it but I found it on youtube and just adore it. I wish BBC would finally put it on DVD. Its hilarious, informative and rather disgusting, all at the same time!

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    1. Hilarious, informative and disgusting about covers it!

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  15. I love the Supersizers! It's a great show and one you can watch over and over!

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    1. Yes, I think I have seen this episode three or four times yet it never fails to amuse and horrify.

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  16. It sounds interesting. But I am worried they are doing stuff to animals, that I don't want to see. I love the concept though :)

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    1. I don't think you would have wanted to be a vegetarian in that era. There is only one scene where you see something being done to an animal but it is all meat, all the time.

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  17. Fascinating show -- what a great concept. I learned in Ireland that before the potato famine, hard-working men were thriving on 14 pounds of potatoes a day along with some milk.

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  18. I loved these shows! Giles and Sue are a great pair, and bounce off each other a lot. They also did another show called The Good Life. If you remember back to that 60s-70s show were the couple went all organic and grow your own, and Penelope Keith was their neighbour. I remember the show from when I was a kid.....not that I am that old, but that my parents watched reruns! Anyway, Giles and Sue did a few episodes of same idea, and that was quite amusing too. Giles and animals don't get on too well. If they aren't on the plate.....he ain't interested! I do find Giles quite attractive though ;)

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