Lobscouse and Spotted Dog: Which It's a Gastronomic Companion to the Aubrey/Maturin Novels

I haven't cooked anything from this cookbook yet. It's not exactly family dinner fare. But I've flipped through it enough to know that the writers have done a great deal of research into the food, on land and sea, in the times and places of the Aubry/Maturin novels. In several cases, they offer two recipes for one dish, one that tells how it would have been cooked in a ship's galley and one that tells how to cook it in a modern kitchen. My husband has read all of O'Brien's books and has looked through the cookbook to find many dishes he remembers from the books. They're all there. It was everything I hoped it would be. Now if I could just find a good reason to cook this stuff! :)

I can't imagine anyone but a masochist or a professional chef tackling these recipes, but the book is such a joy to read -- funny, informative, fascinating -- that it makes great reading on its own and is a marvelous accompaniment to the Aubrey/Maturin novels. If you haven't read those novels, this book will make you want to!

Which I've just got it for you here, ain't I?If you are a fan of the Aubrey/Maturin naval fiction novels of Patrick O'Brian, there is one theme underscoring the appearance of Captain Jack Aubrey RN, and that is food, whether it be the weevilly sea biscuit and salt horse of the midshipmans' berth or the prodigious dishes served in the great cabin aft.They are wonderful dishes with wonderful names. drowned baby is a dessert. Sea pie contains no fish. Spotted dog is not a dalmation. We are given tantalising glimpses into their nature, but recipes are not to be had. Patrick O'Brian was a wizard with words, but no cook.The deficiency is rectified in this invaluable companion to the canon. Every dish is tracked down and recreated. The authors not only give the recipe, but tell you precisely how to do it for those unfamiliar with the utensils and methods (and ingredients) of a bygone age.I cannot recommend this book too highly, but I must issue a hearty warning. Do not partake of the dishes described without at least a dozen mates to help you eat them! Or you will wind up as stout as Captain Jack.And mind you lay in a good stock of madeira, sillery and port for atmosphere.A glass of wine with you, dear reader!

As anyone familiar with Patrick O'Brian's famous Aubrey/Maturin series knows, amid swash-buckling adventures in Admiral Nelson's Navy, thought-provoking prose, and a truly wonderful friendship that includes celebrating music together (Jack and Stephen play string duets when not out saving the Royal Navy, King, and Country), the books also revel in descriptions of meals and dishes. Voila--this delightful gastronomic companion to the books!Let me tell you, this book is deLISH--foreward by Patrick O'Brian himself. The mother/daughter authors preface the book by explaining how "Patrick O'Brian fever" broke out amongst themselves and all their friends (the books are contagious!); they ended up on a feverish research adventure to write this gastronomic companion. The authors set out to emulate O'Brian in point of accuracy and meticulous research. In short, they've basically reconstructed mid-to-late 18th century/early 19th century cooking! In actually reconstructing/preparing dishes, they conceded as little as possible to the amenities of the modern kitchen (however, the final recipes adapt preparations to 20th century ingredients and conditions).They took quite a scholarly approach to researching the book--e.g., studying the social and economic raisons d'etre for the raised pie and the two wholly different traditional approaches to its construction, tracing the etymology of a dozen different suet pudding names back to a single root, following the evolution of pudding back to its Roman sources and establishing its common ancestry with sausage, etc.Here you'll find how to make such dishes as Burgoo, Syllabub from the Cow, Ship's Biscuit, Skillygalee, Drowned Baby, Sea-Pie (anywhere from one to six or more "decks"!), Figgy-Dowdy, and of course, that noble pudding, Spotted Dog, gleaming on its plate and accompanied by true egg custard. It's a dazzling array of historical recipes that cover everything from what's served at Captain's Table to the Wardroom and Gunroom to the Seamen's Mess to dishes eaten cold (a chapter called "In the Heat of Battle") to feasts ashore--all of course, with direct references to foods and meals served up in the novels.What makes this 300-page book truly delightful, though, are the plethora of quotes from the books, lots of historical background, and. . .and. . .MUSIC! Yes! Throughout the book are the musical scores and texts for several songs from the period! You will find the words and score for "The Roast Beef of Old England" (any Steeleye Span fans out there?) in the opening chapter. "Spanish Ladies," "Heart of Oak," "Lumps of Pudding," and "When the Stormy Winds Do Blow" are some others. Too cool for an early music fanatic like moi!Some scrumptious ideas for a historical re-creation-type feast, folks! And, I predict that pot-luck suppers may never be the same if enough of us get our hands on this book!