Catholic Emancipation and the feast that followed

I am sorry to impose this on you in the season of Lent but this is a feast too good to hang on to....I have to share it!

The occasion? Following the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829 Sir Robert Throckmorton, a noted and prominent Catholic of Coughton Court, Warwickshire, became, in 1831, the first Catholic since the Reformation, to sign the Oath of Allegiance and to take his seat in the House of Commons as a Member of Parliament.

If ever an event called for a feast it was this one. It might be worth recounting just what Catholics had to put up with since the 17th Century. We were not allowed to vote, our churches could not be built near a main road but had to be accommodated down a side street, our land ownership attracted higher taxes than our Protestant countrymen and if anyone took a fancy to our horses, they could claim them as their own and we would have to hand them over without a quibble. The horse was, of course, more vital than a car in today's world so imagine someone walking up to you today and laying hold of the keys to your beloved BMW or Fiesta. You might be more than a little miffed!

So small wonder that the Throckmorton family rejoiced at this post Emancipation progress and invited the great and the good to join with them in a feast. The dining room at Coughton accommodates around twenty people, sadly, I have no information as to whom they were.

For the trenchermen amongst you, here is the menu of the day:-

Feast to celebrate Sir Robert Throckmorton’s

appointment in 1831 as the first Catholic Member

of Parliament since the Reformation

FIRST COURSE

Asparagus Soup

Oxtail Soup

Salmon with lobster sauce

Fried filleted Soles

MAIN COURSE

Lamb cutlets and Cucumber

Fricandeau of Veal

Lobster Pudding

Stewed Mushrooms

Saddle of Lamb

Braised Ham

Roast Veal

Vegetables

PUDDINGS

Charlotte Russe

Almond Cheesecake

Gooseberry Tart

Vanilla Cream

Ices

This all has a very solid 19^th Century English cooking ring about it, nothing to excite the appetite too much in modern terms but, of course, at a time when there was no artificial refrigeration, the provision of ices (and fish) must have been quite challenging.