- macaroni
There is an amazingly strong taste for macaroni within Scotland, particularly around the Clyde region and people often offer the connection with Italian immigrants, yet other areas of Britain also gave homes to large numbers of Italian immigrants (e.g. South Wales) and donât have this fascination with macaroni. There seems a particular interest in macaroni cheese, which I discovered being sold in a pie in Dunoon, in 2010. Though I am not a great lover of pasta dishes or of macaroni cheese I was surprised to find myself enjoying the pie enormously. A local recipe book, printed in 1905, has a recipe for beef and macaroni and for âRoman pieâ, made from macaroni. So when did this strong link appear? How has macaroni cheese become a traditional dish of Scotland, appearing on pub menus alongside haggis, tattie and neeps? Nowhere else in Britain have I come across this.
- macaroon
When we hear the word most of us think of a moist cake made from coconut and I personally can't hear the word 'macaroon' without thinking of Alan Bennet and Thora Hird, but there are in fact two foods with the same name in Britain, and with some commonality of ingredients/taste:
1 - The cake - European, originated in Italy and was almond flavoured, then travelled to France, evolved into a coconut variety, and was brought to Britain by Jewish immigrants (with whom the coconut Macaroon is still popular). But the originals were almond flavoured, not coconut, and they even have an Almond and Macaroon museum in France. Cooked using egg white as the leavening agent, and made from coconut.
2 - There is also a vanilla flavoured fondant confectionary, again sprinkled in coconut, and of the same name, which was invented in Scotland in the 1930's. Couldn't they come up with an interesting Scottish name?
- mace
The outside of nutmeg.
- mackerel
Mackerel (Scomber scombrus) are related to the tuna and are a sleek, streamlined fish which are iridescent blue-green on the back, with zebra like branching stripes, and are silver below. They have a distinctive 'V' shaped tail.
They average 16 inches in length (40 cm), feed on small fish, sand eels and prawns and move around in shoals which are sometimes huge. In summer they move to shallow water close to shore and can be caught at sea, from a boat, or from the shore or pier with rod and spinner. Boat fisherman will often use up to six 'feathers' (hooks with feather lures) on one line. Mackerel move to deep water in winter and stop feeding.
Catching mackerel is an amazing experience from start to finish, and not just because of their sleek rainbow tinted camouflage stripes. For a start you don't need bait and virtually anything bright or shiny will cause them to snap at a hook, including a feather, a bit of tinfoil, or piece of discarded mastic, even just a brand new empty hook, all you need to do is make sure it keeps moving. But you can go for hours, perhaps days without seeing a single one then suddenly you hit a shoal and every hook is instantly filled in seconds leaving you with a heavy writhing line which is difficult to pull into the boat.
Another thing about mackerel is that when it is cooked fresh it is wonderful but if a little old, or thawed from being frozen, it can be poor (soft or even slimy) which means you have to get it fresh. My favourite is straight from the hook, gutted and quickly sliced into thick steaks and dropped in a hot frying pan with butter.
Mackerel was a cheap and plentiful fish in the last half of the last century, often discarded by fishermen in search of cod, but now it has, quite rightfully, regained greater popularity.
There is popular north east England song which mentions several species including mackerel:
Dance ti' thy daddy, sing ti' thy mammy,
Dance ti' thy daddy, my little man.
You shall have a fishy on a little dishy,
You shall have a fishy when the boat gets in.
You shall have a mackerel on a little dishy,
You shall have a mackerel when the boat gets in.
Dialect: "breal" (Cornwall), "scoggan" (boiled mackerel head - Cornwall).
Mackerel fishermen: "shotver men" (Kent).
Alternative use: In the 18th century a loose woman, a bawd, was known as a "mackerel", apparently from the French "maquerel".
- macon
Macon is bacon made from cured mutton. Once common, and then rare, it is now making a modest comeback.
- maiden head spoon
A 'maiden head spoon' is a 16th century silver or silver-gilt spoon with a handle terminating in a bust of the Virgin Mary
See also: 'apostle spoons' and 'spoon'.
- maids of honour
Thought to have been made widely throughout Britain but some say they originate in the royal courts of Richmond, possibly from the time of Henry VIII, but others say Elizabeth I. There are quite a few legends concerning the source of the recipe but they all feature a maid, or several maids, somewhere along the line.
Some would call them cakes, others biscuits, and yet others tarts. Made from pastry (short or puff), curds, preserves, and almonds but recipe variations include nutmeg, sherry or brandy, almonds, lemon rind, curd cheese or raisins. American tourists like them apparently.
- malt
Malt is made through the process of 'malting', the soaking of barley to make it germinate, and causing the starch to turn to 'maltose'. The malting process is halted by kiln drying. The maltose is used in several food products including beer, spirits, vinegar, bread and confectionary products, breakfast cereals, biscuits, and malt extract. Other grains can be 'malted' but in Britain we usually mean barley.
- malt loaf
1
A cross between a bread and a cake containing malt and dried fruit and always eaten with butter on it. Malt loaf is dark, heavy, chewy and does not bounce. Once made in homes but now most people buy their malt loaf from a commercial supplier.
Lane's Extinction Grading: Safe
- Nationally produced and/or consumed
- Very strong traditions in one village, town, county or region.
- malt vinegar
Malted barley is brewed, then allowed to turn into vinegar. Having suggested to foreign visitors that they put vinegar on their chips, and watched them pull a face in anticipation of a bad experience, I always enjoy the change to pleasant surprise when they actually enjoy the experience. The reason being that malt vinegar is largely a British thing and only popular in Britain (and in countries with historical British influence). Other vinegars are sharp and very acidic and you would indeed be foolhardy to put them on your chips.
Lane's Extinction Grading: Very Safe
Culturally exported so globally produced and consumed (i.e. its fate does not rest soley in our hands).
- malting
Malting is a process of wetting barley to encourage partial germination before drying in kilns to halt the germination. Malted barley is full of flavour and is used by brewers and distillers in the production of beers and spirits, as well as in a number of other food products.
See also: 'barley'.
- maltose
The malt sugar extracted from germinating cereals such as barley and a principal ingredient in the brewing of beer.
Plain maltose has a sweet taste, about half as sweet as glucose and about one-sixth as sweet as fructose, if that makes any sense? So how sweet is it compared to a sherbert lemon or a treacle sandwich?
- Malvern pudding
A hot apple and custard dessert traditional to Malvern, in Worcestershire.
- Manchester tart
1
Stop smirking. It's a cake, though I've met one or two of the other kind. A tart of custard and raspberry jam, sprinkled with desiccated coconut. May once have been known as Manchester pudding but Mancunians have sorted this one out, unlike the people of Bakewell (see 'Bakewell pudding'). Once a common school dinner pudding throughout Britain, served with custard.
Lane's Extinction Grading: Safe
- Nationally produced and/or consumed
- Very strong traditions in one village, town, county or region.
- manchet
An Elizabethan wheaten yeast bread of high quality favoured by posh people when the majority of the population ate oatcakes. Today we might use the term 'bread roll', or 'tea cake' though this would be slightly unfair as manchets were made with only the best wheat and were sometimes flavoured. Different regions had their own versions. The 'Sally Lunn bun' is a surviving 'manchet'.
Also known as 'Lords bread'.
- marag dubh / Orkney black pudding
Orkney black pudding made from pigs blood, onions, suet, oatmeal and spices.
- marchpane
A 'marchpane' is a circular Elizabethan confection, about the size of a medium sized plate and made from a stiff sugar and ground almond paste which we today would call marzipan (perhaps marchpane is the origin of the word marzipan).
Marchpanes had a raised edge and the tops could be highly decorated with marzipan and icing to the makers or to the customers taste. They could be very ornate, decorated with three dimensional figures and could even be gilded. They were intended to be themed edible centre pieces to tables.
A version of the marchpane, by the 17th century, had become the 'wedding marchpane', which found its way onto the top of wedding cakes, which is possibly why traditional wedding cakes are still covered in marzipan and why there are small 3 dimensional figures of the bride and groom, and other things, on top.
See also: 'wedding cake'.
- margarine
In 1869 Napoleon wanted a cheap alternative to butter for his troops and for the lower classes, and a French chemist obliged by inventing 'oleomargarine', what we now know today as 'margarine'.
Margarine in its original form (a water-oil emulsion derived from animal fats) has all but disappeared but the word has come to represent any butter substitute including those made from hardened plant oils. Though a common word in our spoken language you will be hard pressed to find the word 'margarine' used on packaging or in marketing campaigns. You are more likely to see words like 'spread' and you will also find the word 'butter' sneaked into the brand name. This is largely due to EU definitions but also to our perception that margarine is cheap and highly processed.
True margarine was white and the banning of colouring agents linked to health scares affected its popularity and we are increasingly wary of any product which requires the addition of any additive. In Britain 'margarine' or 'spreads' are currently losing ground against naturally produced butter. We are gently returning to more natural products after endless fleeting scientific food scares, followed by conflicting scientific evidence, and mainly associated with all our natural foods (leading to suggestions that we adopt 'healthier' processed substitutes). We now struggle to believe scientists and prefer instead to trust the evidence of history and the judgement of hundreds of years of our ancestors. The main attraction of 'margarine' like products is that they spread more easily than butter.
In financial, industrial and trading circles the term 'yellow fats' is used.
Q: As for butter versus margarine, I trust cows more than chemists. ~ Joan Gussow
- marinating
A chefs word which means 'soaking', 'pickling' or 'steeping'.
- marl / marling
5a
A pit or quarry from which marl, a mixture of calcium carbonate and clay is dug. When spread on agricultural land marl reduces acidity and increases fertility, so marl was a valuable resource in historical times, before chemical fertilisers were widely available, and the practice of digging and spreading marl was widespread. The Romans noticed the ancient Britons engaged in this practice. This skilful occupation provided an all year round source for the best enrichment of soil â natural manure and 'marling' could last for up to 30 years.
Over the years âmarlingâ became a way of life for the men that did it and they evolved their own expressions, songs and customs. Marl digging was hard work carried out by a gang of five or six itinerant workers under a leader known as 'The Lord of the Pit' or 'Lord of the Soil' who, amongst other things, would be responsible for negotiating the contract with the land owner. It was customary for the marling gangs to shout or sing for beer/cider money from passing strangers and to celebrate any donation with exuberant songs and cheers unique to the marl pit digger. The 'marling' was such an event for the village, farm or estate that its completion would be celebrated by the land owner, marl gang, agricultural workers and neighbours together and there are accounts of celebrations involving 'flowering' (decorating with flowers) of the marl pit by young girls, sword maypole dancing and bull baiting in the pit.
By the mid nineteenth century the practice of âmarlingâ was dying out. it was a time when alternative fertilisers such as lime, bone dust, fish meal, etc. began arriving in bulk by canal and then by train. These lively customs and the art of 'marling have vanished and are almost forgotten except in family, road and place names including 'marl', 'marler', 'marlpit', 'marling', etc.
Old disused marl pits came to be filled with water turning into ponds and favourite swimming spots for local kids and can still be seen today as farm ponds but also as fisheries, wildlife sanctuaries and as 'features'.
For them as grows a turmit,
We are the boys to fey the pit,
And then yoe good marl out of it,
When shut the pit, the labour o'er,
He that we work for opens his door,
And gies to us drink galore,
For this was allus marlers' law.
Who-whoop, who-whoop, wo-o-o!
(turmit=turnip, fey=possibly fairy or magic, allus=always, still used in northern England)
See also: 'common of marl'.
Lane's Extinction Grading: Extinct
Extinct but a useable recipe, knowledge or appropriate experience exists.
- marmalade
'Marmalade' is a sweet and sour preserve made from citrus fruits (most commonly orange), zest, and sugar. Eaten at breakfast, on toast, since the 1730's at least , though marmalade recipes from the 1600's exist.
Marmalade also finds its way into many dishes, sweet and savoury.
The popularity of eating marmalade on toast for breakfast was increased by the Keiller family of Dundee who were the first to make marmalade commercially. They were also responsible for suspending pieces of rind in the marmalade (a variation on existing recipes). This explains why a Scottish town (Dundee) was once famous for a preserve made from citrus fruits.
The word 'marmalade' has evolved from Greek words for a quince paste then passed to Spain. At the end of the 16th century the Spanish began to make marmalade with oranges, a sour hybrid orange (originating from China).
Elsewhere marmalade has become sweeter but in Britain it has remained sour, a very British preserve. (I've been to Seville and their marmalade is rubbish.)
Winston Churchill insisted on Seville oranges being imported during the war because he believed that marmalade was important for morale.
However modern tastes, especially amongst the young, for sweet, smooth, heavily processed foods (such as chocolate spread) has gone against the textured character of a true marmalade and consequently marmalade is in decline despite being made from fresh fruit.
Marmalade eaters are either 'lumpy' or 'smooth'.
The 'World Marmalade Awards' takes place annually at Dalemain Mansion in Cumbria and attracts entries from all around the world. There is a section for home made marmalades and another for small commercial producers using the 'open pan' method.
Marmalade is associated with Paddington bear who, like me, loves marmalade sandwiches, and also like me, is always polite, well meaning but forever getting into trouble.
Lane's Extinction Grading: Very Safe
Culturally exported so globally produced and consumed (i.e. its fate does not rest soley in our hands).
- Marmite
Marmite is processed yeast extract, a by-product of brewing beer, and therefore vegetarian, and described by some "as an English delicacy".
Invented in 1902, Marmite has been copied around the world and some hopefuls have even tried to sell their versions here, but its fans remain steadfast and loyal. Personally I would rather eat dog poo with a rusty nail.
[Aus-NZ-Eire-Denmark]
Lane's Extinction Grading: Very Safe
Culturally exported so globally produced and consumed (i.e. its fate does not rest soley in our hands).
- marrow pudding *
A sausage made of marrow fat scooped out from beef bones.
See also: 'marrow spoon'.
- marrow spoon / scoop
A marrow spoon is a narrow, elongated, double ended spoon designed specifically for scooping out marrow from the inside of bones. Each end was a different size to cope with different diameter bones.
See also: 'marrow pudding' and 'spoon'.
- marsh lamb
Lamb raised on salt marshes or low lying, salty meadows, close to the sea. Said to be the best lamb, but usually by farmers who live near the sea.
- marsh mallows
The lumps of soft fluffy brightly coloured stuff you are supposed to toast on an open fire though, to be honest, my family has no history of doing this preferring instead sausages. In fact I've never come across the tradition at all which possibly died out when we all got gas fires and central heating (they aren't the same when done on a radiator). My only encounter with marshmallows was in the game known as 'fluffy bunnies' a competition to see who can eat the most marsh mallows and still say 'fluffy bunnies' coherently, but I doubt it has any basis in history.
The first marshmallows were ancient Egyptian and were made from the roots of marshmallow plant (Althaea Officinalia) which grew in salty marshes. Egyptian marshmallows don't look like the marshmallows we know today. They mixed the mallow sap with honey, grains, and baked this into cakes.
Marshmallow found its way to Europe and evolved as it went into its present form of syrup, sugar, gelatin, eggs and flavouring (usually vanilla).
[US]
- marsh samphire
3
See 'samphire'.
Lane's Extinction Grading: Unsafe/Decline
- Still enjoyed by the older generation in one area.
- Enjoyed by dwindling numbers (shunned by pretentious people and kids).
- Sucessfully revived in small pockets for a few families.
- mash / mashed potato
'Mash' is synonymous with 'mashed potatoes' though the word 'mash' is also applied to the grain mash which is fermented into alcohol and in Yorkshire brewing tea is said to be 'mashing' or 'mashed'.
Mashed potato is made using a potato masher or a 'ricer' (if you are middle class and like cold mashed potato).
See also: 'potato masher', 'eel pie and mash', 'hash', 'bangers and mash', 'powdered mash' and 'pom'.
- mattock
A mattock is a digging tool which is a combination of a small chisel shaped pick and an adze, with these two blades being on opposite sides of the head, and at right angles to one another, like an ice axe. The handle is long.
The adze like blade is more robust than a carpenters adze and he weight of the metal head of a heavy duty mattock will be around 5lb (2.26 kg).
Mattocks are ancient tools.
A mattock is good for getting through hard soils, stoney ground or land which contains a thick mat of roots. It is sometimes referred to as a 'grubbing mattock'.
Some designs of the military entrenching tool are based on the mattock though they usually have a wider adze to assist in soil removal from holes.
See also: 'grafter'.
- mead
'Mead' is an alcoholic drink made from honey, possibly the first alcoholic drink in this country, and still made in a few places in England, though they sometimes have to add the word 'wine' or 'winery' to their signs to give a clue to pretentious idiots. The Saxons liked their mead very much and drank it in communal mead halls, one of which features strongly in âBeowulfâ the oldest English written poem.
See also: 'honey'.
- meal
1 - An eating event.
2 - Coarsely ground seed, or other grain, courser than flour, e.g. oat meal, barley meal, wheat meal, flax meal, etc. High fibre food, or an addition to other foods.
- mealie / mealy pudding
A Scottish name for 'white pudding'.
See also: 'hogs pudding'.
- meat and potato pie
The name tells you everything though the meat is usually beef. Once upon a time it would have been mutton. These pies tend to be 'dry' (with little or no gravy).
Lane's Extinction Grading: Very Safe
Culturally exported so globally produced and consumed (i.e. its fate does not rest soley in our hands).
- medlar
U
Small fruit which looks like a brown skinned apple.
Cultivated since at least Roman times, perhaps earlier, and several varieties exist.
Once valued for their 'bletted' fruit but are now quite rare.
The fruit was left on the trees until late autumn then picked, even though they are still quite hard, and 'bletted' by storing in tubs of moist bran or sawdust until the fruits becomes brown and soft. The resulting pulp is scraped out and eaten with cream and sugar, and port.
Lane's Extinction Grading: Unknown!
Not yet fully investigated, cannot make an assessment.
- medlar cheese
5a
The 'medlar' is a fruit, once common but now rare. A kind of paste is made from the 'bletted' fruit, then mixed with other fruits and spices and the resulting 'cheese' is poured into moulds. Medieval in origin and popular with the Victorians too, but now extinct.
Lane's Extinction Grading: Extinct
Extinct but a useable recipe, knowledge or appropriate experience exists.
- Melton Mowbray pork pie
2
The Melton Mowbray pie is a pork pie, but one which is made from uncured meat, which gives the meat a greyish colouring. Also the pies are made around a 'pie dolly, without moulds, as in the original definition of 'stand pie' and so consequently may have an irregular shape (as perhaps all pies once did), and a crisp outer crust. Reassuringly the good people of Melton Mowbray, in Leicestershire, value their traditional method of pie making and several local shops, producing quality pies, are loyally supported.
See also: 'pork pie' and 'stand pie'.
Lane's Extinction Grading: Stable
- Stable in one or more areas/regions, but not growing.
- Still enjoyed by a number of families in one area.
- Successful recent revival with natural local growth.
- Mexican paste
An edible paste used in 'sugar craft' (the art of cake decorating). Mexican paste dries hard and brittle and can therefore be made into elaborate and delicate designs, like flowers apparently.
- Michaelmas Day / St. Michaels Day
Michaelmas day is the 29th September, but the old Michaelmas day was 10th October. Goose was traditionally eaten on Michelamas Day in England because it was considered good luck to do so.
âIf you eat goose on Michaelmas Day, you will not be short of money all year round.â
Rents were traditionally paid four times a year and Michaelmas was a collection day:
And when the tenants come to pay their quarterâs rent,
They bring some fowl at Midsummer, a dish of fish in Lent,
At Christmas a capon, at Michaelmas a goose,
And somewhat else at New Yearâs tide, for fear their lease fly loose.
On this day 'reeves' were also elected.
English folklore says that the devil stamps or spits on bramble bushes on Michaelmas Day so blackberries must not be picked after Michaelmas.
See also: 'goose / gander', 'blackberry' and 'reeve'.
- micro brewery
All breweries were once small and most beer would have been brewed in the pub (or in a barn out back), but during the last century everything went big, glossy, and crap. The 'CAMRA' led backlash in the 1970's has successfully taken us back, part way, to where we were, with small independent breweries often attached to pubs but also cropping up in garages, warehouses, sheds, lofts, etc. They acquired the newly invented status of 'micro-brewery' in order to distinguish it from the heartless, corporate, chemical driven, big brothers. The number of microbreweries, particularly in England is huge, and the range of beers they produce is vast. Micro-breweries have put the soul back into brewing beer.
[US-NZ-Aus-Eire]
Lane's Extinction Grading: Very Safe
Culturally exported so globally produced and consumed (i.e. its fate does not rest soley in our hands).
- micro wave
A modern device which is excellent for destroying perfectly good food. Limp pies are its speciality, and it is also possible to weld a smoked mackerel fillet to a ceramic plate using one (there is no other technology in the universe that can achieve this). I love the Welsh translation of 'micro wave' which is 'popti ping' (popti = oven).
The first commercial microwave was sold in Britain in 1958.
- mild
2
A type of beer which isn
Lane's Extinction Grading: Stable
- Stable in one or more areas/regions, but not growing.
- Still enjoyed by a number of families in one area.
- Successful recent revival with natural local growth.
- miles
A 'mile' is a unit of length, equal to 1,760 yards, or 8 furlongs. The word 'mile' evolved from the Roman word 'mille' which means one thousand, and one thousand 'paces' (double steps) is equal to roughly the length of a mile.
The old English unit the 'pace' was 60 inches which gives us a thousand paces (60,000 inches) which is equal to 1,666.66 yards. One thousand Roman paces was equal to 1,617 yards (or 1,479 metres), The Scottish mile was never standardised but is accepted, in all regions, as being longer than the English one, and the Irish mile longer still.
The nautical mile is different (the international nautical mile is defined as 1,852 metres).
A 'country mile' is a distance of greatly varying length, often personal to an individual, and casually used by country people, and generally accepted as much longer than the standard mile (can be up to 6 miles in length).
There was an attempt to convert British road signs into kilometres during metrification but stubborn refusal secured the survival of our traditional measurement of distance and everyone still expresses distance in miles and fuel consumption in mpg (miles per gallon).
We still have "miles to go" and places are described as being "miles away" or "a mile or two down the road", and just missing a target or making something to the incorrect size is helpfully pointed out by friends or colleagues as being "miles out".
See also 'pace' and 'furlong' and 'food miles'.
- milk / raw milk
'Raw' milk is unpasteurised milk of cow, goat or sheep and something we used to know simply as 'milk' before the marketing people decided to change it. They also renamed pasturised milk as 'whole milk'. Surely 'whole milk' is the stuff that comes from a cow, with nothing changed or removed (the definition of 'whole'). The renaming of actual whole milk to 'raw milk' implies that it cannot be consumed until factory processed thus supporting the supermarkets preference for the type of milk they want to sell us, the easiest for them to supply.
Anyway we drink 5 billion litres of milk per year, of all kinds, which is approximately 207 litres per household.
The process of pastuerisation became popular during an era when there was little common understanding of bacteria and consequently milking operations could be dirty and unsanitary. Milk can be unhealthy if the number of dangerous bacteria in it is sufficiently high and pasteurisation was seen as a way of reducing bacteria numbers. However the pasteurisation process also destroys useful nutrients and bacteria. This factor caused resistance to the widespread introduction of pasteurisation in the form of the 'National Clean Milk Society'. Resistors argued that the issue was simply cleaner milking conditions and this led to the creation of 'Certified Milk' which was a testing process to ensure clean dairy practices and safe un-pasteurised milk which could continue to be supplied to hospitals, children and pregnant mothers. This desire to have pure actual 'whole' milk, with all its benefits, has resurfaced and sales of 'raw' milk are on the increase, and is used increasingly by traditional cheese makers and by producers of soured dairy products.
Cheese made from 'raw' milk has more flavour than pasteurised because the good enzymes and bacteria, which influence flavour, have not been removed. Raw milk does not travel well therefore products made from it will be made close to the cows, goats or sheep that provided it (local milk, what a fantastic idea!). However raw milk is in such demand that producers are now selling their products by mail order.
Natural or 'raw' milk varies in fat content depending on the season, a situation which does not suit supermarkets and so milk producers have eradicated these variations by removing the fat from milk during processing and then putting it back into the milk later, to the correct percentage. What's the difference, I wonder, between the carbon footprints of a pint or litre of locally supplied raw milk and skimmed?
Pasteurisation kills the beneficial 'live' elements of the milk. It is interesting that people will pay large amounts of money for 'live' yoghurt yet talk of raw milk as if it is suicide in a bottle.
Sayings: "Its no use crying over spilt milk!" A 'milk sop' was somebody who was soft, a 'nanby pamby'.
See also: 'pasteurised', ''homogonised', 'dairy', 'milk maid', 'milk churn', 'Milk Marketing Board', 'evaporated milk', 'condensed milk', 'skimmed milk' and 'National dried milk
- milk churn
5a
Milk was originally transported and distributed in 'pails' (wooden buckets with lids), and carried two at a time, by a person, on a yoke, but the industrial revolution created a higher demand for milk and for milk products and a requirement to transport milk long distances, so a better system evolved called 'milk churns'.
Milk churns, which were used exclusively for transporting milk, never for churning butter, take their name from the large wooden stave and hoop construction churns which they resembled and which were possibly used for transporting milk too.
Metal milk churns were introduced in the 1850's, largely driven by the new revolutionary transport system, the railways, and by the growing demand for milk in new and growing cities.
The early conical type, made of galvanised steel, and designed to stay upright when being shaken around on transport (cart and train), held 17 gallons. The later upright type with the mushroom lid, introduced in the 1930's, held 10 gallons. These were made from galvanised steel, aluminium or stainless steel.
The used of milk churns, in favour of milk tankers, ended in the 1970's.
The early morning train on many railway lines was often known as 'the milk train', a name which persisted in some places long after the trains stopped carrying milk.
Lane's Extinction Grading: Extinct
Extinct but a useable recipe, knowledge or appropriate experience exists.
- milk maid
Before milking machines were invented all cows, goats and sheep were milked by hand, usually by girls or women known as 'milk maids' or 'dairy maids', who were also responsible for processing the milk into other dairy products such as butter, cheese, cream, etc.
'Maid' comes from 'maiden' which in older times meant an unmarried woman or virgin but it came to mean any girl or woman involved in the service of others e.g. bar maid, house maid, chamber maid, maid servant, nursery maid, nurse maid, skullery maid, factory maid, etc.
Milk maids did not catch small pox as easily as everyone else in the population because they were often exposed to the much less dangerous cow pox, which gave them immunity. This observation led to the development of the first vaccinations. The word vaccination stems from the Latin for cow.
Milk maids had a reputation for beauty, possibly because of their immunity to smallpox which kept their skin free of the pock marks created by the disease. As a result they feature regularly in old folk songs involving love, lust and infatuation.
Skimmed milk is known, by some, as 'milk maids urine'.
See also: 'dairy'.
- Milk Marketing Board
5a
The Milk Marketing Board was formed by the government in 1933 to control the distribution of milk. It guaranteed the price of milk and was involved in the development and marketing of dairy products. The guaranteed milk prices stimulated expansion within the dairy farming. In 1984 the Board introduced milk quotas, to combat over production in the industry, and to reduce surplus milk 'lakes' and butter 'mountains'.
The Board's responsibilities effectively ended, save for residual functions, in 1994 with deregulation of the British milk market following the Agriculture Act 1993. It is from this time that supermarkets and other cartels became ever increasingly powerful influencers, and controllers, of the dairy industry.
The Milk Marketing Board was finally dissolved in 2002. The Scottish Milk Marketing Board was similarly dissolved in 2003.
Many will remember at least some of advertising campaigns initiated by the Milk Marketing Board such as "Full of natural goodness", "Is your man getting enough?", "Milk's Gotta Lotta Bottle", "Drinka pinta milka day", and "Watch out there's a Humphrey about".
The Milk Marketing Board sponsored the Milk Race Tour of Britain cycle race from 1958-1993, at 35 years making it the longest cycle sponsorship in the UK ever.
The Milk Marketing Board also sponsored the Football League Cup from 1981-1986, renaming it the Milk Cup.
Lane's Extinction Grading: Extinct
Extinct but a useable recipe, knowledge or appropriate experience exists.
- milk stout
3
A type of stout (bottled mild) which contains lactose, a sugar which is unaffected by the fermentation process. The lactose adds sweetness, body and calories to the beer. 'Milk stout' once had a reputation for energy and nutrition and was even issued to patients and nursing mothers in hospitals. That
Lane's Extinction Grading: Unsafe/Decline
- Still enjoyed by the older generation in one area.
- Enjoyed by dwindling numbers (shunned by pretentious people and kids).
- Sucessfully revived in small pockets for a few families.
- milkman
Once a common sight in his white working coat and electric milk 'float', and a common sound with his chinking bottles, and irritating chirpy whistling, but now rare. The milkman performed a valuable service in times when we didn't all have cars, and had less money than sense. They brought heavy goods to your doorstep to save you carrying them, and fresh every day (what a concept?). But now that we all have cars and fridges, and that supermarkets are artificially driving down the price of milk, the end result is that milkmen, and women, have almost gone. Though 'milkmen' still exist, in much reduced numbers, they have given up the traditional uniform, equipment, and image, in favour of 4x4 pickups. Wherever they exist they are valued, and if we all decided to buy locally then they would return (and milkmen deliver other things too).
- mill
Mill is a word which has travelled, with mill technology, to buildings with uses other than milling.
The technology used to power corn or flour mills, places where grain was 'milled', was taken up by new industries to power their machines and so the word 'mill' transferred onto the buildings which housed activities which were actually nothing to do with milling e.g. textile mills, bobbin mills, steel mills, etc.
See also: 'miller' and 'milling'.
- miller
A 'miller' is someone who operates a mill for the purpose of milling grain, seed or corn in order to break or crush the grain to create 'meal', or to grind it into powder (flour).
Originally millers operated small windmills or water mills but today the process is electrically operated in large mills.
Traditionally a miller would take part of your harvest as payment for milling.
Today many millers press buttons in large clean mills but the practice of giving someone the nickname of 'dusty' if their surname is Miller, persists in some rural communities and in the armed forces.
See also: 'millstone', 'millers knot', 'millers chisel' and 'sack lift'.
- millers chisel
The 'millers chisel' was used by the miller to trim the grind stones. If the grind stones should ever touch there was the possibility of a spark igniting the fine flour dust within the mill causing a fire or explosion so it was important that the stones be even and separated by a consistent gap.
- millers knot / sack knot / bag knot
The 'millers knot' is used to secure the open end of a sack and also to lift it up a mill on a sack lift. Several knots are known by this name but all versions involve criss-crossing of the rope around the sack so that it tightens and grips around the neck of the sack when loaded.
See also: 'sack lift'.
- milling
Milling is the conversion of grain into flour by a 'miller' and takes place in a 'flour mill'. Early mills involved vertical wheels trundling around a central axis and ground the grain by the pressure of simply rolling over them several times. A second type of mill, and the one favoured in Britain, involved two horizontal grind stones (mill stones) and the top one (runner) would rotate and grind against the bottom one (bed). The grains are dropped in between and emerge at the edges as flour. The distance between the stones can be varied to produce differing grades or textures of flour. Most towns and villages had their own flour mill. Modern mills use steel or cast iron rollers to mill flour. There is evidence to suggest that there is a better taste and higher vitamin content to stone ground flour than industrially steel milled stuff.
The technology of axles and gears, which were developed for wind and water driven flour milling, was adopted by other industries in the early days of the industrial revolution prior to the widespread introduction of steam, and the same system for power transference and management has continued to this day and can still be seen in modern machines. The word 'mill' travelled with the technology and found a new use associated with cotton, woollen and steel mills and in fact became an alternative name for 'factory'. It is also still being used to describe wind turbines.
In these days of great interest in renewable resources, and a desire to return to using more local produce, I think the wind and water mills should be something of an example, if not an icon to us. They used local grain grown by local people who consumed the flour, and the whole process was driven by wind or water via wooden gears and axles, How local, renewable, and low carbon footprint can you get? Every town and village should have one I think (now where did I get that idea from?).
Alt: "Its all grist to the mill." (An old name for grain is 'grist' so 'flour mills' were once also called 'grist mills')
Alt: In the days when flour was milled in wind mills, if the wind dropped the mill would be said to 'grind to a halt' the origin of the popular expression.
Surnames: The origin of the surname 'Miller'. In the Royal Navy anyone with the surname of Miller often acquires the nickname of 'Dusty' or 'Windy' though the most famous Windy Miller has never been to sea, sadly he's never even left Trumpton.
- mince
For hundreds of years 'to mince' meant 'to cut up small' but today we tend to think as 'mincing' as an operation which takes place with the assistance of a machine. Modern minced meat has a different texture to meat which has been cut up small with a knife so these days we use the word 'chopped' to differentiate the two and many traditional recipes demand chopped meat rather than minced in an attempt to preserve the authentic texture (e.g. Cumberland sausages, pork pies, etc.). Another old word for mince was 'shred' or 'shrid'.
- mince meat
There are two types of mince meat, savoury and sweet, the first is made from meat, the second is made from dried fruits, spices, sugar and suet. The two have the same name because once they were they same, both made from meat, but the sweet version evolved into a sweet filling in the middle ages.
Minced meat is an ingredient of many meals e.g. meatballs, pasties, patties, cottage pie, shepherds pie, sausages, haggis, etc.
See also 'mince pies'
Alt: Operation 'Mincemeat', depicted in the film 'The Man Who Never Was', was the greatest deception of German forces in world war two.
- mince pie / shred pie
Mince pie, a sweet treat of the Christmas period, but which used to be made from actual minced meat, usually mutton, and flavoured with expensive spices and fruits. They were still being made this way in Elizabethan times. As the expensive ingredients became cheaper more and more of them found their way into the pies eventually displacing the meat altogether. All that remained was the suet and the name.
I always delay eating mince pies as long as I can to avoid 'peaking' too early at Christmas, as they are very sweet, and I would struggle with the old tradition of eating a mince pie on each of the twelve days of Christmas, no matter how much good luck doing so would bring me.
A mince pie is traditionally left out for Santa (by kids feeling a bribe might be helpful), and is usually accompanied by a carrot for Santa's companion.
By the way, proper mince pies have lids, and another, older name for mince was 'shred' so an old name for mince pies was 'shred' or 'shrid' pies.
Sayings: In cockney rhyming slang 'mince pies' means 'eyes'.
Alternative: In West Yorkshire a 'shred' is a 'pointy' shaped piece of land whose apex coincides with a track or road junction.
[Aus-NZ-US-Eire]
Lane's Extinction Grading: Very Safe
Culturally exported so globally produced and consumed (i.e. its fate does not rest soley in our hands).
- minim
The 'minim' is a unit of volume used for small quantities of liquids. There are 60 minims to the fluid dram, 480 to a fluid ounce, and a minim was roughly the amount of liquid contained in a single drop. It is also 59.193 microlitres.
The 1970 Weights and Measures Act abolished the minim in 1971.
- Ministry of Food
The Ministry of Food Control (1916-1921) and the Ministry of Food (1939-1954) were wartime departments which were separate from the Minister of Agriculture.
The Minister of Food oversaw food rationing during the second world war and this process was controlled through the use of 'ration books'. The whole system was administered through 'Food Control Committees' established in each local authority area. Rationing continued after the war up until 1954 when the Ministry of Food was disbanded and merged with the Ministry of Agriculture.
During the war the Ministry of Food also came up with creative ways to make the best of very little and embarked upon effective marketing and educational campaigns which included eye catching posters and cartoon characters like 'Doctor Carrot' and 'Potato Pete'.
The most famous Minister of Food was Rt. Hon Baron Woolton who was the minister between 1940 and 1943 and gave his name to the rationing inspired 'Woolton pie'.
The modern governmental organisations which deal with the same problems are DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) the MAFF (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries).
The recipes and publications generated by the Ministry of Food are undergoing a new lease of life as modern interest in simpler or healthier foods increases, consequently the term 'Ministry of Food' has recently been adopted by various cooking related celebrities and authors (for their TV programmes or books).
See also 'rationing', 'pig clubs', 'National Loaf' and 'National Dried milk'.
- mint - Mentha
Mints have been used for culinary and medicinal purposes for thousands of years and they are still being used today.
There are different mints with different uses, some being particularly flavoursome whilst others contain toxic compounds useful for medicinal purposes, and for warding off pests. If you are new to mint and aren't aware of the differences you might not be impressed if you chose the wrong type. Some are good in tea whilst others are better on potatoes or in salads so try a few types or ways of using it.
Most mints are happiest in damp soil or close to water and prefer slightly shady places though some varieties do well in full sun and a couple grow in water or bogs.
Mints have a reputation for being difficult to kill making them ideal for anyone new to gardening. To propagate simply pull up a piece with a bit of root on it and replant.
Mints also have a reputation for taking over a garden, but only a well manicured one as in the wild, alongside other competing plants, they take a long time to go anywhere. Kept in a pot by themselves is safe but they will soon use up all the nutrients and stop growing, becoming weak and spindly and they will also lose their flavour. You need to remember to to split the roots and top up the pot with new soil to keep the mint lush and tasty.
Generally mints are harmless except when mint oils are taken in high concentrations, then they are dangerous, and particularly so for pregnant women.
See also: 'Pennyroyal mint', 'Apple mint' and 'mint sauce'.
- mint pasty
A Yorkshire version of currants in leftover pastry, but this one differs in that freshly chopped mint is added to the currants before sandwiching between two layers of pastry. Once widely eaten in Yorkshire but now only by a few. Also known as 'fly pies'. See also 'dead fly pies'.
- mint sauce
1
Chopped, pickled mint leaves. Popular on lamb, on new potatoes, and essential with 'pie and peas'. Its easy to make your own but choose the correct mint, one with a strong flavour.
If you like the flavour of mint sauce but not the bits of mint simply chop some fresh mint and add it to vinegar for a few minutes then strain out by pouring through a tea strainer and you have mint vinegar.
See also: 'mint'. when done
Lane's Extinction Grading: Safe
- Nationally produced and/or consumed
- Very strong traditions in one village, town, county or region.
- mite
Tiny organisms (0.4-0.7 mm in length) which live on grains, flour, cured meats and cheese and are considered a pest or vermin in the food industry. See 'cheese mite'.
- molasses
Molasses is a delicious by-product of the sugar cane refining process. The sugar cane is crushed to remove the juice which is then boiled vigourously. Machines use centrifugal force to extract the sugar crystals from the syrup and the remaining syrup becomes molasses.
Molasses is used in ham curing, in baking and the brewing industry, and when it is fermented into alcohol the end result is rum. It is also an additive to stock feeds and to fishing ground baits. Black or dark treacle is made from cane molasses.
- monger
A 'monger' is a dealer in a specific commodity, a seller. Examples are 'fishmonger', 'cheesemonger', 'ironmonger', 'costermonger' and 'warmonger'.
See also: 'cheesemonger', 'costermonger' and 'fishmonger'.
- monkeys' blood
A young boys name for strawberry or raspberry sauce on ice cream or melted red jam in porridge.
- Monmouth pudding
Raspberry or strawberry jam, breadcrumbs and eggs are the main ingredients in this Welsh pudding which is similar to 'bread and butter pudding' in that it makes good use of leftover stale bread and is baked. Some recipes advocate the use of fresh raspberries or other fresh fruits but I
- morning goods
A term used by the hotel and catering industry and mainly describes breads and pastries delivered in time for breakfast.
- mote spoon
A 'mote spoon' is a small tea spoon with holes in it and was used for skimming tea leaves from the tea cup. Its handle is long, thin and spike like ('rat tail') and was used for unblocking tea leaves from the spout of a tea pot. Early 18th century.
See also: 'spoon'.
- Mrs Beeton / Isabella Mary Beeton
Isabella Mary Beeton (1836-1865) wrote a book called 'Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management' containing over 900 recipes and was better known as Mrs. Beeton's Cookbook. Though Mrs. Beeton was not a renowned cook her expertise was in gathering, testing and presenting all household information, including recipes, to make the running of a middle class household easier. Though she lived a short life (she died at the age of 28) her legacy is enormous.
- mucky fat
2
Mucky fat is unrefined beef or pork dripping and gets its name from the dark content which makes the white fat look mucky. It is the most tastiest dripping to put on toast or in sandwiches and was used by many in place of butter.
Mucky fat on toast was a favourite breakfast and many working men took mucky fat sandwiches to work every day. There are still a few pubs and clubs which put on mucky fat sandwiches on special occasions, quiz nights and 'sports' nights.
Mucky fat became very rare but has seen a modest revival in the last year or two and can be obtained from long established butchers particularly in markets.
Dialect/slang: "scrape", "sweet fat".
See also: 'dripping'.
Lane's Extinction Grading: Stable
- Stable in one or more areas/regions, but not growing.
- Still enjoyed by a number of families in one area.
- Successful recent revival with natural local growth.
- muffin
A small, round, yeasted dough bread, dusted with corn flour, and particularly associated with England, where it is often eaten for breakfast. The bread is spilt and toasted. Americans call them 'English muffins' perhaps as a precaution against eating communist ones.
In 1763 the Rev. Dr. Alexander Carlisle, a Church of Scotland minister visited Harrogate. He wrote generally along the lines that Harrogate was very pleasant, having: "a constant succession of good company and the best entertainment of any watering place in Britain, at the least expense. At breakfast time they paid only twopence each for muffins as it was the fashion for the ladies to furnish tea and sugar."
In Lancashire muffins are also soft plain white bread cakes and are sometimes referred to as 'rag muffins' or 'raggy muffins'.
Quote: "You don't get tired of muffins, but you don't find inspiration in them." ~ George Bernard Shaw (British playwright and critic).
English nursery rhyme:
Do you know the muffin man,
The muffin man, the muffin man,
Do you know the muffin man,
Who lives in Drury Lane?
[US]
See also: 'rag muffins'.
Lane's Extinction Grading: Very Safe
Culturally exported so globally produced and consumed (i.e. its fate does not rest soley in our hands).
- muggety pie
This pie has several recipes depending on source/region but all involve offal and a pie crust lid. The recipes are known in Cornwall and Gloucestershire.
Pig intestine ('chitterlings') or sheep intestines - Chop up the intestines, place in the bottom of the dish with sliced onions, salt and pepper. Cover with a pastry lid and bake.
Pluck (heart, liver and/or lungs) - Soak the 'pluck' in water and clean. Boil for several hours then mince. Add a few currants, season well, and flavour with parsley or spice. Mix together and put into a pie dish. Cover with pastry and bake.
See also: 'lights'.
- mulberry
The mulberry has a blackberry like fruit which can be used like any other fruit. It is a sub-tropical tree not native to Britain but which was once popular and can be found in the grounds of old houses and run down estates, but is not commonly seen these days. If it wasn't for the old English song I don't think any of us would have a clue about the mulberry though it clearly has a place in our history.
Here we go round the mulberry bush,
The mulberry bush,
The mulberry bush.
Here we go round the mulberry bush
On a cold and frosty morning.
Mulberry's don't grow on bushes but with these old English nursery rhymes there is often a hidden or sarcastic meaning, or a complicated story behind them.
Alt: Floating 'Mulberry' harbours were towed to France and sunk next to the coast during the 'D' day landings.
- mullered
A London term for getting, or being drunk, on alcohol, and is derived from the name of Franz Muller, a Victorian murderer. Muller, a poor German tailor, escaped to America after murdering a respectable businessman on a train in North London. The event was high profile and caused great concern to the British public. Muller was pursued by Scotland Yard, to America, and was arrested on the quayside and brought back for trial. He was hanged for his crime.
- mulligatawny soup
1
'Pepper water'. A curry flavoured soup of Anglo-Indian origin. There are several variations of the dish depending on what part of Asia you link it to (several cultures have a claim on it) and can even contain rice or noodles.
Q: "Memories are like mulligatawny soup in a cheap restaurant. It is best not to stir them. " ~ P. G. Wodehouse, English novelist (1881-1975)
See also: 'British Raj'.
Lane's Extinction Grading: Safe
- Nationally produced and/or consumed
- Very strong traditions in one village, town, county or region.
- murkey / mock turkey
'Murkey' means mock turkey and the name came about in the second world war when rationing and government farming policy made turkey virtually non existent. Christmas time was just as important as ever in war time, maybe more so, and consequently Christmas dinner went ahead despite the war and the obvious difficulties brought about by rationing.
So murkey was stuffing made into the shape of a turkey, usually based on sausage meat or minced mutton, and a liberal use of bread crumbs.
Though 'murkey' is an expression which arose during the second world war the origins of mock turkey go back further and you will find recipes for mock goose in recipe books from before the first world war (based largely on sausage meat and mashed potato).
See also: 'turkey'.
- Murphy
Synonymous with 'potato'.
- mushy peas
1
When I use these words 'mushy peas' most people will assume I mean the dried, green marrow fat peas, soaked/steeped overnight and then simmered to the consistency of runny mashed potato and served firm or runny (depending on your region or personal preference), usually with mint sauce. They are most popular in the north of England and the Midlands where they are traditionally served with pork pies, fish and chips, or 'rag pudding'. In the north of England 'pie and peas' is a common meal, 'street food', pub/working men's club supper fare, and a traditional bonfire night dish.
But in fact 'mushed' peas, of various varieties, and in various forms, have been eaten all over Britain since at least medieval times. Therefore we must include other varieties under this heading though they have their own particular names, cooking methods and serving traditions. So I include the green marrow pea (mushy pea), the split yellow pea (pease pudding), black pea (carling/carlin, maple pea, pigeon pea, parched peas, brown pea), and black eye pea.
The bright green colour of mushy peas is unnatural, a modern additive, and they should be more greyish in colour. Luminous mushy peas should be rejected and sent back to their colour blind alchemist.
Local Names: Yorkshire caviar, pease pudding (NE England), avocado dip (Peter Mandelson?).
See also 'Carling', 'pease pudding', 'buster peas', 'groaty dick' and 'pie and peas'.
Lane's Extinction Grading: Safe
- Nationally produced and/or consumed
- Very strong traditions in one village, town, county or region.
- muslin cloth
Loosley woven cotton fabric sometimes known as 'cheese cloth' a clue to one of its uses. It is used to drain the curds of excess fluid, as filter for liquids, and as a wrapping for boiled puddings. Originated in the Middle East and came to Europe in the 17th century.
British people that are prone to 'malpropisms' mistakenly call this 'muslim 'cloth, in the same way that they try and impress their friends with 'Islamic' vinegar (Balsamic) and with the complaint that they are just a 'prawn' in somebody else's plan.
- mussel
The 'mussel' is a dark blue/black bi-valve which attaches itself to solid objects with fine strong strands. It grows in clusters or colonies, sometimes huge ones.
They were traditionally hand picked at low tide but can also be raked from small, one man boats in shallow water (still done in Conwy) or trawled for with larger boats.
To cook the mussel it is boiled for a few minutes, and the 'beard' (fibrous strands which the mussel has been using to hang onto rock, unsuccessfully as it turns out) is removed, with a tug, and then the brown mussel meat is cut from its shell. There is a difference in colour in mussels with the orange coloured ones being female and the paler ones being male.
They are traditionally eaten cold, with salt, pepper and vinegar but they are also wonderful hot, with bread and butter.
Available fresh from fish mongers and from stalls, already cooked, at seaside towns, and at some inland ones too.
- mustard
Mustard is used as a condiment, as a base for salad dressings and as an ingredient in many recipes. Traditionally it was used medically in a poultice, and still is by some of the older generation and by horse people.
In Britain it is a fine yellow powder or thick paste made from ground pepper corn of both the brown and white mustard seeds, but In recent decades whole grain mustards have gained in popularity. Powdered mustard was the norm until the 1960's when 'ready made' paste became available.
English varieties of mustard tend to be traditionally fiercer than continental counterparts but small producers have recently created mustards of many strengths and using additional ingredients like vinegar, honey, beer, cider, mead and wine. The original powdered mustard was usually mixed with a little water in the home, just before the meal, and before that, in medieval times, people carried their mustard in a ball of paste which they added to their meals as required, reconstituted with a little of whatever they were drinking.
The centre of British mustard making has for over 250 years been Norfolk but small local producers are now springing up all over Britain.
The statement "as keen as mustard" is thought to be derived from the once household name 'Keen & Son' which was a famous English mustard company (formed in 1742) and bought out by Colman's in 1903. This is disputed as the expression may have been in existence over 100 years prior to the formation of this company.
Quote: "....the seede of Mustard pounded with vinegar is an excellent sauce, good to be eaten with any grosse meates, either fish or flesh, because it doth help digestion, warmeth the stomache and provoketh appetite." ~ John Gerard (1623)
Alternative uses: Anyone or any thing can be described as 'mustard' if considered good, or the best.
See also: 'English mustard' and 'Tewkesbury mustard'.
Lane's Extinction Grading: Very Safe
Culturally exported so globally produced and consumed (i.e. its fate does not rest soley in our hands).
- mutchkin
The 'mutchkin' is a traditional Scottish unit of liquid volume used up to the 19th century and is equal to half a 'chopin'.
The mutchkin is equivalent to about 25.92 cubic inches, or 0.422 litres.
See also 'jug'.
- mutton
Strictly speaking mutton is a breeding sheep which has stopped breeding, but the term is used informally for any sheep meat which is not a 'lamb'. But the definition of 'lamb', and therefore 'mutton', is different depending on whether you value mutton or not. And most of us don't as mutton, (or more correctly, the word 'mutton'), in recent years, went out of fashion after hundreds, if not thousands years of being valued as good food. And that's all it was, fashion, as mutton is a wonderful meat wrongly discarded by our society. So in communities which still eat mutton a lamb is up to 1 year old, and 'mutton' is anything over one year old. For the rest of us the definition of 'lamb' has been simply stretched to cope with our ridiculous notions, whilst those that have kept their sense of perspective, and still eat mutton, prize animals up to 5 years old. It's about time we stopped dressing up our mutton as lamb and acknowledged the history and tradition we have around this meat, and the wonderful dishes that are made from it mainly using slow cooking techniques. The English in particular used to be famous for their mutton.
Alternative uses: Ladies in Victorian times (mid 1890's) sported wide 'leg of mutton' sleeves which gradually grew in volume until they ceased to be fashionable in about 1896. A woman might unkindly be described (usually by other women) as 'mutton dressed as lamb'. 'Mutton chops' is type of long hairy side burn much favoured by Victorians. In the 1600's there was a Kent man called 'tugmutton' who could eat a whole sheep at one sitting, a 'tug' being a glutton. And once upon a time a 'tug-o-mutton' was a rude title for a promiscuous man.
See also: 'lamb'.
- mutton stew
4
Stew made from the meat of sheep. May have been presented to you as 'lamb casserole'.
Lane's Extinction Grading: On the brink.
- Difficult to find, on the brink of extinction.
- Revived by an individual or by a few culturally unconnected individuals.