For Bookworms, Bakers, and History Buffs! ❤️

Whisking Through the Ages

By Reji Jacob B. S | II MA English

A Review

Whisking Through the Ages is a delightful and deeply engaging exploration of culinary history through classic English literature, by Reji Jacob, II MA English, MCC.

Reji has done a highly commendable work by examining the baked goods found in classic texts spanning from the 16th to the 20th century.

The book explores how food in classic literature is more than just about eating! It serves as a powerful rhetorical device as well. For example, the book explains how the fine “manchet” bread in John Fletcher’s The Maid in the Mill acts as a metaphor for social class and hierarchy, and how Mercutio’s joke about a “Lenten pie” in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet relies entirely on the audience’s knowledge of strict Elizabethan dietary restrictions during fasting seasons.

One special mention, that I would like to make about this book is that, Reji provides some yummy historical recipes for the literary dishes from across centuries.

Hence, readers can try their hand at recreating a 16th-century Lenten Fish Pie (adapted from authentic 14th and 16th-century recipes), a lamb pasty inspired by the venison pasty in The Merry Wives of Windsor, or a traditional Manchet bread using a recipe dating back to 1594.

Reji acknowledges that, the motivation for the book came from a concept that was sparked by modern YouTube creators who recreate fictional foods from anime, cartoons, and movies. He takes that same magical concept of making “fictional food materialise into something tangible” and applies it to the realm of classical literature.

Yet another engaging factor of the book is that, it offers a rich look into the evolution of baking itself. By detailing on how 16th-century baking evolved with the introduction of global trade ingredients like currants and treacle, and how 17th-century bakers had to rely on rudimentary tools, wood-fired ovens, and wild yeast.

In short, I’m sure that the book would be a toothsome delight to a melange of readers - bookworms, bakers and history buffs! (Sorry, the alliteration really doesn’t sit in the last one!) 😉

The author invites his readers, to not just read about the past, but to go ahead, “tie on an apron, preheat your oven and journey back in time”.

And well, the real icing on the cake lies in the author’s reminder to his readers, (in the front cover itself) that, this book is NOT a Sunday Times bestseller! 😊

Here’s wishing you happy journeying into the book to taste it for yourself!

And here’s wishing Reji our heartiest congratulations on his first publication, and here’s also wishing him many many more of such creative books in the years to come!