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

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!

For certain values of informative, at least. You are unlikely to use this book as a cookbook - partly because, let's be truthful, most of the recipes contained within simply don't sound very appealing to the modern palate, and partly because the book just isn't structured as one. While you will find ingredient lists and general preparation instructions, you won't find the degree of precision that an amateur cook is likely to want in order to actually prepare these dishes, which seems a little bit of a shame, since the authors purport to have managed to create many of the dishes contained within the book. Whether this is disappointing to you or not will depend on the reader.Of course, the title is "Gastronomic Companion" not "Cookbook", and in the capacity advertised by the title, it serves well - if you're wondering what lobscouse, boiled baby, or "neeps hackit with balmagowry" are, then this book will answer admirably. Whether this knowledge is worth the price of admission is up to you.For the O'Brian fan, I would recommend  Harbors and High Seas, 3rd Edition : An Atlas and Geographical Guide to the Complete Aubrey-Maturin Novels of Patrick O'Brian, Third Edition  ahead of this book, simply because the information it delivers is more relevant to the understanding of the novels, but for the hardcore fan, those who already own Harbors and High Seas, or the terribly curious, this volume has its place, and fills it well.

Prodigious fine cookbook! If you read the novels, there is really nothing to discuss; you need this companion cookbook. I have included photos of the "Boned Larks in a Pie," "Shrewsbury Cakes," and of course the "Lobscouse."

I came across this book while looking for a recipe for lobscouse years ago, not so much for cooking but for including a description in a story I was doing with a writing club. What a delightful find!Lobscouse is actually served in local restaurants where I was born, so I know from personal experience that it tastes better than it looks (picture something that has already been eaten once and thrown up again), but I have never attempted to make it myself. This book was a chance discovery and sounded interesting enough to order a copy. I was not familiar with the Aubrey/Maturin novels at the time, but nonetheless have read this book with great pleasure. I've used it quite a bit, too, but more as an inspiration and to look up period details for writing than for cooking.The food described often may not be something I would want to cook or eat myself (fried rats, anyone?), but the descriptions and snippets from the novels bring each recipe to life and make it a delight to read. It also made me want to check out O'Brian's novels. On top of the humor evident throughout the book, I really appreciate the research and dedication that went into providing authentic descriptions of 18th century food preparation with some fascinating details.And who knows, maybe one day I'll actually give it try and cook some lobscouse for old time's sake.

All the food mentioned in the canon, with fun commentary and some historical details. A lot of the dishes are very similar (there are like 4 version of just oatmeal, for instance) but that's part of the interest; each has its cultural and historical origin

As the authors concede, many of the recipes in this book require ingredients that are hard to find, expensive or both. I would add that many of them require a lot of work. (for 'Mrs Pulling's Pie' we are advised to take note that the calves foot jelly takes a full day to make - it is one of 26 ingredients - one day I will eat this pie, I swear it.)Recipe books, though, are read much more for pleasure than with a definite intention to cook something and in this case, the authors have done all the hard work on our behalf. To go as far as eating ‘Millers in Onion Sauce’ is, to my mind, worthy of an award – who knew they’d turn out to be delicious? (I’ll be glad of this recipe come the end of the world.) To have stopped short on p231 is entirely excusable, as is the failure to bake a dog or smoke a human hand.Some of the recipes I will attempt, though on a reduced scale (‘Clam Chowder...serves 40’), very likely the 'Mince Pie' and 'Christmas Pudding' - and, of course 'Spotted Dog' - but the real joy of this book comes from the spirit in which it is written: A combination of genuine scholarly hard work and real enjoyment in doing it. It is the same spirit in which POB’s Aubrey/Maturin books are written. There can be no higher praise.

I love cookery books, probably more than I love cooking. This is a joyful companion to the novels, which I happened to be reading at the time I bought this. It seemed that for every few pages I read I was looking up the recipe for what someone was eating. Not just the recipes either, but the things surrounding them. Although these recipes are from the late 1700s to early 1800s my mother was still feeding us on 'Dead Baby', 'Spotted Dick' and 'Jam Roly Poly', and very nice comfort food it was. Altogether a book well worth adding to any cooks library.

As a fan of Patrick O'Brian's books it is great to find even more detail of practical life at sea for the Royal Navy in Napoleonic times. The book contains recipes and historical information, and references to the series in an interesting and humorous way. I would rather the actual recipes were written for a British readership rather than using American weights and measures, otherwise an excellent recipe or coffee table book.

This is a splendid companion book for the "Jack Aubrey Novels" of the late Patrick O'Brian. The authors took the trouble to research contemporaneous recipes for all of the food and drink consumed in the novels.They give each of these recipes along with small quotations from the books to set them in context. Each recipe is perfectly clear and we have used the book to produce many excellent meals - drawing the line at "Millers in onion sauce" (the Millers in question being rats), however the authors knew no such timidity and report "We were somewhat taken aback to discover that miller is absolutely delicious....". For non North American readers it is worth remembering to have a conversion chart handy to turn the North American measurements (e.g. cups) into (say) grammes - but that's not negative criticism of the book at all - they use what they are used to! The book is a delight and thoroughly recommended!

Warning - this is not intended as a serious cookery book. It is a delightful addition to the bookshelf for readers of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin novels, and traces each dish mentioned in the books, however revolting, back to a contemporary recipe where possible, and conjectures some others, like the recipe for Millers (rats) in onion sauce (sailors being reduced to eating ship's rats on occasion). It is divided into suitable occasions for the dish to be served, and each recipe section is headed by quotes from the books which refer.I found when I got home that the book had arrived, so I sat down "for half an hour" to look it over. This was at 5.30pm. The next thing I knew it was 7.40pm! Much of the time was spent laughing out loud. Many of the recipes are still worth trying, especially the suet puddings, but I would give the one on page 231 a wide berth (no pun intended!)Those who have read other Nelsonian Naval fiction, such as Forrester or Alexander Kent, may also find it interesting, although food does not feature anything like so much in those works.