I like the Victorians. I like moustaches and pommade; malacca canes and locks of hair in brooches; candlesticks and napkin rings; claret decanters and fish knives.

There was an explosion of Victorian vegetarianism at end of the nineteenth century.  By 1910, London was awash with veggie restaurants, and could boast what was claimed to be “the largest vegetarian restaurant in the world”, equipped with “modem three-tier steamers capable of steaming … 350 cup puddings at one time”, and two ladies’ dining rooms where “as many as 250 business girls avail themselves of the advantage  of a vegetarian meal nearly every day”.

The Order of the Golden Age, a leading voice of vegetarianism during this period, was delighted in 1911 to be able to reprint an article from the Meat Trades Journal stating “vegetarianism is spreading across the country like some loathsome disease.”

I recently came across the Golden Age Cook Book, published in 1898, and packed with Victorian recipes such as “A Border Timbale Of Mock Chicken” and “Cucumber Jelly” (weirdly containing half a pound of gelatine). An irresistible opportunity to do culinary time travel.

I picked two dishes that sounded complementary, a “Ragout of Egg Plant” and “Mock Fish Chops”, and decided to follow them as closely as I could.  This meant making myself do strange things like boiling an egg plant whole, and serving it with a gravy made of pickled gherkins.

The result resembled a parody of a 1970s vegetarian meal, worthy and unappetising (especially in the dismal lighting of my kitchen at night).  But, to my surprise, it was impeccably toothsome.

What’s more, I tested the “fish chops” with my omni-foodie-friends, and they were generally pronounced to be delicious.  My French friend was even reminded of his mum’s fish balls from when he was a kid, which sounds like praise indeed.  (Incidentally, they don’t taste of fish.)

Here’s how I made it.

Fish Chops

Ingredients

3 medium potatoes, peeled and finely diced
1 large carrot, peeled and finely diced
1 cup “milk”
2T “butter”
1tsp green peppers, finely chopped
1tsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
1tsp grated onion
1 pinch ground nutmeg
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 tomato, watery seedy stuff removed, finely chopped
2T sweet sherry
3T breadcrumbs
2T gram flour (chickpea/garbanzo flour) or egg replacer

Method

Boil the potato in the milk for about 6 or 7 minutes, until fairly soft but still not at all mushy.  In a separate pan (I have no idea why), boil the carrots in as little water as possible, until the same texture as the potatoes.

Add the drained carrots to the potatoes, along with the butter, onion, spices, herbs, green pepper, tomatoes, and sherry.  Stir it all together and season to taste.

Thicken it with the breadcrumbs and gram flour (you may not need a whole 2T of gram flour; add it gradually).

Form into lots of little cutlets (I made balls), coat in more breadcrumbs (I didn’t bother), and deep-fry until a deep brown.

Ragout of Egg Plant

Ingredients

Ragout

1 egg plant (aubergine)
2T “butter”
4 mushrooms, sliced
1T fresh, chopped parsley
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
3T breadcrumbs
1T vegan parmesan (could subsitute some nutritional yeast flakes, or just salt)
Seasoning

Gravy

1T “butter”
1T flour
1 slice of onion, chopped very finely
1 dried shiitake mushroom (optional)
1 pickled gherkin, chopped very finely
3 olives, chopped very finely
1 cup water
Seasoning

Method

Boil the egg plant in a pan of salted water for 10 minutes.  When cooked, drain, cool in water, peel, and cut into slices about 3/4 inch think, and place in the bottom of a shallow casserole dish.

Fry the mushrooms and onion in the butter for about 3 minutes.  Add parsley and seasoning and fry for 1 more minute.

Pour the mushroom mixture on top of the egg plant.  Mix together breadcrumbs and “parmesan”, and sprinkle on top.  Bake in a fairly hot oven for 20 minutes or until browned.

For the sauce, put the mushroom in a cup of boiling water and place on one side for 5 minutes.  Melt the butter in a small saucepan and mix with flour and onion.  Cook until slightly browned.  Slowly add the mushroom water (or a very light veggie stock), stirring to avoid lumps.  Add seasoning, gherkins and olives, and gently simmer for a few minutes until the sauce has the consistency of a light cream.

Garnish the lot with cucumbers, and consume, taking care of your whiskers on the gravy.