Further Back in Time for Dinner - 1900s

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• published: 29 Jan 2017
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The Robshaw family are experienced time travellers, but this time they are going further back than they have ever been before - to the turn of the 20th century, to discover how the food we ate and the way we ate it helped shape the modern family. An ordinary house in south London is their time machine, transporting them through five decades and two world wars. Guided by presenters Giles Coren and social historian Polly Russell, they trace the incredible changes to Britain's diet and the extraordinary social transformation they reveal. As they enter the 1900s, they discover an unrecognisable world of strict etiquette, corsets and conformity. But the biggest surprise is a new addition to the household. Debbie Raw, a part-time chef in the 21st century - she is going back in time to be the family's maid of all work, responsible for all the cooking and cleaning. At the perfectly laid dining table, the Robshaws discover a decade of excess, ending up feeling as stuffed as the décor of their 1900s house. Their first meal is a mere five courses with a meaty pudding - but that is a simple amuse bouche to what follows. Servant Debbie must produce an eight-course dinner party in a Victorian kitchen with not so much as a hand blender to help her, the Robshaw ladies struggle with the formality of hosting formal afternoon tea and the family try out the Edwardian answer to a fondue set - brains and scrambled eggs anyone? Along the way there is haute cuisine with Monica Galetti, a meaty Olympic breakfast and a music hall tea and singalong with surprise guests Chas and Dave.