When Edward VII assumed the throne in 1901, he brought with him a penchant for everything French, including the cuisine, which set the national tone among the moneyed classes for lighter meals with more vegetables. In The Book of Vegetable Cookery: Usual and Unusual, published in 1931, author Erroll Sherson describes how cooks in a variety of European countries traditionally prepared vegetables in the first decades of the twentieth century: the French use butter or olive oil, the Italians prefer olive oil, and the Germans favor lard. Sherson’s pronouncements are much too broad, of course, especially as he goes on to write that the British cook just keeps the water tap close. The French culinary term à l’anglaise refers to vegetables cooked or served “in the English manner,” which means boiled in a lot of water and served without any embellishment—a condescending French assessment based on Victorian cookery done badly.
