Former CHOW Grinder writer Stephanie Lucianovic and I are Netflix friends (as well as friends in real life) and we share a soft spot for old British television series. When Stephanie told me about one set in London in the 1900s featuring elaborate cooking scenes with lots of period detail, I knew I’d be on the hook for at least a few episodes.
The Duchess of Duke Street stars Gemma Jones and may be a bit dry for some tastes, but if you’re someone who enjoys period pieces, detailed historical food imagery, and you don’t mind some cheesy camera moves (the series was filmed in the 1970s), you might consider adding it to your Netflix queue, too.
This is one of my all-time favorite PBS series; my husband and I just finished watching it for the 3rd or 4th time, courtesy of Netflix. This ranks up there with “All Creatures Great and Small” and “A Town Like Alice.” If you haven’t seen any of these, you really must.
Duchess of Duke Street was my wakeup call to cooking along with Julia’s first PBS series back in the 60’s and 70’s. Wow.
That and a copy of Mrs Beeton’s with its engravings of towering desserts (HOW did they make that?!) leads me to believe that mainstream English cuisine has long been limited by a paucity of food stuffs and financial means, not by lack of imagination.
Never heard of it, but just added to my Netflix Queue THANK YOU!