How to Make Grouse Salad - The Victorian Way 

She said a little shallot and she meant a little.

I feel compelled to go do a thorough deep-clean of my non-existent game larder now.

Petition for Mrs. crocombe to get her own food network

Why has the algorithm buried the delightful Mrs Crocombe? I was only just notified of this video, 19 hours after it was posted! And only 20 comments posted yet!

"I've heard about some cooks who have had to wipe away maggots" side eye "but if your game larder is well secure flies shouldn't be able to get to it" oh how I missed Mrs Crocomb

Because cook died from an autumnal ague and my valet, Winstanley, is on a retreat to a monastery on Lindisfarne, I was forced to make this myself, and I could only find pheasants hanging in the game pantry. I thought you would appreciate knowing that the recipe still works admirably. Tastes utterly vile, obviously.

I love Kathy Hipperson, she plays this role so expertly. I think that she is so good that she could easily play a main role in any English period-drama! I can't tell you the level of excitement I feel when another "The Victorian Way" episode is produced!

you know it's bad when a victorian person is distressed by someone's sanitation and food safety practices

Alexis Soyer was a bit of a hero in his time- he travelled to Crimea during the Crimean war and worked alongside Florence Nightingale to ensure the soldiers, both injured and well, were well-nourished and did not fall victim to malnutrition or food poisoning and that army cooks had the means necessary to safely prepare food for the men fighting.

It's interesting to hear about kitchens that were more advanced than hers for once. Usually we hear about how Audley End's kitchen is well equipped compared to others, so its nice to see her admire someone elses setup.

We need more Mrs. Crocombes! Love her videos.

Mrs Crocombes is back, It's being a while.

I never know what to do with leftover grouse so this is an excellent recipe😎

So happy she's back, hope there'll be many more now that autumn and winter are near and they always give the best dishes

For the thumbnail of this video, Mrs. Crocombe was photographed at the moment she saw Mary Anne's hardboiled eggs (with the sulfurous green line) at 6:54 Nobody can blame Mrs. C for grousing about THAT.

We hope you enjoy Mrs Crocombe's latest recipe! Here are the answers to some questions you may have... • What are grouse? Grouse are small game birds. They breed in Scotland, northern parts of England, Ireland and Wales, and are mainly found on heather moors. Since 1831 and the overhauling of the draconian game laws in Britain, the shooting season for them has opened on August 12th - often called the ‘glorious twelfth’. From the mid nineteenth century until the Second World War, many aristocrats marked the date by heading up to Scotland for the start of the season. As Mrs Crocombe says, the first grouse would appear in shops by the end of that day, hurried down from Scotland by train. They do, however, benefit from hanging. • Those birds look raw! Game is usually served pink: being a wild bird which is plucked at the point of preparation it doesn’t suffer from the same level of bacterial contamination as some modern farmed meats, and it tends to get very dry if overcooked. Obviously the exterior surface, which is where any harmful bacteria would be, has been fully cooked. For medium rare-rare meat like this, we’d suggest roasting it until the internal temperature reaches 55°C (130F). Then rest it for at least 15mn before serving (or, as here, chill before stripping for a salad). • What is a game larder? Audley End has two game larders which you can still see if you visit today (bit.ly/2CUybEB). They are shed-like structures, with the windows carefully covered with metal gauze instead of glass. The gauze allows air to circulate, but does not allow any flies to get in and lay eggs. Kept like this, meat can be hung for days or weeks without putrefying or going maggoty. Most meat benefits from hanging: it tenderises it and changes the flavour slightly. • What’s going to happen to the bones? The bones will go off to make a game stock, which can form the basis of a soup or sauce. • What is chervil? Chervil is a herb. It’s very popular in France, and often used in French recipes. It tastes like a cross between parsley and aniseed. • The eggs look overcooked? They are, yes. In a sneaky look behind the scenes, some of the prep work for the videos is done by the costumed interpretive team working in front of the public. After all, without them, there would be no Victorian Way videos. Sometimes the results - cooked on a rather dubious hob while the person in charge focuses on talking to the public about life, food and what it's like to be working at Audley End in 1881 - are not entirely up to Mrs Crocombe's exacting standards! • But what does it taste like? (Bland? Sweet? Just plain gross?) This salad is surprisingly punchy. The flavour of grouse is allowed to come through, not overpowered by the sauce or herbs, so you do have to like grouse. The sweet-sour notes from the sugar and vinegr are tempered by the cream, and the relative lack of vegetable bulk means there's little to distract from it. It's in the French tradition, so not highly flavoured and quite subtle.

“And he a French man! How strange…” God, I love Mrs. Crocombe! 😂

I loved hearing Mrs Crocombe's thoughts on historical cookery books! It's fascinating to learn about the evolution on kitchens and cooking techniques since it's such a part of our everyday experiences but it's not something that you would learn in a history class.

One thing I loved about recipes from this time period is their definition of a salad is different to today. Here is a salad with egg held on the plate with butter and a bunch of game birds swimming in sauce. Its honestly amazing how much changed in a little over 100 years.

Finally! - a solution for all that left-over grouse at last! And we get to witness Mrs Crocombe model a replica of Stonehenge from boiled eggs, what's no to love???

I once bought frozen grouse from the local branch of Iceland, and they were vile - upon inspection, the insides were heavily contaminated with bile from having been gutted incompetently. (I've only had grouse on a couple of other occasions, and those other ones were lovely.) Mrs Crocombe would have been outraged. On the subject of hanging meat: apparently my great-grandparents once received a freshly-shot hare as a gift from someone, hung it up, and forgot about it; great-grandma came across it a few weeks later, crawling with maggots, and in a panic decided to phone great-grandad to tell him. It wasn't a good phone line (this would have been around 1920), and she wasn't speaking very clearly, so he initially misheard "The hare's got maggots in it!" as ([their son, my grandad]'s hair's got maggots in it!", and worriedly replied, "You'd better take him to the doctor right away!"... cue some confusion.

Grouse is an excellent meat, but not readily accessible to most people. The dish sounds and looks wonderful! I think I shall try it with a rotisserie chicken 😊

This is the only salad I've ever seen, that has whipped cream in it. 😂 Meat, mayonnaise, and whipped cream; no wonder it was a favorite of English aristocrats.

“Ortumn”…..love Mrs. Crocumbe!

I’ve been watching this series forever and I am so happy you guys keep it going! And the shade still gets thrown strong! 😂

A very pretty presentation. As a modern woman, I believe I would use chickern. I can purchase roasted chicken at my grocers, it would be a nice dish to serve the neighbors and family.

Crisp mornings i wish im dying everytime i step out side its still 110 where i live 😂😭

I'm so chuffed every time Mrs Crocombe posts a new recipe. She really should have her own show. What even is chervil or grouse. Mixing whipped cream with chilli vinegar? I love the history of it.

It’s that time of year that I put in my request for 12 days of Crocombe for the Holiday season!

So lovely to see Mrs. Crocombe again. Shade given for maggots on the grouse😮. Well done to everyone that makes these video. I enjoy them very much. Wishing y'all well.

I just love these videos! I can't imagine anyone other than Kathy Hipperson playing the part of Mrs Avis Crocombe. She is absolutely brilliant!

The facial expression, when Mrs. Crocombe is discussing hanging game, speaks volumes!!! Ms. Hipperson is so talented! Also, I wish recipe books were equipped with a voice that said, " For this recipe, you will need...", in her voice; it would make even a ham sandwich sound appealing!

3:07 Her eyes are throwing more shade than an umbrella 🙌🏻

Is anyone else reminded of midwestern (U.S) salads. It's just missing the jello 😂

Glad Mrs.Crocombe is back! She’s been terribly missed

I've been watching these for years now. They're so cozy and interesting. Love it!!

That looked interesting and I really liked the yellow of the boiled egg yolks and the little pops of red from the radish

How neat! Similar to modern chicken salad

It is a good day when Mrs Crocombe is cooking.

Is it just me, or has these videos just gotten better?! We love you Mrs. Crocumbe! ❤❤❤

I think they're in some sort of secret contest to see how vile they can make these recipes and still have people tune in just for Mrs. Crocombe. The answer : indefinitely, obviously.

the meat swimming in that vile sauce 😭 obsessed with mrs C as always ❤️

As autumn approaches the best place to come is Mrs Crocombes kitchen. How cosy!

What an interesting and very decorative salad dish. I love watching all these episodes. I always feel like I’m sitting in Mrs Crocombe’s kitchen with a cup of tea and visiting with her.

Ah my kind of salad - one with hardly any vegetables!

I love Mrs Crocombe, glad she’s back!

3:29 "a little shallots" THAT IS TOOOOO MUUUUCH!!!!!!

I'm still undecided if I would want to try it or not. 😅

I would like to see how meats are prepared, chicken(whole), and turkey(whole) now that we are soon entering the holiday season.🐓🦃 Thanks!

Please never age a year! We need timeless Victorian Way host and nobody else!

mrs crocombe we love youu ♡

I'm always so excited to see a new video with Mrs. Crocombe. You did not disappoint. This one looks delicious. Can't wait for your next video.

Always happy to see Mrs. Crocomb

Just this morning, I was missing Mrs. Crocombe and thinking I hadn't seen her in a while. What wonderful timing!

Welcome back! It's always a treat to see Mrs. Crocombe again!

This is one of the best so far her comments are amazing

Lord I needed this today. The Queen of Shade is back.

It’s always lovely to see Mrs. Crocombe! ❤

These videos always feel like a hug ❤️

So happy to see mrs crocombe and learn a new recipe!!!❤

So nice to see you again, Mrs. Crocombe! I enjoyed a wonderful visit to Audley End earlier this year. Exceeded all of my expectations!

yessssssssssssssssssssss Mrs. Crocombe throwing shade again

The history behind the dishes are just as fascinating as the dishes themselves! Awesome!

due to the horrid circumstances of life such as our family cook recently dying of tuberculosis, our valet Finburt taking a retreat to an island in Ireland, and mother going on vacation, I, a bored and starving youth, was forced to make this grouse salad myself using the game my uncle peter sent up last week. i am very glad to say that this recipe was highly informative and works perfectly well, especially for the sickly children of this time. it tastes putrid of course.

Always good to get more Mrs. Crocombe in our lives.

I need more. This once a month is just not enough to satisfy me! Love this channel

Have you buttered the edges of your plates yet?

"We don't have any of that here" she sounds just like Mavis from Grace & Favour (Are you being served, again!) Lol. I love it

I've never had the priviledge of trying game birds like grouse. I think I'd like it, considering I like meats such as venison--but maybe not this way (I'm not a fan of mayonnaise). The plating is lovely though! Well done, Mrs. Crocombe!

I love these vids so much. There was a lot happening in this salad, but as always, it's good to see Ms. Crocombe!

Love Mrs Crocombe recipe videos. Keep them coming! ☺

Oterm is my favorite season

Fascinating as always!

Nothing gets past Mrs. Crocombe. She called out the male gaze in publishing 🔥

Our local Butchers sells grouse, (as well as partridge, pheasant, squirrel, rabbit). Might give this a whirl.

Always a pleasure to watch 😊

Absolutely Fab! Thank you so much Mrs Crocombe! Love the videos and trivia 😊

Yeah!! So good to see a new recipe from. Mrs. Crocombe. Love this program so very much.

Absolutely love these videos and the stories!

Absolutely fabulous! What a pleasure to watch! Congratulations!

Babe wake up ! Mrs Crocombe posted again!

Another great afternoon enjoying Mrs. Crocombe❤

Excellent as always!

She's an icon, she's a legend and she is the moment

It's such a delight to see Mrs Crocombe again. No, we wouldn't want maggots on our grouses, would we now.

Yay! A new Mrs. Crocombe! My day just got 1000% better!

In this day and age there is something so pleasant about this channel that legit makes me so happy to watch.

Absolutely wonderful as always.

So wonderful to get a visit from Mrs Crocombe!!

Mr Soyer also invented the "Soyer Stove" in the Crimean War for the Army to cook on. It remained in use until the 1960s.

great video as usual...i always enjoy Mrs Crocombe...she brightens my day.

Watching these is like a comfort blanket…am so happy I found Mrs Crocombe. I’m off to watch them all 😁

Love this series!

She is just what I needed this week!

As always it looks delicious! Absolutely amazing! Thank you for the video!

Lovely to see Mrs Crocombe again!

Nice to have you back, Mrs Crocombe.

I love Mrs. Crocombe! I wish there were more clips of her and her kitchen.

Yes, here I am! So good to see you, Mrs Crocombe!

I love these! I haven't seen one for a long time. I'm glad to have a new one to enjoy again, thank you so much!