We've heard it said that "you are what you eat." Even in Victorian days, magazine readers were urged to choose healthy foods. Many of these articles remind us that in earlier times, "health" was the least of considerations in choosing a meal, particularly when one had wealth. "Conspicuous consumption" was the watchword of the historical gourmand. A court dinner might involve serving a roasted swan re-encased in its original feathers (and no one but royalty was permitted to dine on swan!). Here's a look at some of the excesses and curiosities of food and cookery of past times.

Cookery with the Ancients (Godey's, 1868)

Salt (Demorest, 1873)

A variety of trivia about salt, salt cellars, salt lore and salt usage.

The Dinner Tables of the Past (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1876)

How dinner tables were furbished "in olden times."

A Chat About Coffee (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1877)

A bit of history of the development of coffee as a drink, and how to prepare it.

A Cup of Cocoa (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1877)

What cocoa is; how it is harvested; how it is made; and a bit of its fashionable history.

A Talk over a Teapot (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1877)

Some history of tea, and how it is served in different countries.

[Tea]: The Cup that Cheers, by Sophia F.A. Caulfeild (Girl's Own Paper, 1880)

It's tea, of course - the lifeblood of Victorian England!

Some Rather Odd Dishes, by Aaron Watson (Girl's Own Paper, 1882)

A look at some recipes of antiquity, including "drye stewe," cabaches, "goos in hochepot," pygges and pecokkes, and more... (Do not try this at home...)

Our Breakfast Beverages, by Ardern Holt (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1887)

How coffee and tea are grown and some of the history of their use around the world.

Curiosities of Food and Feeding, by James Mason (Girl's Own Paper, 1890)

Subtitled "Chit-Chat, Historical, Anecdotal, Grave and Gay -- About Meats, Drinks, Cooks and Kitchens." Includes gossip about historic meals and dinner parties.

Mustard and Cress (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1890)

A bit of the lore and history of these staples of the British tea table.

Court Cookery, by Fanny Green (Girl's Own Paper, 1894)

Here's a collection of delightful foods you probably won't want to serve at your next dinner party, including antelopes, swans, cygnets and eagles!

A [Cookbook] Relic of the Good Old Times (Girl's Own Paper, 1895)

Some medicinal suggestions from a "recipe" book of the early 1700's - do not try these at home!

An Old Roman's Bill of Fare, by Hans J.S. Cassal (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1895)

Peacocks, nightingales, parrots' tongues (all the more valuable if the parrots could speak), ostriches, and fat little dormice were all featured on patrician tables... Nero was said to have had pheasant served on a layer of diamond dust. Fortunately for the digestion, apple dumplings were also popular...

Great-Grandmother's Cookery Books, by A. Drysdale-Davis (The Strand, 1905B)