[Food in Books] The Infidel Stain (The Blake & Avery Mystery Series #2) - M.J. Carter

• Ch. 1
• Stew with pieces of rotee
• A steaming bowl of curry

• Ch. 3
• Bread
• Cheese
• Some wrinkled apples
• Small beer

• Ch. 4
• Cress
• Cup of hot coffee (bought by Avery for Matty)
• Bread and butter (bought by Avery for Matty)
• A ham sandwich

It turned out to be a slab of grey flannel set between two slices of something not far off cardboard.

• Claret

• Ch. 5
• A bowl of kitcheree

• Ch. 7
• A ’tater (bought by Avery for Matty)

The potato was cut in half and slathered in butter and salt.

• What Avery bought for Matty, using the refund he got scammed for spoiled oranges

I bought her a cup of coffee, a jam puff, and a halfpennyworth of ‘hard-bake’ treacle, which she put in her pocket.

• Ch. 8
• An oyster
• Wine

• Ch. 10
• A penny tart (from Taylor’s in Wych Street)

with jam in it (confirmed in Ch. 15)

• A bottle of red wine and a loaf of pale bread shaped like a long baton
• Plates of cold meats and stews
• The ‘dobe’ (daube: beef, red wine, carrots and bacon stew)

A plate of something heavily dressed in a thick dark sauce and smelling strongly of garlic, which proved to be the ‘dobe’, was placed on our table. Blake launched into it without hesitation.

French cuisine might be the height of fashion in London, but in Devon we were used to plainer fare. Warily, I took a little off a spoon, for I was very hungry. It had a rich, robust, almost rank flavour, and despite the strength of the garlic, it was extremely satisfying. The bread had a marvellous thin crust on the outside and was impossibly light and fluffy and white within. For several minutes we did nothing but eat.

• A plate of winter cress and a slice of something yellow, melting and exceedingly pungent

‘Ugh, what is that?’ I said, though I knew.

‘It’s cheese,’ Blake said.

‘It reeks! Dear God, you cannot mean to eat it?’

In answer he cut himself a sticky wedge, spread it upon a corner of bread and put it into his mouth. ‘It’s no different from Stilton.’

• Ch. 11
• A pot of warm veal broth (from Miss Jenkins to Blake)

• Ch. 14
• A crescent and a chohsun (like a jam turnover) (from the Frog bakery in Dean Street)

• Ch. 15
• Two small loaves
• A chunk of cheese
• Two small withered apples
• A bottle of small beer
(all brought by Matty to Pen)

• Ch. 17
• Eggs (fried by Blake)

• Ch. 22
• A glass of ale