When William Hogarth was arrested in the summer of 1748 while making sketches of the old city gate of Calais, he took his revenge by painting The Gate of Calais. The famous satirical work depicts dishevelled French soldiers and a fat monk slobbering over an impressive joint of beef destined for an English inn.
Hogarth took his red meat seriously. He was a member of the Sublime Society of Beefsteaks, an organisation that met regularly to consume ritually the rarest of beef and sing anti-French songs. To him, and others, beef was the quintessential food of the English male: tough and bloody, a robustly masculine dish.
Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month
Content from our partners
