Posted by John Lambert on April 30, 2001 at 06:36:21 from 207.107.254.249:
Some North American houses now have pantrys, Ed, but no larders,
as far as I know. We had a pantry built in our new house and is
situated by the entrance to the kitchen. We keep rice, potatoes,
canned (tinned)goods, coffee, cereal, soap, shampoo and other
drygoods. We also keep the freezer in the pantry as well as brooms,
etc. We find that although it is not exactly off the kitchen, it is
no inconvenience to bring in a couple of cans of something for lunch
or dinner. Our pantry is about 6 ft. by 5 1/2 feet, with wire racks
on one side for all the canned goods, tubes, boxes, bottles, etc.
We keep the rice, etc. under the racks.
I agree with you about Mrs. Dixon's pork pies in WH. They must have
been frozen or pretty close to it. Maybe, as you suggest, the larder
absorbed enough latent heat from the kitchen to prevent terminal
frostbite in the food that must be kept cold.
When Nancy shoved a cake in her knapsack it was probably one of
those heavy, solid seedcake, plaincake or madeira cakes I remember so
well - they certainly wouldn't have been iced, but could have been
used as an anchor if it had not been winter and the lake frozen.
Use of the word larder in WH would of course refer to a cooler part of
the room to store the food. Cooler being a relative term, it probably
means it was kept out of the direct heat of the heat source at the
North Pole and in the houseboat. Fascinating discussion, no?
Cheers (three million of them)
John