Beef Extract

The stories about this famous and famously warming product are near-endless. Best-known perhaps is the true tale of Queen Victoria ordering – in both senses of the word – the dispatch ‘without delay’ of 250lbs of Fortnum’s beef extract to Florence Nightingale in Turkey.

The scandal had erupted when newspaper reporters, covering skirmishes from the front line for the very first time, revealed the horrendous conditions endured by injured British soldiers in the Crimean War.

And while not strictly speaking medicinal, the Queen nonetheless believed – as many people continue to believe to this day – that a little Fortnum’s ‘beef tea’ would provide nourishment to the ailing troops, and a psychological boost too: as a warming, soothing reminder of home.

Even back then, there were almost certainly better methods for treating battlefields injuries. But we doubt any of them tasted as nice.

Other Brits on foreign soil have had similar ideas over the years: attracted to the ideal of our beef extract as a uniquely British aid in times of great exertion.

Sir Henry Morton Stanley – the explorer famous for his adventures throughout central Africa – carried Fortnum’s beef extract on his journeys into the southern hemisphere. Captain Scott took a little on his trip to the Antarctic.

But that was then.

Today, Fortnum’s beef extract continues to be hugely popular as a hearty addition to stews and sauces and on its own, spread directly from the jar onto fresh, still-warm toast.

And in the year when bone broth is being hailed as a must-eat superfood, we are delighted to have been so ahead of the curve.