Samuel Pepys’ Parmesan Cheese

[Washingbasquait]

The Great Fire of London thread got me thinking.

Before he fled to safety, Samuel Pepys buried his wheel of Parmesan cheese in the back garden so he could retrieve it post-fire.

Was he being unreasonable? Would you bury your Parmesan cheese in the event of a city wide conflagration? If not, what would you bury?

I think it was quite valuable and obviously precious to him!

Absolutely right I would.

I love SP and another little known fact about him is that he had a kidney stone removed from his bladder by his urethra in the days of no anaesthetic.

a wheel of parmesan? I would be saving that before most relatives!

I need to know whether he successfully rescued it afterwards! Was it ok to eat?

Hmmmm good question OP. One I think about quite frequently too. I would be worried I would come back to a fondue type situation which would be make it hard to retrieve. But I spose fondue is better than nothing. I spose I would also bury some bread and cured meats?

Me too 😂

And me! I used to live near St Olave's where SP is buried, and I love the stories ☺️

I don't know what else I would bury though 🤔

I read that at that time parmesan was a kind of currency. It would have represented a large portion of his wealth and would have increased in value over time.

I dont really like Parmesan so he is BVU, halloumi or maybe a really nice blue would be ok. I suppose he had to wrap in quite a lot of paper so it didnt decompose.

I don't know when it was before he could go back to recover it, but it wouldn't be very long.

Remarkable story that London burned without massive loss of life.

Charles II's finest hour, really

www.historyanswers.co.uk/kings-queens/charles-ii-and-the-great-fire-of-london/

The rind of a whole wheel of Parmesan is pretty thick, and the cheese inside is hard, so I think it would have been unscathed.

That is a serious amount of cheese. Seems a good decision to me!

Whenever I've taught this at school, one of my favourite parts is asking the children what they would bury. Some of the answers are hilarious and some are extremely sweet. Such a lovely insight into what children value and want to protect.

I think it was lost. Or that might have been the money he buried in Brampton.

If I were a woman who had the misfortune to encounter Samuel Pepys I would have taken advantage of the chaos to bury Samuel Pepys. 'Sorry, officer. I last saw him running towards the garden with a great big cheese.'

Mmmm toasted cheese.

@SkalengeckOrSiegbarste I taught this the year before last to a year 1 class. Last year, when they were in year 2, I was teaching biographies and we used Pepys. They all remembered the cheese 😃

Better than trying to eat the damn thing before fleeing

Samuel Pepys’ Parmesan is my Roman Empire. I think about it far more frequently than is healthy.

DD is in year 7 and remembers the cheese

And kept it in a special box and showed to to guests, and had a special dinner every year on the anniversary of the op.

He's certainly always a fascinating read and a v important historical source, but don't love him (the rapes, sexual assaults and wife / servant beating).

Have you seen the price of it? It's a significant portion of anybody's wealth now - and we don't even have to import it via donkey cart to horse & carriage to ship to horse & cart over to Borough Market now.