THAT room or toleration for another '' cook-book " can
exist in the public mind, will be denied at once, with
all the vigor to be expected from a people overrun with
cook-books, and only anxious to relegate the majority of
them to their proper place as trunk-hnings and kindling-
material. The minority, admirable in plan and execution,
and elaborate enough to serve all republican purposes, are
surely sufficient for all the needs that have been or may
be. With Mrs. Cornelius and Miss Parloa, Marion Har-
land and Mrs. Whitnej^, and innumerable other trust-
worthy authorities, for all every-day purposes, and Mrs.
Henderson for such festivity as we may at times desire to
make, another word is not only superfluous but absurd ; in
fact, an outrage on common sense, not for one instant to
be justified.
Such was my own attitude and such my language hardl}'
a year ago ; yet that short space of time has shown me,
that, whether the public admit the claim, or no, one more
cook-book Must Be. And this is why : —
A year of somewhat exceptional experience — that in-
volved in building up several cooking-schools in a new
5
b INTRODUCTORY.
localit}' , demanding the most thorough and minute system
to assure their success and permanence — showed the in-
adequacies of any existing hand-books, and the necessities
to be met in making a new one. Thus the present book
has a twofold character, and represents, not only the ordi-
nary receipt or cook book, usable in any part of the coun-
try and covering all ordinary household needs, but covers
the questions naturally arising in every lesson given, and
ending in statements of the most necessary points in house-
hold science. There are large books designed to cover
this ground, and excellent of their kind, but so cumbrous
in form and execution as to daunt the average reader.
Miss Corson's "Cooking-School Text-Book" com-
mended itself for its admirable plainness and fullness of
detail, but was almost at once found impracticable as a
system for my purposes ; her dishes usually requmng the
choicest that the best city market could afford, and taking
for granted also a taste for French flavorings not yet com-
mon outside of our large cities, and to no great extent
within them. To utilize to the best advantage the food-
resources of whatever spot one might be in, to give infor-
mation on a hundred points suggested by each lesson, yet
having no place in the ordinary cook-book, in short, to teach
household science as well as cooking, became my year's
work ; and it is that year's work which is incorporated in
these pages. Beginning with Ealeigh, N.C., and lessons
given in a large school there, it included also a seven-
months' course at the Deaf and Dumb Institute, and regular
classes for ladies. Straight through, in those classes, it
became my business to sa}^, " This is no infallible system,
warranted to give the whole art of cooking in twelve lessons.
All I can do for you is to laj^ down clearly certain fixed
INTRODUCTORY. 7
Page 1
Presented as published in 1881. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
THAT room or toleration for another '' cook-book" can exist in the public mind, will be denied at once, with all the vigor to be expected from a people overrun with cook-books, and only anxious to relegate the majority of them to their proper place as trunk-linings and kindlingmaterial. The minority, admirable in plan and execution, and elaborate enough to serve all republican purposes, are surely sufficient for all the needs that have been or may be. With Mrs. Cornelius and Miss Parloa, Marion Harland and Mrs. Whitney, and innumerable other trustworthy authorities, for all every-day purposes, and Mrs. Henderson for such festivity as we may at times desire to make, another word is not only superfluous but absurd ; in fact, an outrage on common sense, not for one instant to be justified.
Such was my own attitude and such my language hardly a year ago ; yet that short space of time has shown me, that, whether the public admit the claim, or no, one more cook-book Must Be. And this is why : —
A year of somewhat exceptional experience — that involved in building up several cooking-schools in a new
b INTRODUCTORY.
locality, demanding the most thorough and minute system to assure their success and permanence — showed the inadequacies of any existing hand-books, and the necessities to be met in making a new one. Thus the present book has a twofold character, and represents, not only the ordinary receipt or cook book, usable in any part of the country and covering all ordinary household needs, but covers the questions naturally arising in every lesson given, and ending in statements of the most necessary points in household science. There are large books designed to cover this ground, and excellent of their kind, but so cumbrous in form and execution as to daunt the average reader.
Miss Corson's "Cooking-School Text-Book" commended itself for its admirable plainness and fullness of detail, but was almost at once found impracticable as a system for my purposes ; her dishes usually requiring the choicest that the best city market could afford, and taking for granted also a taste for French flavorings not yet common outside of our large cities, and to no great extent within them. To utilize to the best advantage the food-resources of whatever spot one might be in, to give information on a hundred points suggested by each lesson, yet having no place in the ordinary cook-book, in short, to teach household science as well as cooking, became my year's work ; and it is that year's work which is incorporated in these pages. Beginning with Raleigh, N.C., and lessons given in a large school there, it included also a seven months' course at the Deaf and Dumb Institute, and regular classes for ladies. Straight through, in those classes, it became my business to say, " This is no infallible system, warranted to give the whole art of cooking in twelve lessons. All I can do for you is to laj^ down clearly certain fixed
INTRODUCTORY. 7