There are many young housewives, well-
educated as well as practical, who like to
prepare with their own hands the dainty
trifles which give variety to the ordinary
bill of fare. They delight in placing before
those whose comfort is committed to their
trust some pleasant surprise as a proof of
their culinary skill. A new dish successfully
achieved is to them a source of honourable
pride, and a receipt found in some century-old
* She has no desire to be praised but for her cookery ; nor wishes any
ill to the rest ofmankind^ but that whenever they aspire to feast ^ their
custards may be wheyish, and their pie-crusts tough,"* — * Rambler.*
INTRODUCTION.
' Look to the baked meats, good Angelica ;
Spare not for cost.^
* Romeo and Juliet.*
note-book, tried and pronounced to be * very
good/ is a welcome discovery.
To these young housewives I dedicate my
book. It may cost them an effort sometimes
to put down Shakespeare, Tennyson, or
Browning, and to leave the library for the
kitchen. Perhaps, if quite candid, they will
own that the receipt-book open beside them
does not keep their thoughts from turning a
little longingly to the favourite author left un-
read. But good housewifery will find that
even so prosaic a thing as cookery has its
aesthetic side. It is the prerogative of the
poets to be everywhere at home, and our
young matron with her cooking apron on
will hear their friendly voices cheering her
* Go^ sirrah^ take them to the buttery.
And give them friendly welcome every one:
Let them want nothing that my house affords,^
* Taming of the Shrew.'
VI
INTRODUCTION.
* Labour is light where love {quoth I) doth pay ;
(Saith h£\ light burden* s heavy if far borne*
Drayton.
throughout her domestic duties as clearly as
though when, with the 'iEneid' or * Odyssey'
in her hand, she wandered through the fields
of classic literature. The truth is, there is
nothing in either rank or culture which is
incompatible with the homeliest details of
domestic life. Our own Princess Royal, for
instance, one of the most accomplished
women in Europe, is well - known to be
equally at home in the kitchen and at Court
It is a fact that . during the residence of
Princess Louise in Canada, a guest at
Government House, remarking on the excel-
lence of some patties, was told by the lady
who sat beside^him that they might * well be
good, for the Princess herself had made them/
' The best mutton-broth^ the best veal-cutlets^ the best necks <f mutton
and French beans, the best fried fish and plumpest partridges, in all
Brighton were to be had at Miss HoneymatCs* — Thackeray.
Vll
INTRODUCTION.
* T*he business of the kitchen's great,
For it is Jit that men should eat,'*
Sir John Suckling.
In our great-grandmothers' times every
woman of noble birth had her still-room, in
which she prepared, or presided over the
preparations of, such delicacies as belong to
the higher branches of cookery. It is one
of the healthiest signs of the present time
that the idea of feminine dignity is again
compatible with homely occupations. To
profess ignorance of the domestic arts is now
regarded as rather an indication that a woman
is under-educated, or even under-bred, than
as a proof of her cultivation.
I do not, of course, claim that this little
volume is a comprehensive cookery-book.
From the thousand and one books already
before the public, each housewife may select
* I am no Quaker at my food. I confess lam not indifferent to the
kinds of it. Those unctuous morsels of deer' s flesh were not made to
be received with dispassionate services. I hate a man who swallows
itt affecting not to knmo what he is eating. I suspect his tcLste in
higher matters^ — Charles Lamb.
vm
INTRODUCTION.
* Marlow. Lifs see your list of the larder ^ then, I ask it as a
favour, I always match my appetite to my Mil of fare,''
*She Stoops to Conquer/
Page 1
Presented as published in 1889. 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
There are many young housewives, welleducated as well as practical, who like to prepare with their own hands the dainty trifles which give variety to the ordinary bill of fare. They delight in placing before those whose comfort is committed to their trust some pleasant surprise as a proof of their culinary skill. A new dish successfully achieved is to them a source of honourable pride, and a receipt found in some century-old
* She has no desire to be praised but for her cookery ; nor wishes any ill to the rest ofmankind^ but that whenever they aspire to feast ^ their custards may be wheyish, and their pie-crusts tough,"* — * Rambler.*
' Look to the baked meats, good Angelica ; Spare not for cost.^
* Romeo and Juliet.*
note-book, tried and pronounced to be * very good/ is a welcome discovery.
To these young housewives I dedicate my book. It may cost them an effort sometimes to put down Shakespeare, Tennyson, or Browning, and to leave the library for the kitchen. Perhaps, if quite candid, they will own that the receipt-book open beside them does not keep their thoughts from turning a little longingly to the favourite author left unread. But good housewifery will find that even so prosaic a thing as cookery has its aesthetic side. It is the prerogative of the poets to be everywhere at home, and our young matron with her cooking apron on will hear their friendly voices cheering her
* Go^ sirrah^ take them to the buttery. And give them friendly welcome every one: Let them want nothing that my house affords,^
* Taming of the Shrew.'
* Labour is light where love {quoth I) doth pay ; (Saith h£\ light burden* s heavy if far borne*
Drayton.
throughout her domestic duties as clearly as though when, with the 'iEneid' or * Odyssey' in her hand, she wandered through the fields of classic literature. The truth is, there is nothing in either rank or culture which is incompatible with the homeliest details of domestic life. Our own Princess Royal, for instance, one of the most accomplished women in Europe, is well - known to be equally at home in the kitchen and at Court It is a fact that . during the residence of Princess Louise in Canada, a guest at Government House, remarking on the excellence of some patties, was told by the lady who sat beside him that they might * well be good, for the Princess herself had made them/
' The best mutton-broth^ the best veal-cutlets^ the best necks <f mutton and French beans, the best fried fish and plumpest partridges, in all Brighton were to be had at Miss HoneymatCs* — Thackeray.
* T*he business of the kitchen's great, For it is Jit that men should eat,'*
Sir John Suckling.
In our great-grandmothers' times every woman of noble birth had her still-room, in which she prepared, or presided over the preparations of, such delicacies as belong to the higher branches of cookery. It is one of the healthiest signs of the present time that the idea of feminine dignity is again compatible with homely occupations. To profess ignorance of the domestic arts is now regarded as rather an indication that a woman is under-educated, or even under-bred, than as a proof of her cultivation.
I do not, of course, claim that this little volume is a comprehensive cookery-book. From the thousand and one books already before the public, each housewife may select
* I am no Quaker at my food. I confess lam not indifferent to the kinds of it. Those unctuous morsels of deer' s flesh were not made to be received with dispassionate services. I hate a man who swallows itt affecting not to knmo what he is eating. I suspect his taste in higher matters^ — Charles Lamb.
vm
* Marlow. Lifs see your list of the larder ^ then, I ask it as a favour, I always match my appetite to my Mil of fare,''
*She Stoops to Conquer/