A fine example of Mrs Beeton's Every Day Cookery.

This edition published in 1909 by "Ward, Lock & Co Ltd of Warwick House, Salisbury Square, London EC" has many wonderful coloured plates and photographic illustrations that bring back to life the food and grand dining of the Victorian era.

Beeton was the original advocate of "nose-to-tail" eating, and there are many recipes dedicated to offal, such as Calf's Brains With Maitre D'Hotel sauce, Kidneys With Oysters, and calf's foot jelly - used to make all those delectable savouries turned out from crenelated moulds. There are chapters on Food and Cookery; Invalid cookery; Foreign, Colonial and American Cookery; Carving at Table; Menu Making; and Waiting at Table.

"Mrs Beeton's book has more wisdom to the square inch than any work of man" said Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. There are recipes for croutes, croquettes and crumpets; pike, perch and pilchards; roasted teal, baked tench and boiled terrapin; rabbit jugged, rabbit marbled, rabbit larded and braised; and for invalid cookery, such as Irish Moss Blancmange and Mock turtle soup; along with rib-sticking puds and baked custards studded with angelica and glace cherries, as with Omnibus Pudding, and a truly Victorian concoction, Crystal Palace Pudding.

The book also deals with neatness, economy, and punctuality in the kitchen, along with more things we'd now run a mile from, such as how to pluck, to singe, to bone, to draw, to truss all manner of fowl. And if you need to know how to fold a napkin - Beeton will tell you here. Mrs Beeton's Every Day Cookery offers a wonderful glimpse into a world long gone. Beautifully. 

History

“Mrs Beeton” Isabella Beeton (1836 – 1865) was the grandmother of modern domestic goddesses, for, like present day female TV cooks, she saw the need to provide reassuring advice on culinary matters for the British middle classes; she was the guide, philosopher and friend of countless happy homes. Unlike earlier cookbook authors, she put emphasis on thrift and economy.  She also revolutionised recipe writing, listing ingredients, method and timings - even estimating the cost of each recipe - in a more modern, user-friendly way. Her work was first published as a book in 1861 in Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management, an extensive guide to running a household in Victorian Britain. By 1906 another title had emerged, Mrs Beaton’s Every Day Cookery, and this is the book we offer here.

Published 1909

Length 21cm

752 pages

Condition: good, all pages intact, no dust jacket, and with some slight discolouration and blotching, chiefly to the opening and closing advertising pages. Yet nothing unusual for a book of this age.