Manuscript Location

University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Kislak Center for Special Collections - Manuscripts

Place of Origin

England ➔ Yorkshire ➔ Doncaster

Date of Composition

presumed ca. 1820-ca. 1843

Description

This anonymous English recipe book was likely compiled in the town of Doncaster, in the northern English county of Yorkshire, approximately during the years 1820 to 1843. The book begins with a table of contents, which is followed by 137 numbered pages of recipes, most of which are culinary. The culinary recipes cover a range of dishes, including soups, meat dishes, meat jellies, shellfish dishes, savory pies, pickled foods, cheeses, puddings, cakes, fruit preserves, coffee, and wines. Recipes for soups, puddings, and fruit preserves are particularly well represented. Among the soups are asparagus, blue peas, carrot, ox cheek, and winter vegetable. Bakewell, cabinet, Dutch water, marrow (sweet), souffle, and Swiss puddings are outlined. The fruit preserves include jams. jellies, and preserved whole oranges and pears. There are also recipes for Carolina snow balls, Devonshire butter, lobster salad, orange chips, oyster pie, sausages, sago, Spanish puffs, Stilton cheese, and tomato sauce. Like many other books of this era, this book contains recipes for making soup for the poor; the cost of ingredients for 160 gallons is noted. There is also an entry on the value of rice. A few household and cosmetic recipes are interspersed with the culinary recipes. Many of the recipes are attributed and several have margin notes.