Manuscript Location

UC San Diego, American Institute of Wine & Food Culinary Collection

Place of Origin

United States ➔ Michigan

Date of Composition

1825-1855

Description

This book is divisible in three sections. The first section consists of recipes written in an ornate hand on pages 1 through 25. These recipes are entered in an index at the back of the book, which is written upside down in relation to the rest of the text. The second section consists of recipes written in a simple, neat hand on pages numbered 26 through 39 and continuing on an additional unnumbered page [40]. The remainder of the 124-page book is unpaginated and is written in multiple hands. A number of dates occur in the unpaginated section of the book, including 1827, 1830, 1831, 1844, and /55 (presumably 1855). Pages 1 to 25, which would seem to constitute the root book, may be as early as 1820.

The book is almost entirely given over to recipes for desserts, cakes, and preserves that were current during second quarter of the 19th century. However, it does include a few recipes for savory dishes, including two unusual ones: "To Barbecue Fish," page 24, and "Brain Cakes," digital image 25.

A newspaper clipping pasted to the inside front cover bears the dateline "Hanover, Mich. March 7, 1839." The library has ascribed the volume to an individual or family named Hunt.