Place of Origin

England

Date of Composition

1647-1670

Description

This English recipe book was written by nine or ten different individuals, each of whom contributed between 3 and 11 pages of recipes. None of the hands appear to recur. The most prolific contributor was Thomas Oxinden, who wrote digital pages 29 through 39. He signed his name, with the date 1647, on digital page 34, signed his name again on digital page 35, and capped his contribution, on digital page 39, with the statement: "Written by Tho: Oxinden Honour Kath: Oxinden 1647. It is possible that all or most of the book originated in the Oxiden family, for a medical recipe on digital page 51 is marked "the Ladie Margarett Oxinden: Feb: 1650." The book was evidently continued at least as late as 1670, for that date appears on digital page 85, followed by five additional written pages, all written inverted.  

The book contains roughly equal numbers of culinary and medical recipes. Thomas Oxinden wrote most of the culinary recipes, which are as follows: to preserve pippins betwixt christmas & easter; cracknells; makeroons; biskits of rise [rice]; suger cakes; to make A [illegible word] pye (veal meatballs with herbs, currants, sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon, bound with eggs); cabidge poodinge; creame dish (cream and eggs boiled to a curd); sacke posset; sillibub; allmon custard; Ice and snow of creame (a three-layer dish of rice porridge, clotted cream, and whipped cream, liberally seasoned with rose water and sugar); a dish with rabits livers; and green peascods of peares (little peapod-shaped pastries, tinted green, filled with marrow and, inexplicably, apples). Three culinary recipes precede Thomas Thomas Oxinden's section: How to preserve guinces [quinces] to make them looke yalew [yellow]; mackrouns; and french breade. And three culinary recipes follow Thomas Oxinden's section: gelly of harts-horn; buttered Loafe; and greene pudding. Given the earliness of this manuscript, most of the handwriting throughout is surprisingly easy for nonspecialists to read.