Manuscript Location

Folger Shakespeare Library, Manuscripts

Place of Origin

England

Date of Composition

ca. 1720-ca. 1750

Description

This recipe book is organized under four heads: "Of Preserving, etc." (pages 1-18); "Of Medicines" (pages 47-89; pages 19-46 missing); "Observations Concerning y^e Diseases of Children and their cure " (pages 100-132; pages 112-113 missing); and "Of Cookery" (pages 133-168). The preserving and cookery sections are in a single hand except for pages 155 to 165, which are in one other hand. The principal writer of the culinary sections has written "Medicines" but only part of the first page of "Observations," the rest of which is in two other hands. In the back of the book (pages 169-180) there is a note recording a payment to Dr. Benjamin Asterley, dated January 30, 1748/9, followed by what appears to be a series of accounts, all crosssed out. The hand of the note may be that of the principal writer of "Observations"; the hand of the accounts is similar to that of several lines written on (torn) page 113 of that section.

"Of Preserving, etc." covers not only fruit preserving but also small dessert cakes and biskets, dessert creams, and hartshorn jelly. Particularly interesting recipes in this section include "To Make Chocolate" (page 7), which starts with the roasting of the beans, and "To Make Chocolate Cream" (page 9), which takes the uncommon form of a chocolate stirred custard topped with whipped cream. "Cookery" includes recipes for "To boyle a Duck y^e French Way" (page 133), soups, mince pies, preserved foods, an unsual "To Fry Rabbits in Ale" (page 138), and a clutch of savory pies mostly in the hand of the second culinary writer (pages 155-166). A notable feature of the cookery section is its many cake recipes: six seed cakes, including an early sponge type (pages 140-142), three "Carroway Cakes" (page 143), and eight large yeast-raised cakes (pages 144-146), including one by the peculiar title "Rum Cake," although the recipe does not call for rum and seems in all respects conventional. (Perhaps the writer enjoyed eating this cake with rum.) There is also a rare recipe for "Househole Bread" (page 147).

Mary Watson-Wentworth, Marchioness of Rockingham ( d. 1761), was a former owner of the book.