Manuscript Location

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

Place of Origin

England

Date of Composition

begun ca. 1775, likely continued ca. 1810, with additions 1828

Description

This unusually interesting recipe book contains 97 pages of (mostly) culinary recipes at the front and approximately 11 pages of medical recipes written from the back of the book, upside down in relation to the front. The front section is in two principal hands, an extremely fine cursive hand, possibly that of a professional scribe, from pages 1 to 36, and a neat, informal hand, from pages 37 to 94. Page 73 is in an ornate hand that may represent an attempt to imitate the hand of the first 36 pages. Page 97, dated 1828 at the top, is in a third hand that continues through page 99, the last written page of the front section. The medical section is primarily written in the two principal hands of the front.

Many recipes in the two principal hands are credited to various individuals. Interestingly, four of these individuals--Warde, Baker, Pridham, and Paxton--are credited for recipes written by both of the two principal writers. This suggests a relationship between the two principal writers. Most likely, they were members of the same family, perhaps of two different generations. The recipes in the first 36 pages were current in the late eighteenth, as are most of the recipes written on pages 37 through 94. However, a few recipes written in the second hand, notably "Bachamele," page 37, "Thatched House" pie, page 63, and Lemon Cake, page 65, were more characteristic of the early nineteenth century. 

There is another possibility: The two sections could have been compiled by the same person, who had the first 36 pages professionally copied and then proceeded to write out pages 37 through 94 in his or her own hand. It bears mentioning that the nearly all of the recipe attributions in pages 1 through 36 were added in an alien hand that bears some resemblance to the hand of pages 37 through 94.

Whatever the relationship between the two principal writers, this book merits special attention due to the large number of uncommon recipes it outlines. These include, in the first hand: "To Marinate Eels the Italian Way," page 11; "Cakes for Tea," made without butter and extremely thin and brittle, page 17; "Chicken Surprize," creamed chicken stuffed in a mock round bread loaf made of bacon and forcemeat, page 20; "Sugar Straws," apparently fried wafers bent over a rolling pin, as for tuiles, page 24; and "Desart Cakes," with caraway, rolled "as thin as the finest paper," perhaps served with fruit and cheese, page 35. In the second hand, there is "Bigoche of Calf's Heart," likely the Polish stew "bigosh" but with onions and souring agents instead of the usual sauerkraut, page 38; "Chima Chillo," a sort of mutton hash served on rice that vaguely suggests a Thai larb, page 49; and "Indian Triffle," molded boiled rice with custard, more commonly called "rice cups," page 60. Eastern rice dishes and curries are a theme throughout.