Manuscript Location

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

Place of Origin

England

Date of Composition

1739-1741

Description

This book is in two parts. Culinary recipes (mostly) are written from the front of the notebook. These recipes are numbered 1 through 166 and are preceded by a complete table of contents. At least 6 leaves have been cut out: recipes 3-4; 7-8; 59-62; 67-68; and 147-148 are missing. Medical recipes are written from the back of the notebook, upside down in relation to the front. The medical section comprises approximately one third of the total book

This book was clearly a collaborative project undertaken by a circle of family members or friends. To judge from the hands, at least eight people must have been involved, perhaps as many as a dozen. The circle seems to have been privileged, as a number of recipes are attributed to members of peerage, including Lady Mountague, Sir William Trogden, Sir Robert Austin, Lady Lucy Bright, Lady Carberry, Lady Onslow, Lady Westmoreland, and Sir John Stanley. Other persons credited include Cousin Hopton, Mr. Andrew Wattenburg,  Mr. Halsey, Mr. Loyd, Mrs. Shorthose, Mr. Whettenhall, Mrs. Broderepp, Mr. Bouvere, Mr. Penfold, and Mr. Henry Caverley.

Most books of this kind are inscribed by the person for whom they were compiled. This one is not, unless a former inscription is now missing. Also unusual for a book of this kind, many of the hands are rushed and messy, and many of the recipes are strangely vague and brief. No one could actually produce the pie outlined in the recipe "To make a fashonable Pye from y^e Court at Richmond" (chicken, bacon, and forcemeat balls, "all baked to gether in a standing crust," leaf 24v). And no one could make chocolate from scratch, starting with "your nuts," using the recipe "To make Chocolate" (leaf 28v). One guesses that the contributors of these recipes merely asked their cooks how such things were made and then wrote down the gist of what they were told.

Most of the dishes outlined in the book were standard on privileged English tables in the mid-eighteenth century. However, there are a few uncommon recipes. These include "Soup Cakes," which are essentially bouillon cubes (leaf 29v); "To make a Custard Tanzey," which is a boiled custard flavored with tansy (leaf 61v); "The Dutchess of Mountague's Pudding," which is basically brioche with currants (leaf 72r); "Robert Sauce," an early recipe in English for this piquant French brown sauce (leaf 73r); and "Orange Fritters," made with pureed carrots (leaf 75r). The date 1739 appears in the middle of the culinary section, and the date 1741 at the very end. The entire book was likely compiled more or less between these two dates.