Place of Origin

England

Date of Composition

1670-1700

Description

Other than a few pages of recipes tacked on to both ends of the volume by later writers, this Restoration-era English recipe book appears to have been compiled under the auspices of one individual who wrote about three-quarters of the entries and passed the book to others to write the rest. The book is organized in five distinct parts: "Of Roots," which is essentially a book of simples (11 pages): recipes for fruit preserving (18 pages); medical recipes (4 pages); mixed preserving and medical recipes (24 pages); and recipes for general cooking, interspersed with a few medical recipes (58 pages). The recipes in the final section are consecutively numbered 1 to 111. The book of simples and the four-page section of medical recipes are written in an extremely neat, elegant hand. The remainder of the book is mostly written in the sprawling, mixed italic-secretary hand of the individual who likely instigated the project, but also contains sporadic intrusions of other hands, particularly in the lengthy final section on general cooking. 

There are several unusual recipes in the final section of the book. Both artichoke pies and (sweet) potato pies were popular in the period. This book has a recipe that combines both, "To Make Artichoake Potatoe Pye," #46. "To Make Musmays Pudding," #81, is essentially rich Yorkshire pudding baked in individual china cups. There is also an uncommon recipe for "Parsley Soup," #84.