Manuscript Location

Maryland Historical Society, Special Collections Reading Room

Place of Origin

United States ➔ Maryland

Date of Composition

1850-1882

Description

Born in 1810, Catherine Barton Gilman ran a flourishing school in Annapolis, Maryland, despite her consumptive tendency. She married Charles Gilman, a Baltimore lawyer, in 1852. He died in 1861, leaving her with two children.

Dated 1850-1882, Catherine Barton Gilman's 23-page cookbook contains approximately forty-two recipes. Some of the dishes outlined in the book had been popular since the early nineteenth century, while others became fashionable around the time of the Civil War. The older recipes include lobster and chicken salads (both party favorites), mincemeat, sweet potato pudding, Spanish buns, pound cake, and fruitcake. Among the newer recipes are Turbot à la crème, veal pâté, lemon pie, Berwick sponge cake, chocolate cake, chocolate frosting, New England brown bread, and rye drop cake. The book includes a few household recipes and remedies. Tucked into the book are 15 loose sheets containing approximately thirty-eight additional recipes.

To access the library record, click on "View Institution Homepage" and enter "Catherine Barton Gilman Cookbook" in the search box. The library record contains a link to the finding aid for the Randall-Brune-Philpot family papers, 1760-1983, which contain Catherine Gilman's cookbook among the papers of her niece, Elizabeth Blanchard Randall.