Manuscript Location

University of Iowa Main Library, Special Collections, Szathmary Culinary Archive

Place of Origin

England

Date of Composition

1750-1790

Description

This collection of 89 numbered recipes in a single beautiful eighteenth-century hand is signed by "Jos. Forbes, Dr.[?]" on the final leaf. The paper is watermarked VDL for Vander Ley, a Dutch firm whose products were widely used in America, so the manuscript could possibly have originated in America, as the library believes. However, the book's phrasing and vocabulary (such as "barm" for yeast) suggest an English origin, as do the presence of recipes for plum broth and tansy, neither of which became naturalized in America. As is typical of manuscript cookbooks, this book contains many recipes for puddings, pastry (potatoe pie, florentines, cheese cakes, and mince pie), dessert custards and creams, cakes (gingerbread, macaroons, and yeast-raised cake), preserves, and breads (including so-called French bread, an expensive white bread enriched with milk, butter, and eggs that was long favored in England). In addition, the book includes recipes for cod, for various sauces, and for pickles of cucumbers, oysters, salmon, and peaches. There are also directions for the festive drink posset, for mead, and for wines made from currants, elderberries, and cherries.