THIRTY-THREE

[CULINARY MANUSCRIPT] Early 19th century culinary manuscript

[Circa 1800]. Slim quarto (210 x 175 x 10 mm). 55 text pages on 28 leaves. Numbered to p30. Lacking pp5-6 in paginated section, two stubs before unnumbered section. Modern half calf, marbled boards, some staining and marking to text. Watermark: Britannia seated in an oval, surmounted by a crown, I Furness & Co.

¶ The anonymous compiler of this Georgian manuscript cookbook appears to have been comfortably off, but not wealthy. The 100-plus recipes cover dishes featuring meat, fish, cakes and puddings, but although there are many attributions, using these to establish our scribes’ identities or location proves decidedly difficult.

The book’s creator clearly had no interest in presentation or even rationalization, and no index or other finding system. Neither is there an overall order to the manuscript: “Dutch Flummery”, for example, is paired incongruously with “Pickled Fish” on p16, and “Damsen Cheese” accompanies “To Hash a Calves Head” on p19. There are no dates, but hand varies a little, so we assume it was compiled over a period of several years.

Some sections or recipes are, however, arranged together. “To make Curry” (“take a Chicken or Rabbit scin’d fricasse it rub every piece all over with Curry Powder” add a “strong Veal gravy” and “stew gently” (p10)) is complemented on the facing page by instructions “To Boil Rice for the Curry” (for the familiar 10-minute cooking time, after which the rice is “Covered up for Half an Hour and not uncovered till sent to Table” (p11)). Likewise, the recipe for “Oyster Sausages” offered by “Dor Hunter” conveniently occupies the same page as a method “To feed Oysters” (p[39]).

A larger exception to the unstructured nature of the book is a group of over 20 recipes (pp18-29) which all originated from a “Mrs Rasher”. These have been entered in together, so were likely copied in from her recipe book. She mainly supplies recipes for cakes and puddings, including several types of “Cheese” (“Damsen”, “Lemon”, “Citron), a couple of flummeries (“Italian” and “Duch”) and puddings (“Orange Puding”, “Baked Apple Puding). Conspicuously savoury among this group is a recipe for “India Pickle” which, once you have prepared “Ginger”, “garlick”, “Pennywoth”, “Turmereck”, “Vinegar” and other ingredients, veers from the particular to the general: “put in the following things the Inside of Cabage Cut in quarters Appels Cucumbers or any thing you please” (p27).

The enigmatic “H H” provides several recipes, including “Calves Feet Jelly” (p[38]), “Stewd Eel” (considered “Excellent” (p [33])), and “Risoles” which, “if wanted particular nice”, one should “cover with Bread Crumbs twise and be sure not to put in two much gravy as you Cannot work them into nice shapes if you do” (p[38]). Other attributed recipes include “To Preserve Cucumbers Mrs Edwd Evenes” (p[48]), “Mrs Davises Receipt to Preserve Mellons” (p[49]) and “French Bread Mrs Moleneaux” (p[53]). The mononymic “Simpson” (perhaps a servant?) has recipes for “Giblet Soup Simpson” (p[40]), “Risoles” (p[55), and “Sorrell Sawse”, also judged “Excellent”. The most specific name reference is a “Mrs Brooke at the Revd . Mr Dowsings North Balsham” (p17), (who also have a recipe for “Calves Feet Jelly”), but despite their names and location, the Reverend Dowsing of Balsham and Mrs Brooke prove surprisingly elusive.

£650 Ref: 8116