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In the current world of high food prices and in some cases shortages, more of us are turning to the yesteryears’s less wasteful and more economical ways of cooking. Combine that with a drive to eat more healthily, and old recipe books are making a strong comeback. The foodies at Country House Library have cooked up a list from some of more unusual vintage cookbooks on our shelves.
With recipes, cooking methods and ingredients going back centuries, this volume is as much a book of history as it is a cookbook. Pick up invaluable tips on cooking ‘Cokyntryce’ – the upper half of a suckling pig’s body sewn onto the bottom half of a capon or turkey. (Other animal combinations were available!). Or how about ‘Yrchouns’ – a stuffed pig with almond or pastry spikes (taken from the old English word for a hedgehog). Many old English ingredients have all but disappeared from the modern kitchen, for example, flounders, bloaters, swan, ox heart, hare. Even mutton and oysters are a rare thing in twenty-first century cookery, when years ago they were almost a staple. A fascinating read for lovers of food history and the ‘alternative’ chef.
If the galactic positions of the suns, moons and planets can affect your personality and path in life, they can almost certainly influence what you’re likely to pick off the menu. Did you know that as oranges resemble the sun, people born under the sign of Leo (ruled by the sun) will relate to the colour and sweet taste of oranges. Birds are linked to the Goddess Venus so presumably Taureans, (the bull – ruled by the planet Venus), will have a tendency towards chicken and duck. Find out if Cancerians (the crab) are partial to a crab sandwich, and those born under the sign of Scorpio, like to splash out on lobster. Pisces would be easy. Capricorn might be more of a challenge in the supermarket. Impress your dinner guests by cooking their horoscope!
There’s nothing children enjoy more on a cold and wintry day, than helping out in the kitchen! Baking cakes and cookies, mixing the dough, topping off a pizza, rolling out the pastry, whipping the cream, and best of all, tasting the mixture before it goes into the oven. Avoiding recipes that involve boiling, frying or too much contact with a hot stove, and measuring everything in cups and spoons, (no fiddly weighing) this book will keep your budding chefs amused for hours!
Swiss cookery might not be the natural ‘go to’ international cuisine for the average home cook, but the small Alpine country in central Europe, goes big on flavour, encompassing its neighbour’s influences; France, Germany and Italy – with a large helping of its own home-grown gastronomy. Yes, this cookbook explains the secrets of the perfect fondue and kirsch cherry tart, but there’s so much more to discover from every beautiful corner of this special country. Try your hand at such dishes as Raclette, Malakoff, or Älplermagronen (Alpine Macaroni) all under the watchful eye of Tante (Aunt) Heidi!
If we counted the number of ways we were familiar with of how to cook an egg, the majority of us would probably score less than 10 – but this book shows us 151. Beat that! Fed up with fried eggs for breakfast and boiled eggs for tea? Then crack on with scrumptious pancakes, healthy quiches, cloud-like soufflés and delicious omelettes. Perfect for vegetarians, what could be better than a clutch of new egg dishes in your repertoire.
Founded in 1909 in Canada, the ‘Robin Hood’ brand of flour produced by the ‘Moose Jaw Milling Company’ became a household name in the North American continent and is still in existence to this day (under different ownership). This rare, illustrated, survivor from around 1915 contains baking recipes by Mrs (Sarah) Rorer, a pioneer of American domestic science and often cited as the first American dietician. She published her own book of vegetarian recipes as early as 1909. This is a collector’s item for anyone interested in modern history of cookery.
Ethelind Fearon (d. 1974) was, among other things, an authority on restoring medieval houses and an accomplished gardener (tending the borders of author H. G. Wells at one point), but she also wrote a kaleidoscope of self-help books including volumes on pigkeeping, pastry, keeping pace with your daughter, and growing herbs. Her series of ‘reluctant’ books have enjoyed something a cult following in recent years, and we can see why. Here’s an excerpt from this 1953 publication of cooking:-
“Salad like soup can be anything. If you choose to serve cold rice pudding and stewed prunes, with a garnish of lettuce leaves and dressing of lemon juice and oil, as a salad, no one could contradict you. I know because I’ve done it, but you need courage, a knowledge of the inadequacies of your opponent (which is more potent armor than any courage), and a few green olives and radishes cut into the shape of fuchsia stuck on top. It’s a masterpiece, and the finest known method of disposing of cold rice pudding”.
Need we say more?
Ever wondered what to do with all those tropical ingredients we see in the supermarkets nowadays? Are your pineapples restricted to pizza topping? Your limes restricted to the neck of a bottle of beer? With both economical suggestions and lavish recipe ideas, here’s how to prepare and cook with the likes of coconuts, guava, yams, limes and groundnuts. This 1963 publication from Faber & Faber is a must for lovers of slightly off-beat vintage cookery books, or for anyone who wants to put something different on the dinner table.
Did you know that the Great Wall of China is held together with a mixture containing sticky rice? (Well it certainly sticks to saucepans)! Did you know that rice is grown on every continent of the world except Antarctica? Did you know that the largest consumers of rice live in the United Arab Emirates consuming around 200 kilos per head per year, and the French are among the lowest, consuming a mere 5 kilos per year. So whatever your preferred cuisine; Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Creole, Italian or just a good old British rice pudding, rice is sure to appear somewhere on the list of ingredients. This vintage cookery book by prolific cookery writer of the day, Robin Howe, will add to your list of rice know-how.
The doyenne of BBC home economists, Marguerite Patten CBE was one of the first ‘celebrity chefs’ (a term she disliked, always preferring “home economist”), coming to fame during the Second World War years when she shared her food rationing recipes on a BBC radio program called ‘Kitchen Front’. After the war she popularised the use of the refrigerator and pressure cooker and regularly appeared on the BBC radio’s ‘Woman’s Hour’ until well into her 80’s. With the popular TV series ‘Bake Off’ reviving interest in this delicious strand of cookery, why not try your hand at some vintage cake icing and decoration. Who knows – you might be the next ‘Star Baker’!
From medieval feasts to fluffy rice, Swiss fondues to Spanish frittatas, there’s something to satisfy all tastes and budgets in this menu of unusual and vintage cookery books. The perfect gift for your foodie loved ones, or why not treat yourself to some fascinating food-loving facts with a treat from the cookery section at Country House Library?
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