In 1747 appeared a thin folio volume, of which I will transcribe the
title: "The Art of Cookery, Made Plain and Easy, which far Exceeds
Every Thing of the Kind Ever yet Published ... By a Lady. London:
Printed for the Author; and sold at Mrs. Ashburn's, a China Shop, the
Corner of Fleet Ditch. MDCCXLVII." The lady was no other than Mrs.
Glasse, wife of an attorney residing in Carey Street; and a very
sensible lady she was, and a very sensible and interesting book hers
is, with a preface showing that her aim was to put matters as plainly
as she could, her intention being to instruct the lower sort. "For
example," says she, "when I bid them lard a fowl, if I should bid them
lard with large lardoons they would not know what I meant; but when
I say they must lard with little pieces of Bacon, they know what
I mean." I have been greatly charmed with Hannah Glasse's "Art of
Cookery," 1747, and with her "Complete Confectioner" likewise in a
modified degree. The latter was partly derived, she tells you, from
the manuscript of "a very old experienced housekeeper to a family of
the first distinction." But, nevertheless, both are very admirable
performances; and yet the compiler survives scarcely more than in
an anecdote for which I can see no authority. For she does not say,
"First catch your hare" [Footnote: Mrs. Glasse's cookery book was
reprinted at least as late as 1824].
Mrs. Glasse represents that, before she undertook the preparation
of the volume on confectionery, there was nothing of the kind for
reference and consultation. But we had already a curious work by E.
Kidder, who was, according to his title-page, a teacher of the art
which he expounded eventually in print. The title is sufficiently
descriptive: "E. Kidder's Receipts of Pastry and Cookery, for the use
of his Scholars, who teaches at his School in Queen Street, near St.
Thomas Apostle's, [Footnote: In another edition his school is in
St. Martin's Le Grand] on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, in the
afternoon. Also on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, in the afternoon,
at his School next to Furnivalls Inn in Holborn. Ladies may be taught
at their own Houses." It is a large octavo, consisting of fifty pages
of engraved text, and is embellished with a likeness of Mr. Kidder.
For all that Mrs. Glasse ignores him.
I have shown how Mrs. Glasse might have almost failed to keep a place
in the public recollection, had it not been for a remark which that
lady did not make. But there is a still more singular circumstance
connected with her and her book, and it is this--that in Dr. Johnson's
day, and possibly in her own lifetime, a story was current that the
book was really written by Dr. Hill the physician. That gentleman's
claim to the authorship has not, of course, been established, but at a
dinner at Dilly's the publisher's in 1778, when Johnson, Miss Seward,
and others were present, a curious little discussion arose on the
subject. Boswell thus relates the incident and the conversation:--"The
subject of cookery having been very naturally introduced at a table,
where Johnson, who boasted of the niceness of his palate, avowed that
'he always found a good dinner,' he said, 'I could write a better book
about cookery than has ever yet been written; it should be a book
upon philosophical principles. Pharmacy is now made much more simple.
Cookery may be so too. A prescription, which is now compounded of five
ingredients, had formerly fifty in it. So in Cookery. If the nature of
the ingredients is well known, much fewer will do. Then, as you cannot
make bad meat good, I would tell what is the best butcher's meat,
the best beef, the best pieces; how to choose young fowls; the proper
seasons of different vegetables; and then how to roast, and boil, and
compound."
DILLY:--"Mrs. Glasse's 'Cookery,' which is the best, was written by
Dr. Hill. Half the trade know this."
JOHNSON:--"Well, Sir, that shews how much better the subject of
cookery may be treated by a philosopher. I doubt if the book be
written by Dr Hill; for in Mrs. Glasse's Cookery, which I have
looked into, saltpetre and salt-prunella are spoken of as different
substances, whereas salt-prunella is only saltpetre burnt on charcoal;
and Hill could not be ignorant of this. However, as the greatest part
of such a book is made by transcription, this mistake may have been
carelessly adopted. But you shall see what a book of cookery I could
make. I shall agree with Mr. Dilly for the copyright."
Miss SEWARD:--"That would be Hercules with the distaff indeed!"
JOHNSON:--"No, Madam. Women can spin very well; but they cannot make a
good book of cookery."
But the Doctor's philosophical cookery book belongs to the voluminous
calendar of works which never passed beyond the stage of proposal; he
did not, so far as we know, ever draw out a title-page, as Coleridge
was fond of doing; and perhaps the loss is to be borne with. The
Doctor would have pitched his discourse in too high a key.
Among the gastronomical enlargements of our literature in the
latter half of the last century, one of the best books in point of
classification and range is that by B. Clermont, of which the third
edition made its appearance in 1776, the first having been anonymous.
Clermont states that he had been clerk of the kitchen in some of the
first families of the kingdom, and lately to the Earl of Abingdon. But
elsewhere we find that he had lived very recently in the establishment
of the Earl of Ashburnham, for he observes in the preface: "I beg the
candour of the Public will excuse the incorrectness of the Language
and Diction. My situation in life as an actual servant to the Earl of
Ashburnham at the time of the first publication of this Book will I
trust plead my Apology." He informs his readers on the title-page, and
repeats in the preface, that a material part of the work consists of a
translation of "Les Soupers de la Cour," and he proceeds to say,
that he does not pretend to make any further apology for the title of
_supper_, than that the French were, in general, more elegant in their
suppers than their dinners. In other words, the late dinner was still
called supper.
The writer had procured the French treatise from Paris for his own
use, and had found it of much service to him in his capacity as clerk
of the kitchen, and he had consequently translated it, under the
persuasion that it would prove an assistance to gentlemen, ladies,
and others interested in such matters. He specifies three antecedent
publications in France, of which his pages might be considered the
essence, viz., "La Cuisine Royale," "Le Maître d'Hôtel Cuisinier," and
"Les Dons de Comus"; and he expresses to some of his contemporaries,
who had helped him in his researches, his obligations in the following
terms:--"As every country produces many Articles peculiar to itself,
and considering the Difference of Climates, which either forward or
retard them, I would not rely on my own Knowledge, in regard to such
Articles; I applied therefore to three Tradesmen, all eminent in their
Profession, one for Fish, one for Poultry, and one for the productions
of the Garden, viz., Mr. Humphrey Turner, the Manager in St. James's
Market; Mr. Andrews, Poulterer in ditto; and Mr. Adam Lawson, many
years chief gardener to the Earl of Ashburnham; in this article I
was also assisted by Mr. Rice, Green-Grocer, in St. Albans Street."
Clermont dates his remarks from Princes Street, Cavendish Square.
While Mrs. Glasse was still in the middle firmament of public favour,
a little book without the writer's name was published as by "A Lady."
I have not seen the first or second editions; but the third appeared
in 1808. It is called "A New System of Domestic Cookery, Formed upon
Principles of Economy, and Adapted to the use of Private Families."
The author was Helene Rundell, of whom I am unable to supply any
further particulars at present. Mrs. Rundell's cookery book, according
to the preface, was originally intended for the private instruction of
the daughters of the authoress in their married homes, and specially
prepared with an eye to housekeepers of moderate incomes. Mrs. Rundell
did not write for professed cooks, or with any idea of emolument; and
she declared that had such a work existed when she first set out in
life it would have been a great treasure to her. The public shared
the writer's estimate of her labours, and called for a succession
of impressions of the "New System," till its run was checked by
Miss Acton's still more practical collection. Mrs. Rundell is little
consulted nowadays; but time was when Mrs. Glasse and herself were the
twin stars of the culinary empyrean.
Coming down to our own times, the names most familiar to our ears
are Ude, Francatelli, and Soyer, and they are the names of foreigners
[Footnote: A fourth work before me has no clue to the author, but
it is like the others, of an alien complexion. It is called "French
Domestic Cookery, Combining Elegance and Economy. In twelve Hundred
Receipts, 12mo, 1846." Soyer's book appeared in the same year. In
1820, an anonymous writer printed a Latin poem of his own composition,
called "Tabella Cibaria, a Bill of Fare, etc., etc., with Copious
Notes," which seem more important than the text]. No English school of
cookery can be said ever to have existed in England. We have, and
have always had, ample material for making excellent dishes; but if
we desire to turn it to proper account, we have to summon men from a
distance to our aid, or to accept the probable alternative--failure.
The adage, "God sends meat, and the devil sends cooks," must surely
be of native parentage, for of no country is it so true as of our own.
Perhaps, had it not been for the influx among us of French and
Italian experts, commencing with our Anglo-Gallic relations under
the Plantagenets, and the palmy days of the monastic orders, culinary
science would not have arrived at the height of development which it
has attained in the face of great obstacles. Perchance we should
not have progressed much beyond the pancake and oatmeal period. But
foreign _chefs_ limit their efforts to those who can afford to pay
them for their services. The middle classes do not fall within the
pale of their beneficence. The poor know them not. So it happens that
even as I write, the greater part of the community not only cannot
afford professional assistance in the preparation of their meals,
which goes without saying, but from ignorance expend on their larder
twice as much as a Parisian or an Italian in the same rank of life,
with a very indifferent result. There are handbooks of instruction,
it is true, both for the middle and for the lower classes. These books
are at everybody's command. But they are either left unread, or if
read, they are not understood. I have before me the eleventh edition
of Esther Copley's "Cottage Comforts," 1834; it embraces all the
points which demand attention from such as desire to render a humble
home comfortable and happy. The leaves have never been opened. I will
not say, _ex hoc disce omnes_; but it really appears to be the
case, that these works are not studied by those for whom they are
written--not studied, at all events, to advantage.
Dr. Kitchener augmented this department of our literary stores in
1821 with his "Cook's Oracle," which was very successful, and passed
through a series of editions.
In the preface to that of 1831, the editor describes the book as
greatly enlarged and improved, and claims the "rapid and steady sale
which has invariably attended each following edition" as a proof
of the excellence of the work. I merely mention this, because in
Kitchener's own preface to the seventh issue, l2mo, 1823, he says:
"This last time I have found little to add, and little to alter." Such
is human fallibility!
The "Cook's Oracle" was heralded by an introduction which very few
men could have written, and which represents the Doctor's method
of letting us know that, if we fancy him an impostor, we are much
mistaken. "The following Recipes," says he, "are not a mere marrowless
collection of shreds and patches, of cuttings and pastings--but a
bonâ-fide register of practical facts--accumulated by a perseverance,
not to be subdued or evaporated by the igniferous Terrors of a
Roasting Fire in the Dog-days:--in defiance of the odoriferous
and calefaceous repellents of Roasting, Boiling,--Frying, and
Broiling;--moreover, the author has submitted to a labour no preceding
Cookery-Book-maker, perhaps, ever attempted to encounter,--having
eaten each Receipt before he set it down in his Book."
What could critics say, after this? One or two large editions must
have been exhausted before they recovered their breath, and could
discover how the learned Kitchener set down the receipts which he had
previously devoured. But the language of the Preface helps to console
us for the loss of Johnson's threatened undertaking in this direction.
Dr. Kitchener proceeded on different lines from an artist who closely
followed him in the order of publication; and the two did not probably
clash in the slightest degree. The cooking world was large enough to
hold Kitchener and the _ci-devant chef_ to the most Christian King
Louis XVI. and the Right Honourable the Earl of Sefton, Louis Eustache
Ude. Ude was steward to the United Service Club, when he printed his
"French Cook" in 1822. A very satisfactory and amusing account of this
volume occurs in the "London Magazine" for January 1825. But whatever
may be thought of Ude nowadays, he not only exerted considerable
influence on the higher cookery of his day, but may almost be said to
have been the founder of the modern French school in England.
Ude became _chef_ at Crockford's Club, which was built in 1827, the
year in which his former employer, the Duke of York, died. There is a
story that, on hearing of the Duke's illness, Ude exclaimed, "Ah, mon
pauvre Duc, how much you shall miss me where you are gone!"
About 1827, Mrs. Johnstone brought out her well-known contribution
to this section of literature under the title of "The Cook and
Housewife's Manual," veiling her authorship under the pseudonym of
Mistress Margaret Dods, the landlady in Scott's tale of "St. Ronan's
Well," which appeared three years before (8vo, 1824).
Mrs. Johnstone imparted a novel feature to her book by investing it
with a fictitious history and origin, which, like most inventions of
the kind, is scarcely consistent with the circumstances, however it
may tend to enliven the monotony of a professional publication.
After three prefaces in the fourth edition before me (8vo, 1829) we
arrive at a heading, "Institution of the Cleikum Club," which narrates
how Peregrine Touchwood, Esquire, sought to cure his _ennui_ and
hypochondria by studying Apician mysteries; and it concludes with the
syllabus of a series of thirteen lectures on cookery, which were to
be delivered by the said Esquire. One then enters on the undertaking
itself, which can be readily distinguished from an ordinary manual by
a certain literary tone, which certainly betrays a little the hand or
influence of Scott.
But though the present is a Scottish production, there is no narrow
specialism in its scheme. The title-page gives a London publisher as
well as an Anglo-Athenian one, and Mrs. Johnstone benevolently adapted
her labours to her countrywomen and the unworthier Southrons alike.
I imagine, however, that of all the latter-day master-cooks, Alexis
Soyer is most remembered. His "Gastronomic Regenerator," a large and
handsome octavo volume of between 700 and 800 pages, published in
1846, lies before me. It has portraits of the compiler and his wife,
and many other illustrations, and is dedicated to a Royal Duke. It was
produced under the most influential patronage and pressure, for Soyer
was overwhelmed with engagements, and had scruples against appearance
in print. He tells us that in some library, to which he gained access,
he once found among the works of Shakespeare and other _chefs_ in a
different department, a volume with the words "Nineteenth Edition"
upon it, and when he opened it, he saw to his great horror "A receipt
for Ox-tail Soup!" Why this revelation exercised such a terrifying
effect he proceeds to explain. It was the incongruity of a cookery
book in the temple of the Muses. But nevertheless, such is the frailty
of our nature, that he gradually, on regaining his composure, and at
such leisure intervals as he could command, prepared the "Gastronomic
Regenerator," in which he eschewed all superfluous ornaments of
diction, and studied a simplicity of style germane to the subject;
perchance he had looked into Kitchener's Preface. He lets us know that
he had made collections of the same kind at an earlier period of his
career, but had destroyed them, partly owing to his arduous duties
at the Reform Club, and partly to the depressing influence of the
nineteenth edition of somebody else's cookery book--probably, by
the way, Ude's. The present work occupied some ten months, and was
prepared amid the most stupendous interruptions from fair visitors to
the Club (15,000), dinners for the members and their friends (25,000),
dinner parties of importance (38), and the meals for the staff (60).
He gives a total of 70,000 dishes; but it is not entirely clear
whether these refer to the 38 dinner parties of importance, or to
the 25,000 of inferior note, or to both. The feeling of dismay at the
nineteenth edition of somebody must have been sincere, for he winds
up his preface with an adjuration to his readers (whom, in the
"Directions for Carving," he does not style Gentle, or Learned, or
Worshipful, but HONOURABLE) not to place his labours on the same shelf
with "Paradise Lost."
Soyer had also perhaps certain misgivings touching too close an
approximation to other _chefs_ besides Milton and Shakespeare, for he
refers to the "profound ideas" of Locke, to which he was introduced,
to his vast discomfort, "in a most superb library in the midst of a
splendid baronial hall." But the library of the Reform Club probably
contained all this heterogeneous learning. Does the "Gastronomic
Regenerator," out of respect to the fastidious sentiments of its
author, occupy a separate apartment in that institution with a
separate curator?
It seems only the other day to me, that Soyer took Gore Lodge, and
seemed in a fair way to make his removal from the Reform Club a
prosperous venture. But he lost his wife, and was unfortunate in other
ways, and the end was very sad indeed. "Soyez tranquille," was the
epitaph proposed at the time by some unsentimental wagforpoor Madame
Soyer; it soon served for them both.
But nearly concurrent with Soyer's book appeared one of humble
pretensions, yet remarkable for its lucidity and precision, Eliza
Acton's "Modern Cookery in all its Branches reduced to an easy
practice," 16mo, 1845. I have heard this little volume highly
commended by competent judges as exactly what it professes to be; and
the quantities in the receipts are particularly reliable.
The first essay to bring into favourable notice the produce of
Colonial cattle was, so far as I can collect, a volume published
in 1872, and called "Receipts for Cooking Australian Meat, with
Directions for preparing Sauces suitable for the same." This
still remains a vexed question; but the consumption of the meat
is undoubtedly on the increase, and will continue to be, till the
population of Australasia equalises supply and demand.
COOKERY BOOKS.