Southover Press Historic Cookery And Housekeeping – serie

Wynken de Worde's elegant black-letter handbook, long out of print, remains a major source of information on the serving and eating of meals and feasts in the great houses of late medieval and early Tudor England. Southover's reprint carries a facsimile of the original text from Cambridge University Library, with a modern interpretation facing each page. The book explains in detail the intricate rituals of setting and waiting at table, how to prepare the dishes to be served and exactly what was eaten at different times of the year, and was written as an instruction manual for well-born boys as part of their early education. It also tells the reader how to carve meat, fowls and fish and to sauce each dish with its appropriate accompaniments, some of them very sophisticated. A description is included of the chamberlain's duties in his lord's chamber, dressing him and preparing him for church, and for bed. There is an interesting section on the order of precedence on feast days and great occasions. Peter Brears writes an Introduction and provides a glossary and drawings to explain the complicated rituals, including the arrangement of cloths before and at the end of meals. His research into traditional domestic life, combined with extensive experience of cooking authentic meals in historic properties, has given him a unique knowledge of English food history. He was for twenty years director of York Castle as well as of Leeds City Museums. His books include The Gentlewoman's Kitchen (1984); Traditional Food in Yorkshire (1987); All the King's Cooks (1999), and The Compleat Housekeeper (2000).

An unabridged reprint of Miss Acton's great book, first published in 1845 and added to by the author ten years later. This reprint is of the expanded edition and includes all the splendid engravings of the original. For those who do not know this work there is a treat in store, not only because of the variety and elegance of the hundreds of recipes, but also because of their simplicity. This was the first recipe book to give a list of ingredients and a time for cooking each recipe (an entirely original idea of Eliza Acton's). For those lucky enough to possess a precious original edition, here is a copy that can be used in the kitchen. Eliza Acton's receipts show English cookery at its very best, before the over-elaboration of late Victorianism overtook it. She was writing for small families, so quantities in the recipes hardly need to be altered, and her insistence throughout on the very best and most wholesome ingredients is in accord with our thinking today. She tested all the dishes herself; on the rare occasions where they were not, she says so and gives her sources. Her personality shows strongly all through the book; she was precise, orderly, very observant and mistress of an inestimable prose style, so she can be read for pleasure as well as use. Very little is known about her life. Elizabeth Ray has done some original research, fleshed out the somewhat shadowy profile we have had of her up to now, and corrected some earlier misconceptions about her.

Thacker's book is that very rare thing, a cookery book of the English 18th century that has his own recipes throughout: nothing seems to have been plagiarized or borrowed from other writers. It is also the only book of its kind to have come out of an English religious community. The Dean of Durham had a lavish grant for entertaining, and his generous hospitality meant that Thacker had to cook for all levels of society, from canons of the Cathedral with sophisticated tastes such as the gourmand Dr Jacques Sterne, to tradesmen, poor widows and those of even more modest status. Thacker's book keeps many pre-Reformation recipes and thus shows the gradual transition in the Cathedral's eating habits. He also ran a cookery school in Durham. Food historian Ivan Day examines the recipes, and his researches reveal the remarkable tradition of ecclesiastical hospitality that survived at Durham for more than 800 years.

First published in 1596. One of the earliest cookery books for the growing middle classes in Elizabethan England, contemporary with Shakespeare's Much Ado and Merry Wives. Many of the recipes are cookable today. Introduction by Maggie Black.

First published in 1909. This unabridged reprint makes it possible, for the first time since the original edition of ninety years ago, to cook from, read and enjoy Lady Clark's great book. Lady Clark began her cookery notebooks in the 1840s and kept on with them until her death in the late 19th century. This valuable collection of recipes, with variations, shows us what food was eaten during that time and is a particularly stimulating source book for anyone interested in cooking. Introduction by Geraldene Holt.

Soyer's brilliant memoir, published in 1856 and never since reprinted. A vivid account of the Crimean War and of Soyer's inventions and recipes for feeding armies in the field. He was as important in the Crimea as Florence Nightingale, for his influence on the reform of army feeding enabled wounded soldiers to survive. A modified version of the Soyer stove was still in use in the Gulf War. Introductions by Elizabeth Ray and military historian Michael Barthorp.

Published in 1651, this revolutionary recipe book represents a move away from peasant traditions, and lays the foundations of classic French cuisine. La Varenne's was the first recipe book to receive international acclaim, and influenced European cookery for many centuries to come. Little is known of La Varenne's life, or if he was responsible for the considerable innovations that appear in his books, but he was certainly the first to write them down. They include recipes for omelettes, ragouts, bisques and caramel, new ways of spicing and flavouring dishes, many new technical terms and such as a la mode, au bleu, and au naturel, and countless other ideas that had not been known before and have now become part of our repertoire. Introduction by Philip and Mary Hyman, whose knowledge of Varenne is unrivalled.