19th c. manuscript recipe book

RECIPES. CULINARY. MEDICINE. HOME ECONOMY. Welland, Ellen (christened 6 Oct 1796), compiler

Published by begun ca, England, 1822

About this Item

Bound in contemporary parchment, re-cased or (less likely) a 19th c. remboîtage, with 19th c. endpapers. Binding soiled. Contents in very good condition throughout. Watermark "RTurner 1822". Provenance: contemporary inscription on first leaf: "Rev.d L. P. Welland from Ellen Welland". Given by Ellen Wellend (christened 6 Oct. 1796) of Shillingford St George, Devon, to her brother, the Reverend Laurence Palk Welland, Vicar of Talaton, Devon (1792-1859). 280 recipes in several hands. The first part contains 215 culinary recipes. The second part contains 65 medicinal remedies and a number of recipes for household use. The household recipes include solutions for cleaning and polishing (black velvet, mahogany, carpets, silk stockings), relining copper bowls, making ink, removing grease from silk, etc. The medicinal recipes include remedies for rheumatism, coughs, "feverish colds", consumption, sore throats; as well as "An infallible recipe for burns, scalds, and weak or sore eyes", almond paste "for hands", effervescent draughts, a "pectoral decoction", and preventatives. Among the culinary recipes we find: ginger wine, carrot soup, macaroni, vermicelli pudding, egg coffee, cured ham, tomato ketchup, calf's feet jelly, rice flummery, wine biscuits with nutmeg and sugar, etc. Many of the recipes (in both sections) are attributed to various women (Ms. Twiggs, Mrs. Gullet, Mrs. Hole, etc.). Indian Curry: There is a recipe for an "excellent curry" (to be served with boiled rice) that includes a recipe for curry powder. Apparently, the pre-ground commercial curry powder that had been sold in England since the 1780s was either unavailable or, considering the fact that she was sharing a recipe that assumed the availability of the various ingredients, not to Ellen Welland's liking. By the late 18th century, Indian curry had become familiar to the English middle class. The present recipe book was produced not long after the Hindostanee Coffee-House, the first Indian restaurant in England, opened in London (1810). Indian curry in England "was a re-creation of India - a dish made without the readily available spices, ingredients, and native cooks of India". (See: S.R. Maroney, '"To Make a Curry the India Way": Tracking the Meaning of Curry Across Eighteenth-Century Communities', Food and Foodways, 19 (2011), pp.122-34.). Seller Inventory # 4568

Bibliographic Details

Title: 19th c. manuscript recipe book

Publisher: begun ca, England

Publication Date: 1822

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Fine