Salsify is delicious and one of my favourite vegetables (It's a sweet root vegetable that looks a bit like a white-fleshed carrot, but which has a rich and savory flavour. Not to be confused with parsnips, which are quite different - and which I cordially detest), and this is one of my favourite substacks - imagine my joy when I saw that the two had converged!
This was a delight to read, and yes, I will make the soup, just as soon as I can find some salsify to make it with.
What a wonderful recipe book - I love the handwriting. Recipe books are living history, and as you say the most successful recipes have the messiest pages. The history of the cooks hands, and the food in the kitchen on that day, remains on the page for us to see decades later.
I know these are recipes for the upper-middle class, but those are fascinatingly extravagant (seemingly to the point of unwieldiness?) measurements by contemporary standards. The handwriting is so beautiful, it almost looks like a font (I don't usually have any great difficulty with 19th c handwriting, but this seems unusually clear and regular even for copperplate).
Yes, some of those recipes are flabbergasting. And that handwriting! That's why I was so delighted with the "meringue" recipe - it finally showed the person behind the copperplate.
I love the cookbook! Such interesting recipes and the handwriting is so beautiful! I looked up salsify and evidently you can buy some on eBay but a less appetizing thing is hard to imagine! And what a delightful word is ‘defalcation’! You made my day!!
Salsify is delicious and one of my favourite vegetables (It's a sweet root vegetable that looks a bit like a white-fleshed carrot, but which has a rich and savory flavour. Not to be confused with parsnips, which are quite different - and which I cordially detest), and this is one of my favourite substacks - imagine my joy when I saw that the two had converged!
This was a delight to read, and yes, I will make the soup, just as soon as I can find some salsify to make it with.
I've never had it! I don't mind a parsnip, but that description of salsify does make me apprehensive... If you try the recipe you must report back!!!
That was very cool, thank you! I love the history there is behind seemingly everyday things.💕
So glad you liked it!
What a wonderful recipe book - I love the handwriting. Recipe books are living history, and as you say the most successful recipes have the messiest pages. The history of the cooks hands, and the food in the kitchen on that day, remains on the page for us to see decades later.
It really is an fascinating window into history. I'm very glad you enjoyed it!
I love a historical cookbook! Thanks for sharing!
Yay thanks! Glad you liked it.
This was a fascinating read! Will share the link with Kara Mae Harris, a Maryland based cookbook historian who runs the Old Line Plate website.
Thanks! That's a fantastic website - I'm definitely going to set aside some time for a deep dive.
Pounds of brown sugar! Half a nutmeg!
I know these are recipes for the upper-middle class, but those are fascinatingly extravagant (seemingly to the point of unwieldiness?) measurements by contemporary standards. The handwriting is so beautiful, it almost looks like a font (I don't usually have any great difficulty with 19th c handwriting, but this seems unusually clear and regular even for copperplate).
Yes, some of those recipes are flabbergasting. And that handwriting! That's why I was so delighted with the "meringue" recipe - it finally showed the person behind the copperplate.
I love the cookbook! Such interesting recipes and the handwriting is so beautiful! I looked up salsify and evidently you can buy some on eBay but a less appetizing thing is hard to imagine! And what a delightful word is ‘defalcation’! You made my day!!
Thank you - I'm so glad you liked it!