Chew on This

The Art of Cookery

The 18th Century Cookbook of Hannah Glasse

 

While watching one of my favorite shows, Two Fat Ladies, I made a mental note of how often Clarissa Dixon Wright (pictured left) mentions the recipes she is embarking on making is from the cookbook by Hannah Glasse. Coincidently, today is actually the birthdate of Glasse. Even more coincidently, Google has dedicated a doodle to her as well. I had heard references to the famous literature before in researching. So I decided today would be the perfect day to dedicate a blog entry to the cookery writer.

Today marks the 310^th birthday of Hannah Glasse, the English cookery writer most famous for her work, The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Simple. Published in 1747, the book reigned supreme for almost a century. Glasse would republish the Art of Cookery eighteen times and complete ten cookbooks in her lifetime. Revered as the ‘first domestic goddess’, Hannah Glasse took the then nonexistent culinary world in England by storm. During a time where cookery was exclusive to master chefs, Hannah meant for her book to be understood by servant, housewife, and the like. She states, "in so full and plain a manner, that the most ignorant Person, who can read, will know how to do Cookery well."

 

Eventually her book would make its way to the American colonies and begin the foundation for many recipes, remedies, and techniques we still know today. Even while facing the unknown wilds of their new home, the colonists could easily find many of the ingredients Hannah calls for in her cooking. Wild hare, pheasants, and venison were readily available for skilled hunters. Such meats, according to Hannah, can be alternated to fit the dish you are preparing. Wild berries and nuts were harvested locally and could be preserved for later use. These were used in many of the sweet and savory dishes Hannah includes in her book. The quintessential necessities a household needed were flour, salt, sugar, and water. With a bit of flour, salt, and water a simple crust paste could be made. From there you have the option of making meat ‘pyes’, hard biscut, or fruit and nut puddings.

 

Her instructions were basic and practical. Most of her directions would have been considered common sense to the experienced cook. But, to the average home cook, her detailed descriptions were priceless. I guess you could say, even life saving. For example, in regard to deciding sufficient roasting time for a pig, she explains the need for considering certain factors. "If just kill'd an Hour; if kill'd the Day before, an Hour and a Quarter," would most certainly alter the time needed for cooking. If your pig has been dead for too long, you are out of luck. To test the freshness of an egg, she suggests touching the tip of the tongue to the large end of the egg to feel if it still holds warmth. Seems legit to me. Well, maybe not to the 21^st century folk, but it did hold value to those of the 18^th century.

 

Glasse covered a wide range of topics, including how to prepare fish, soups, puddings, pies, cakes, pickles, potted hams, and jellies, along with sections on making wine and beer and cooking methods of roasting and boiling. Although, like most chefs of the day, Hannah did not emphasize nor encourage medicinal cures, a few were listed in the pages of her cookbooks. For example, a recipe for "hysterical water" that requires a quarter pound of dried millipedes and a concoction that she claimed would ward off the London plague of 1665, which required a mixture of 47 different roots, flowers, and seeds. The all too familiar nutmeg, was in fact used in almost every dish for its properties which aided digestion, cleaned the blood, stopped diarrhea, aided in calming flatulence and mild forms of dyspepsia. So why not use it in everything right! Hannah would allude to practical reasons why you should include such herbs, spices, or ingredients in general in your food, however, merely take them as suggestions, not medical advice.

 

I definitely want to explore deeper into the pages of Hannah Glasse’s cookbooks. Many attributes of her works are simply fascinating. So much in fact, there is no way we can cover them on just one entry. I encourage you to keep watch for new posts regarding Glasse’s cookbooks and feel free to offer insight and discussion in the comments below. If you are interested in obtaining your own copy of Hannah Glasse’s cookbook, there are many online sites that offer printed copies. My favorite is Townsend and Sons. They offer a wide variety of texts known in the 18^th century. I will leave a comment with the link below.   

 

Until next time friends.

And as always…eat your history.