OP: Imperial Cook Book

$250 · Offered by Kitchen Arts & Letters · No longer available

L. P. Miller Co., 1890. Hardcover. Good Plus. This hefty (527 pages, 7.75” x 10.25” x 1.75”) cookbook and household manual—published in 1890—is aimed, primarily, at the beginner, “who through some misfortune has had this part of her training neglected.” Indeed, the Imperial Cook Book —also published with the title Dining Room and Kitchen —is more explicit than most of the era, presupposing little experience. The recipes, written in prose form, cover just about anything one might need to successfully manage a household. You will find that the usual soups, fish, meat, fruits, vegetables, and salads get substantial coverage, though cakes, doughs, pastries, ice creams, and candies take up a generous portion of the heft. The detail-oriented author, Grace Townsend, distinguishes between wild and domesticated duck preparations and covers squirrel, bear, and lark in the section on game and poultry. A chapter on bread begins with two homemade yeast recipes and goes on to tackle several types of waffles and griddle cakes and nine kinds of fritters. Beverages—including raspberry shrub, sassafras mead, and milk beer—preserves, pickles, and catsups (with their own chapter!) are also well-covered. A strong section on carving benefits from detailed etchings. Monthly bills of fare, food for invalids, serving instructions, instruction on childcare and how to combat common ailments, perfumes and toiletries, dyes, and laundry needs, round it all out. And, truly, that is not all the book has to

• Binding: Hardcover

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