RIDDELL, Robert Flower.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Indian Domestic Economy and Receipt Book; Comprising Numerous Directions for Plain Wholesome Cookery, Both Oriental and English; First edition of this popular Anglo-Indian cookbook, which ran to eight editions by 1877. In the last three decades, two other copies have appeared in commerce, neither in the original cloth.In this comprehensive early offering on Anglo-Indian cuisine and domestic management, the larger part comprises a wide-ranging compilation of recipes, but the author (d. 1866) also offers advice on servants ("the misdeeds of Indian servants appear to be a general and unfailing source of complaint amongst all" - p. 1) and "outdoor economy" - the care of poultry, cows, pigs, and other domestic animals. He details weights and measures and "price currents" on various comestibles in the three presidencies, and he provides exchange tables between sterling and rupees.Riddell served for a number of years in the Bombay Army as an assistant surgeon, and then as superintending surgeon at the court of the Nizam Asaf Jah IV, the ruler of Hyderabad. He was a regular contributor to various scientific journals, largely on matters horticultural and agricultural, and the present work contains a section on kitchen gardens, including guidance as to the cultivation of edible and medicinal plants.Copies are held only by the University of Strathclyde, University of California Los Angeles, University of Texas, El Paso, and University of Pennsylvania.

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