Early Cookery Books
By today's standards, early cookbooks offered very little in the way of systematic, step-by-step instruction. Quantities of ingredients were rarely given, and directions were ambiguous. 15th and 16th century books on food mainly described how to prepare ingredients with health and medicine in mind, and reflected the medieval preference for heavily spiced foods in vinegar based sauces.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, distinct national cuisines began to emerge, though the majority of published cookbooks record only the food habits of the wealthy. Alongside the growing body of published cookbooks was a rich oral tradition of shared family knowledge. Most middle class homemakers learned how to cook by watching their mothers and older sisters. Family traditions were often preserved by writing favorite recipes into household journals, which were passed down from one generation to the next.
From the 18th century onwards, an increasing number of cookery books were written by and for the growing middle class, which placed a new emphasis on how to achieve economy in the kitchen. Not until the 19th century did cookbooks begin to resemble the clear and comprehensive instruction manuals we use today.
1564 German Cookery Book
Few cookbooks were published before the 1600s. Those that did appear, like this 1564 German guide to food preparation, presented recipes adapted from medieval works, emphasizing heavily spiced foods and vinegar based sauces.
Pastry for the Queen
Most early cookbooks chronicle the food habits of the rich, like this book on pastry and desserts written by Mary Eales, the confectioner to England's Queen Anne.
The Aristocratic Kitchen
In this German book on cookery, pastry making, and brewing, the engraved illustration shows a busy kitchen, fully staffed by cooks and servants engaged in roasting, plucking fowl, and baking. The finely dressed overseer of the kitchen–presumably the head housekeeper–stands in the background, keeping an eye on the day's work.
Robert Roberts. The House Servant's Directory
This guide to household management was one of the first books written by an African American to be issued by a commercial press. The author, Robert Roberts (ca. 1780-1860), wrote the book while in the employ of Christopher Gore (1758-1827), a U.S. senator and governor of Massa-chusetts.
Roberts worked for Gore at Gore's country estate from 1825 to 1827. His book is typical of many English and American household manuals of the period, offering a vast store of information on running a large home. It gives instruction on everything from how to plan meals, polish silver, and concoct remedies for minor ailments, to how to treat servants.
Roberts' manual provides a unique window into the work habits and thoughts of America's domestic workers, and into antebellum African American culture and life.