A Victorian Alphabet of Everyday Recipes

Mrs Beeton's Cookery Collection #1

by Isabella Beeton

From A for Apple Jelly to Z for Zuppa Inglese (English Trifle), this delightful alphabet showcases the quintessential dishes of Victorian England. Updated recipes for today's kitchens and full color illustrations from the original 1890 edition add to the period flavor with no loss of taste.

Genres: Cooking, Cookbooks, Reference

72 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Isabella Mary Beeton (née Mayson), universally known as Mrs Beeton, was the English author of Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management, and is one of the most famous cookery writers.

Popularly known as "Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management", it was a guide to running a Victorian household, with advice on fashion, childcare, animal husbandry, poisons, the management of servants, science, religion, and industrialism.

Of the 1,112 pages, over 900 contained recipes, such that another popular name for the volume is "Mrs Beeton's Cookbook". Most of the recipes were illustrated with coloured engravings, and it was the first book to show recipes in a format that is still used today. It is said that many of the recipes were actually plagiarised from earlier writers (including Eliza Acton), but the Beetons never claimed that the book's contents were original. It was intended as a guide of reliable information for the aspirant middle classes. Mrs Beeton is perhaps described better as its compiler and editor than as its author, many of the passages clearly being not her own words.

Reviews

[Miranda Reads (back from hiatus) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Isabella Beeton was an English writer and is most well known for her book Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management - one of the very first books where women wrote about recipes.

Previous to the invention of the cookbook, most recipes were taught from parent to child and anything that was written down was done so in a sort of shorthand. Mrs. Beeton's book was unique because the>b> recipes were structured and instructions were provided along with illustrations.

While there is controversy - some of the recipes appeared to have been lifted from other cookbooks of the 1700-1800s - this continues to be one of the most well-known cookbooks of the modern era.

A Victorian Alphabet of Everyday Recipes is based on Mrs. Beeton's original book. Twenty-six of the most popular (or most interesting) recipes are featured in this little alphabet book.

I picked this one up at a used book store for $1.99 and I can say with absolute certainty that it delivered.

I definitely wouldn't be making even half of the recipes anytime soon but they were certainly a unique read. Broiled Kidneys and collared salmon, anyone?

The little illustrations accompanying each recipe was a fun addition and ultimately, this will be one of my quirkier cookbooks in my collection.

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[notgettingenough · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I've been keeping an eye out for owls when walking around Geneva as my eye was caught by one of the recipes in this book:

Owls, Simmered with Oysters.

I've never cooked owl before, but the combination was fascinating to consider, if perhaps a little too alliterative. Not to mention, if there is one way to make people take care what they give you for your birthday, this would be it, don't you think? That? Just a little something from that book you bought me. A bit of a hoot, don't you think?

However. I've just picked this up again and wondered why on earth the principal ingredient picture was of chooks not owls....

Whooooooooooops. It isn't a recipe for Owl and Oyster at all! The first letters have been done in fancy Victorian illustrated block style: it says Fowl and Oyster.

I'm uncertain as to whether to be relieved or disappointed. What about you, Manny?

Oh, I should mention if you never want to cook rabbit again, take a look at the rabbit pie recipe: it is faced by a page of the cutest little bunny wunnies ever to come out of a children's nursery book. Hilarious.

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did...not...see...one...main...dish...I...would...eat. Alright - maybe if I were going to starve - maybe! I had no idea that the food was this bad back then! Fry everything in lard - YUMMY! Some of the combinations - 'chicken and oysters' - NO THANK YOU VERY MUCH PLEASE GET IT AWAY FROM ME! Some of the desserts looked edible - but I would not have the patience to make them!

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a delightful little book with some interesting dishes popular in Victorian times--lots of fresh game like venison, rabbit, pheasant, etc. The most intriguing to me was the recipe under the letter 'U' for Ugli-Fruit Puree. For those (like me) who've not heard of Ugli fruit, it' a hybrid cross between a grapefruit and a tangerine grown in the West Indian Colonies. Each letter and recipe is accompanied by a great full-color illustration.

[Sherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book I really have is Mrs. Beeton's Every-day Cookery but it was not listed here. Everyone who loves cooking should have the pleasure of reading a Mrs. Beeton's cookbook of some sort. Don't read it for the recipes...though some are good... Read it for the history of cooking.

[Ramona · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful little book complete with colorful illustrations, the old-fashioned recipes, and a nice jacket blurb about famous Isabella Mary Beeton, on par with Julia Childs, of our day.