The Williamsburg Art of Cookery

by Helen Duprey Bullock

These favorite "receipts" are known to have been used in Virginia households in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The Williamsburg Art of Cookery allows modern cooks to offer the same time-tested fare that pleased our ancestors.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking

276 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1938

Reviews

[Redsteve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although arranged like an 18th Century cookbook, The Williamsburg Art of Cookery is actually a collection of period recipes from other sources, originally published in 1938. The dishes have the original instructions (and spelling) with no modern adaptations, which means that proportions are often approximate, and temperatures and times are made for open hearth cooking. As a result, this is probably NOT a book for beginners. Dishes are mostly thrifty, with ingredients that would be easily obtainable in 18th Century Mid-Atlantic Colonies, although there are some imports - mostly wines/brandy from Europe, sugar from the Caribbean, as well as a few Asian spices (needed for the moderately horrific British curries of the period). The recipes make extensive use of local produce, domestic animals (mostly pork, chicken, turkeys, and beef), wild game, and shellfish. While the recipe for gumbo does not involve making a roux, it's not completely awful, and is interesting in that it still uses the term 'gumbo' as a synonym for okra - the name of the dish originates with a West African word for okra. This book also has sections on baking, preserving and pickling foods, herb gardens, beverages, and holiday (Christmas) dishes. Excellent bibliography of 18th and early 19th century books on cooking and household management.

[Tamara Gantt · Rating 4 out of 5]

To Make an Almond Pudding

Take a pound of the best Jordan Almonds blanched in cold water, and beat very fine with a little Rose-water; then take a quart of Cream boiled with whole Spice, and taken out again, and when 'tis cold, mix it with the almonds, and put to it three Spoonfuls of grated Bread, one Spoonful of Flour, nine Eggs, but three Whites, half a Pound of Sugar, a Nutmeg grated; mix and beat these well together, put some Puff-paste at the Bottom of a Dish; put your Stuff in, and here and there stick a piece of Marrow in it. It must bake an Hour, and when 'tis drawn, scrape Sugar on it, and serve it up" (188).

[DaughterDaDa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the most interesting cookbook I have ever used. I first acquired a copy in the 1970s at the Printing Office in Colonial Williamsburg, and have used it very often as a basis for preparing traditional Virginia meals.

It appears to be hand printed on beautiful paper, but I believe it is a facsimile. I have heard elsewhere that it is hand printed on the presses in the Printing Office in Colonial Williamsburg.

[Linda (NOT RECEIVING NOTIFICATIONS) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love to read old cookbooks and managed to find this little prize in a thrift shop awhile back. Not that I would try any of the recipes or receipts, viewing the text alone makes this book a little gem. Where else would you find a chapter entitled "Garden Stuff and Salads"? How would you like to make a Robert E. Lake cake? Chicken Pye, Pork Cake,or how to make Milk-Punch are just some of the concoctions in this old world collection.

You'll also find a listing of Williamsburg garden herbs and an account of Virginia Hofpitality (their spelling). Take your time while you look at the print, it takes some getting use to because words are typed as they were written back then. My copy says it was published in 1938 and is the eighth printing. It appears to be hand printed on beautiful paper, but I believe it is a replica. Many of the recipes are republished from cookbooks that were written in 1770, 1774, 1787 or 1801. "The Williamsburg Art of Cookery or, Accompifh'd Gentlewoman's Companion is a collection of upwards of five hundred of the moft ancient & approv'd recipes in Virginia cookery."

There are also a few pictures of women cooking or gardens. Milk is measured by the quart and flour by the pound; when you cook something you may "return it to the fire". This is a fun book to look at, it has some interesting history to read and it makes a great gift to give a cookbook collector or hobbiest.

[Lorraine · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tif gimmicky and naught elfe.

The best historical cookbooks include information about the milieu-- the culture, economics, and technology behind why people ate or didn't eat certain foods. Why were there so few recipes for seafood? Or soups and stews-- the mainstay of most colonial cooking? Were these recipes meant for the wealthy-- some recipes called for dozens of eggs and pounds of sugar and odd, imported items? This book off no explanation behind the recipes.

Lastly, a conversion chart of sorts could have been included, on the off-chance a reader would want to try these recipes. No idea what temp a "slow oven" translates to.