Manuscript Location

University of Iowa Main Library, Special Collections, Szathmary Culinary Archive

Place of Origin

England ➔ Sussex ➔ Heighton

Date of Composition

1830s

Description

This book is inscribed Margaret Dyson Holland, Heighton, July 15th 1834 on the verso of the front free endpaper. The early portion of the book is clearly in the hand of the inscriber and the rest of the book seems to be as well, although the mood of the hand fluctuates greatly. There is a date of 1838 on page 90. The manuscript originally comprised 227 numbered culinary recipes on 101 numbered pages, plus, in the back, following a span of blank leaves, ten unnumbered pages of medical recipes and a complete index to the culinary recipes. However, pages 15 through 22 (with recipes 27 through 45) and pages 39 through 42 (with recipes 88 through 99) are now missing. Although somewhat weighted toward sweets, particularly puddings, the book provides a fairly comprehensive survey of the popular dishes of genteel Great Britain during the second third of the nineteenth century. Among the book's less common recipes are Bath Whetstones (the hard, very thin cookies usually called cracknels, with currants added); English Ginger (lettuce stalks preserved in sugar syrup); French Apple Pudding (thoroughly baked apples cloaked in a rich almond pudding), and Honeycomb Gingerbread (the rolled lace cookies sometimes called brandy snaps, which were a favorite fairground treat).