Here is what it says:
Resource Reviews
Kimberly K. Walters, A Book of Cookery: Containing Above
Three Hundred Receipts Made at Hearth, Suitable for an Elegant Entertainment or
Common Fare for Preparing and Dressing Every Thing Suitable for Drinking and
Dining at Any Time of the Day including Receipts for Lent, Household Cleaning,
and Remedies for Ailments. By a Lady. (Self-published by Kimberly K. Walters,
2014). ISBN 978-0-692-26980-0; $41.82 USD. 348 pages, illustrations,
bibliography, soft cover.
Reviewed by Mercy
Ingraham
Kimberly K. Walters is an historic
cook and reenactor. Her guidance in things culinary is assured. She has given
us a book that is useful to any historic cook as it addresses the wide body of
knowledge that must be mastered by the eighteenth century interpreter. In
particular, she honors General Washington’s housekeeper, Mrs. Elizabeth
Thompson, to whom she dedicates her book. By outlining daily duties, the author
gives us a good picture of eighteenth-century women’s work.
She has chosen to format the book
in the style of the eighteenth century and mimics the language used then. This
gives the book a feeling of authenticity. She has relied heavily upon primary
material and dutifully acknowledges her sources at every turn.
The book contains the lessons your
mother would have taught you if you had been an eighteenth century girl. It
explains various techniques of cooking, such as how to manage the fire, and
outlines culinary practices whose descriptions are largely absent from historic
cookbooks. Culinary poisons are identified--mushrooms, hemlock, and laurel.
Walters warns against some of the risks involved in using various antique
cooking vessels, which may contain copper or lead, and the problems found in
some older pottery glazes.
The book is divided into 11 parts.
It begins by instructing you how to select meat, fish and poultry, dairy and
vegetables. There are also tips for the twenty-first-century cook in choosing
historically appropriate supermarket foods for use in reenacting. Walters considers
seasonality but reminds you that this is dependent upon where you live. The
bills of fare or menus are described, as is the arrangement of dishes upon the
table. The largest section by far is the one that contains 300 receipts from 63
historic cookbooks. The original sources are noted in parentheses at the end of
each recipe. The author also explains less familiar culinary terms, such as
“neat,” “sweet meats,” “sippets” and “yelk.” The glossary at the end of the
book is extensive and there is another very useful section which translates
eighteenth-century quantities into more familiar contemporary measurements.
Many people will find the section
on receipts to be the most valuable part of the book. It covers all sorts of
recipes and saves one the expense, to say nothing of the shelf space, of buying
the 63 cookbooks that are the sources of the recipes. The problem for the
historic cook is that the section includes recipes ranging from medieval times
to the mid-nineteenth century, and unless you know your cookbook authors and
eras, you run the risk of using a Civil War recipe at a Revolutionary War
reenactment.
You can, of course, check the dates
of the books, which are, in most cases, listed in the bibliography. The author
has added helpful hints—invariably useful—at the end of some of the recipes.
She also includes a few of her own recipes, which look tasty and would not be
out of place at any reenactment. I personally learned the
most from the section of the book on carving. I’ve always approached carving as
if everything were either a chicken or a pot roast. This section has
Henderson’s Housekeeper’s Instructor as its source and includes that author’s
copious and helpful illustrations. The diagrams show the anatomy of any animal
you are likely to cook (and some you might not), along with directions on how
to best carve and present it. As we know, the quality of a meal is frequently
judged by its presentation.
This is a lovely book and any
serious student of historically authentic food will find it useful. I am in awe
of the encyclopedic number of facts at the author’s disposal. The novice will
find answers to questions they didn’t know they needed to ask. The experienced
historic cook will surely learn more than a thing or two, and the expert will
admire how well Ms. Walters has put together a lifetime of knowledge and a huge
selection of recipes in an easy-to-read and portable book.
About the Reviewer Mercy Ingraham
is an open hearth cook and food historian from Pennsylvania, who has been
demonstrating and teaching the use of fire for cooking for the public and
historic cooking practitioners over the past twenty years.
