Glyn Hughes

Food historian

https://www.foodsofengland.co.uk

Glyn's recommendations

The Forme of Cury

The Chief Master-Cook of King Richard II

The first book of English cookery, and one of the oldest extant in the world. This is a vellum roll written in late Middle English, transcribed in 1791 by the historian the Rev. Samuel Pegge, who gave it the name used now. 'Cury', an olde version of the word 'cookery', which was, I suspect, pronounced 'Ku-Ury'. It has receipts (not 'recipes' - that's French) for all sorts of foods, some odd and old and others strangely familiar, beginning with Bacon and Beans.

The Accomplisht Cook

Robert May

Subtitled: "The art & mystery of cookery. Wherein the whole art is revealed in a more easie and perfect method, than hath been publisht in any language."

The Closet of Sir Kenelme Digby Opened

Kenelm Digby

Digby was a prodigiously capable natural philosopher who also happened to own a glass works and may have invented the wine bottle. Published in 1669, shortly after his death this, probably spurious, book includes a huge number of receipts for mead and cider drinks as well as general cookery.

The Queene-Like Closet

Hannah Woolley

Hannah Wooley came from a family of surgeons, and may well be the first Englishwoman to have earned a living by food writing.

Acetaria: A Discourse of Sallets

John Evelyn

It almost seems as if nobody ever ate salad before about 1950. John Evelyn was a noted diarist and prolific author on a huge range of subjects, hre he expounds on the joy of salad.

The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy

Hannah Glasse

This hugely popular cookbook went through 26 editions in its day. Mrs Glasse, though, found herself in debtor's prison when her dressmaking business went bankrupt and she had to sell the copyright to her cookery book. It is famous for the line "Hare Soup. First catch your hare...", but these words occur in no edition I can find.

Modern Cookery for Private Families

Eliza Acton

This is the first modern cookery book. Acton, born in Sussex, was one of the first writers to give complete lists of ingredients and their quantities and described her method as being 'reduced to a system of easy practice'. 'Modern Cookery' continued to be updated and re-issued until well into the 20th Century. She is also slightly famous for her poetry.

A Shilling Cookery for the People

Alexis Soyer

Chief cook at London's prestigious Reform Club, Soyer was a huge self-publicist and celebrity who did public 'performance cookery' and marketed his own range of kitchen equipment and bottled sauces. Generally accused - unlike today's celebrity cooks - of general toadying to the upper classes, he produced this low-cost cookbook to patronisingly tell the lower-classes how to cook Red Herrings and Simplified Hodge-Podge

The Modern Cook

Charles Elmé Francatelli

Of Italian ancestry, Francatelli was, very briefly, chief cook to Queen Victoria, and later, like Soyer, at the Reform Club.

Saleable Shop Goods for Counter-Tray and Window

Frederick T Vine

Fully titled "Saleable shop goods for counter-tray and window - a practical book for all the trade". A compendium of small cake, tart and pastries published by the 'Baker and Confectioner' magazine. A fascinating look at commercial bakery of the 19th Century and the origin of most of our little cakes and pastries.