Primitive Cookery
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Semi-vegetarian cuisine
 Second edition title page | |
| Language | English |
|---|---|
| Subject |
|
| Genre | Cookbook |
| Publisher | J. Williams |
Publication date | 1767 (second edition) |
| Publication place | Kingdom of Great Britain |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 80 |
| OCLC | 642606679 |
| Text | Primitive Cookery at the Internet Archive |
Primitive Cookery; or the Kitchen Garden Display'd[a] is an anonymously authored English cookbook first published in the mid-18th century. A second edition, published by J. Williams with considerable additions, appeared in 1767. The book contains recipes for dishes made without fish, flesh, or fowl, together with instructions for pickling, gathering, and preserving herbs, fruits, and flowers.
Although some recipes include meat, most are based on vegetables, eggs, and dairy. Later writers have described the work as an early vegetarian or semi-vegetarian cookbook, and have compared it with Martha Brotherton's Vegetable Cookery (1812).
An earlier anonymously published book with a similar title and recipes, Adam's Luxury and Eve's Cookery; or, the Kitchen Garden Display'd, was published in 1743.[1] It has been attributed to Frances Hill.[2]
A second edition, with considerable additions, was published in London by J. Williams in 1767.[3]
Content
Primitive Cookery gives recipes and household instructions based on produce from the kitchen garden.[4] Kevin Carter writes that the book was intended to promote inexpensive and healthy eating among people who could not afford meat, rather than among those avoiding it for ethical reasons.[5] Sandra Sherman describes it as primarily vegetarian, though not entirely vegetarian, because some recipes include meat.[6]
The title page states that the book contains a bill of fare of 70 dishes, each claimed to cost no more than two pence.[7] Carter notes that a number of recipes in the book are found elsewhere.[5] The book also includes a recipe for a cheap drink made from oats.[8]
Reception
A review in The Monthly Review criticised the cookbook and questioned where the editor had found what it considered outdated and misleading material. The review took issue with the claim that the 70 twopenny recipes were suitable for the poor during times of scarcity, arguing that most would cost more than two pence to make, and that some would cost three times that amount. It suggested that only basic water gruel could be made for the stated cost.[9]
The Journal Encyclopédique was also critical of the book's claim to offer 70 dishes costing only two pence each, stating that none could be prepared for less than twelve pence per person. The reviewer expressed doubt about the quality of the dishes, while acknowledging the author's stated aim of helping the poor.[10]
Later assessment
Primitive Cookery has been described as the first vegetarian cookbook, predating Martha Brotherton's Vegetable Cookery.[11][b] Sherman argues that it is primarily a vegetarian cookbook, though its connection with vegetarianism is not absolute.[6]
