Description
Book SynopsisWhen The Practice of Cookery first appeared in Edinburgh and London editions in 1829, reviewers hailed it as one of the best cookbooks available. Both a history of the seminal cookbook and a guide for readers and cooks today, Mrs Dalgairns's Kitchen offers an intimate look at the tastes and smells of an early nineteenth-century kitchen.
Trade Review"Before Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management there was Mrs Dalgairns's The Practice of Cookery. Williamson provides a new context for understanding a popular cookbook and culinary author of the early nineteenth century and re-establishes Dalgairns's text in the firmament of English-language culinary writing and publishing." Elizabeth Driver, author of Culinary Landmarks: A Bibliography of Canadian Cookbooks, 1825–1949
"Williamson has succeeded in telling an engaging story about Dalgairns's life and the life of her remarkable cookbook. She gives readers an illuminating 'behind-the-scenes' glimpse of how this cookbook came to be and how it evolved over time with revisions and subsequent editions both in Britain and North America. Mrs Dalgairns's Kitchen provides a lively, informative, and layered culinary context, and readers will appreciate the care Williamson has taken in tracing everything from changes in kitchen utensils and cookware to cooking terminology." Shelley Boyd, Kwantlen Polytechnic University and co-editor of Canadian Culinary Imaginations
“Thanks to Mary Williamson, those who enjoy both scholarly and hands-on experiences in culinary history will relish this treasury and its Canadian connection.” Culinary Historians of Canada newsletter
