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[urnmor]

I enjoy reading cookbooks that tell a story or have early American recipes the like 17 and 1800s.   However I find them hard to interpret as back then they did not measure as we do today.  So I am wondering if anyone else is into early American cookbooks and if so can you give me advice on how to use the recipes in them.

Thanks

[02ebz06]

Can you post a recipe ?  Maybe as a group we can interpret one.

[BigDave83]

I enjoy reading cookbooks that tell a story or have early American recipes the like 17 and 1800s.   However I find them hard to interpret as back then they did not measure as we do today.  So I am wondering if anyone else is into early American cookbooks and if so can you give me advice on how to use the recipes in them.

Thanks

If you are a youtube watcher. Look for a channel Glen and Friends Cooking. He used to and may still do recipes from old cookbooks. He goes in to how to interpret some what and gives some history of the times when the  books were published. I think he did a saturday morning old cookbook show.

[urnmor]

Can you post a recipe ?  Maybe as a group we can interpret one.

Great idea I will post one or two.

[Bentley]

What issues are you having with the interpretation?

[urnmor]

As I read deeper into the books I do not find them as daunting.  I started this cooking journey with many modern cookbooks and got into reading older recipes with books written by Chef Walter Staib, the Chef at the City Tavern in Philadelphia which is now closed. So now I decided to go deeper.  I bought three books  "The Art of Cookery. Made Plain and Simple". It was written by Hannah Glasse and was first published in 1747.  It is the basis for many of our early recipes.  Unfortunately it is difficult to read as it is a facsimile.  the second book is the " Virginia House-wife by Mary Randolph and was first published in 1824.  It easier to read and follow.  very interesting recipes.  The third is "Good Things to Eat" by Rufus Estes.  It is the first cookbook by an African-American chef and was first published in 1911.  He cooked for many dignitaries to include presidents, queens business tycoons etc.  It is quite modern in comparison to theater books as the stove as we know it today was invented.  By that I mean you do not need to cook on an open hearth.

Which ever recipes I choose I will need to adapt to today as I do not have an open hearth.  Don't get me wrong if I was born rich instead of good-looking I would build one in my home.

So the journey continues into the past