Gervase Markham (1568–1637)

Written in the 17th century, this is an insight into a time when it was expected wives would be seen (in the kitchen) and (their opinions) not heard. Starting with a section on how housewives have to be chaste in thought, dress and demeanour, the book moves on the recipes. None of this is going to be of much use to the modern cook, as many of the ingredients discussed are quite foreign, and there are references to objects and techniques we just don't have or use now (there is a glossary to show more help you out if you really want to give it a try) but as a historical document this is quite interesting. show less

He used alot of sources that were not orginally his and he actually admits he does a good job of taking information and condensing it and putting it all together, after reading the intro I wonder how much of the work is really his. However the section on how to heal things like, burns is hilarious and I wonder how the poor victims of this cure turned out.

This work was originally published in 1615. It includes compound salads and pies that carry various colors that can be used to create an heraldic device. Once upon a Crown Tourney for the East Kingdom, I used this source to make a purple cookie (plum jam instead of plum turned "that carries the color black" to purple) to set on a rosewater flavored egg yolk center surrounded by an egg white circle. It has a 15 page glossary and lots of footnotes. There are no adapted recipes.