Kitchen Essays

Agnes Jekyll explains in her introduction to Kitchen Essays that these pieces have been published in book form as a result of readers of "The Times" having requested such a ready reference. These traditional recipes and rituals straddle nostalgia and practicality, and make this a charming — and, surprisingly, useful — volume. When I picked it up, I thought that I might leaf through, dawdle over a cup of tea and then settle into some proper reading with another Persephone, but I read more than half of the essays in a single sitting. And I was sure that I would skip over the recipes, but the preparation is very matter-of-fact and could clearly be employed as-is, providing the dish and its ingredients were to the reader’s taste.Okay, show more fine: my lifestyle doesn’t require that I be acquainted with the chapter entitled “A Dinner Before the Play”. And, it’s true: I simply would never have cause to refer to “A Shooting-Party Luncheon”.But there is one recipe and commentary which I can readily and enthusiastically employ:“Toast, to be good, demands a glowing grate, a handy toasting-fork, and a patient watcher — counsels of perfection indeed, for the ideal rack is like friendship and the immortality of the soul, almost too good to be true.”As a historic document, Kitchen Essays illuminates the tradition of English cookery in straightforward language and a cozy tone. And it reminds readers that the love of preparing and enjoying and sharing food crosses generations and geo-political borders as readily as one passes a plate of hot-buttered toast.More here if you're interested. show less

Agnes Jekyll explains in her introduction to Kitchen Essays that these pieces have been published in book form as a result of readers of "The Times" having requested such a ready reference. These traditional recipes and rituals straddle nostalgia and practicality, and make this a charming — and, surprisingly, useful — volume.

When I picked it up, I thought that I might leaf through, dawdle over a cup of tea and then settle into some proper reading with another Persephone, but I read more than half of the essays in a single sitting. And I was sure that I would skip over the recipes, but the preparation is very matter-of-fact and could clearly be employed as-is, providing the dish and its ingredients were to the reader’s taste.

Okay, show more fine: my lifestyle doesn’t require that I be acquainted with the chapter entitled “A Dinner Before the Play”. And, it’s true: I simply would never have cause to refer to “A Shooting-Party Luncheon”.

But there is one recipe and commentary which I can readily and enthusiastically employ:

“Toast, to be good, demands a glowing grate, a handy toasting-fork, and a patient watcher — counsels of perfection indeed, for the ideal rack is like friendship and the immortality of the soul, almost too good to be true.”

As a historic document, Kitchen Essays illuminates the tradition of English cookery in straightforward language and a cozy tone. And it reminds readers that the love of preparing and enjoying and sharing food crosses generations and geo-political borders as readily as one passes a plate of hot-buttered toast.

More here if you're interested. show less

The Short of It:

A delightful distraction from the day-to-day.

The Rest of It:

Kitchen Essays is in fact, a collection of recipes, but it’s really quite a bit more than that. It’s a guide…almost a food bible of sorts for the hostess that needs a bit of help planning a menu. In the 1920s, every occasion was a party. Within its pages there are suggestions for a morning of Christmas shopping, dinner before a play, a Winter shooting party luncheon, and the section that got the most laughs out of me, For the Too Thin and For the Too Fat.

At just over 260 pages, I managed to stretch this one out for several months by reading a chapter at bedtime. It was the perfect antidote to a very stressful day. What I found incredibly humorous was the show more abundant use of butter and cream and the fact that nothing is really measured out. Meaning, that if you wanted to put these dishes together yourself, you’d have to do with a “walnut” piece of butter or a dribble of cream. Oh, and let’s not forget the clever use of aspic!

I think anyone that enjoys food and entertaining will really enjoy this one. show less

I received this book through Santathing and am glad that I did. Some of the actual recipes presented in this book of 1920ish essays on food are a little odd for today's tastes (who today would add cream to tinned sardines?) but many look delicious. The main value of the book however is the fascinating slice of social history it gives for middle class life just after the First World War. The book is also strongly humanitarian in its recognition of the realities of life for servants.

You wouldn't necessarily want to cook from it, but this book provides a fascinating insight into a world of instructing servants or preparing "a light supper for after the theatre". The chapter headings alone are priceless. Also, well written.

Collected writings of Lady Jekyll from The Times. Original receipt from book purchase.
Agnes Jekyll (1860-1937) was the daughter of William Graham, Liberal MP for Glasgow and patron of the Pre-Raphaelites; she had a literary and artistic childhood. After her marriage to Herbert Jekyll (soldier, public servant and wood-carver) she lived at Munstead House in Surrey, with her sister-in-law Gertrude Jekyll nearby at Munstead Wood. Agnes's gift for friendship and organisational skills made her an excellent hostess: Mary Lutyens described her house as the apogee of opulent comfort and order without grandeur, smelling of pot-pourri, furniture polish and wood smoke; while Gertrude Jekyll's biographer remarked that if she was an artist-gardener, show more then Agnes was an artist-housekeeper. Created DBE for her involvement in numerous good causes, Lady Jekyll (as she had also become) first published Kitchen Essays (1922) in The Times in which she was persuaded to pass on some of the wit and wisdom of her rare gift for clever and imaginative housekeeping. From Persephone Books bio. The author of Kitchen Essays (1922) was sister-in-law to the great Gertrude Jekyll, whose biographer wrote that if she 'was an artist-gardener, then Agnes was an artist-housekeeper.' Agnes was a famous hostess (the guests at her first dinner party included Browning, Ruskin and Burne-Jones) and her home, Munstead House, 'was the apogee of opulent comfort and order without grandeur, smelling of pot-pourri, furniture polish and wood smoke'.

During 1921-2 (the now) Lady Jekyll wrote unsigned essays for The Times with titles such as 'Tray Food' and 'Sunday Supper'. The Observer Food Magazine commended 'lovely Persephone Books' for reprinting Kitchen Essays, India Knight in The Shops called it 'beautifully written, sparkling, witty and knowing, an absolute delight to read', while the BBC Food Magazine praised 'this exquisitely reprinted period piece'. show less

(Persephone Classics)