Anyone else like really old cookbooks?

I do but I only have a few. One I 'borrowed' from a friend more than twenty years ago and we still joke about it. This one as old as it is is still very relevant. Diane Lane, I am sorry had that experience. Every though I have not consulted any of mine recently, it feels good to know they are still around.
 
I've a book from around 1905, that has recipes in it. They get an odd look in now and then.
 
My MIL bought me a cookbook for Christmas one year called The White House Cookbook. The book itself is new, but the recipes go back to the late 1700s. There is one for calve's head jelly which starts with boiling an actual calve's head. And one must skin it first. Not only would I not know where to get a calve's head, or have a pan big enough to boil it in, I would never, never, never attempt to cook it (or skin it). And what would one do with the jelly once it was made? Sort of creeps me out.
 
The old cookbooks and recipes that my grandmother handed down to my mother then to me are very useful when I was just started trying to cook. The recipes are all great and taste delicious. Even there are many new cookbooks that we can buy these days and recipes we can search through internet I still prefer using also the old cookbooks and recipes.
 
Dianemwj said:
My MIL bought me a cookbook for Christmas one year called The White House Cookbook. The book itself is new, but the recipes go back to the late 1700s. There is one for calve's head jelly which starts with boiling an actual calve's head. And one must skin it first. Not only would I not know where to get a calve's head, or have a pan big enough to boil it in, I would never, never, never attempt to cook it (or skin it). And what would one do with the jelly once it was made? Sort of creeps me out.
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In France the same dish with pigs head is a day to day food called tete du porc, in the UK it's called brawn , I've heard of calves head being used , the cheeks are the best part , as with cows
 
I'm sure the cheeks are delicious and if I could buy them in a styrofoam package, nicely labeled, I'd give them a try. But no way on earth am I bringing home a whole head of pig or cow. One can only tolerate so many things without fainting.
 
Duck59 said:
This may appear a little bizarre, but bear with me. When I did my English degree, one of the components of the course was linguistics, during which we were often asked to compare texts. One of the texts I studied was Italian Food, a cookery book by Elizabeth David. I found it fascinating - the book was published in 1954 and Italian food would have been very exotic at the time, certainly to the British reader.
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A great recipe book. I have other books by her.
 
Diane Lane said:
The house I grew up in was built around 1900, so I love the history of old buildings, and my family and I all love old cookbooks. I have one like this, and it's my oldest cookbook. I haven't tried to make anything from it, I just enjoy owning it, but someday I might attempt it.
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I'd love to see a recipe or two from that book!
 
I do find old cookbooks very interesting. I remember some of the ones my mom had, and they were pretty cool. My grandmother had a couple of real oldies. Some of them were simple, others quite fussy.
 
morning glory said:
I'd love to see a recipe or two from that book!
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I'll try to remember to look in it and see if I can scan one or two. My scanner portion of my printer sometimes acts up, but maybe I can get it to cooperate for a document or two. I grew up by a Fanny Farmer candy shop, and that's why prompted me to buy that. I was looking up recipes for candy they used to sell, and stumbled upon the cookbook :).
 
Diane Lane said:
I'll try to remember to look in it and see if I can scan one or two. My scanner portion of my printer sometimes acts up, but maybe I can get it to cooperate for a document or two. I grew up by a Fanny Farmer candy shop, and that's why prompted me to buy that. I was looking up recipes for candy they used to sell, and stumbled upon the cookbook :).
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That's a neat story. I remember trying to find out how to make some knock off recipes of my favorite candy. Where I grew up it was Fannie May. I always wanted some knock off recipes for that shop.

Hmmm, Fanny and Fannie... I wonder if there is something there (or if they were just trying to tell us to watch, because if we kept eating their candy, we'd have quite the fanny).
 
Yes, I have some, and I have a fondness for them. I admit, I haven't tried many of the recipes in them, as usually the ingredients are hard to come by or might be unhealthy. One of the cookbooks I have is so old it has a recipe supposedly from Martha Washington! I also have my grandmother's cookbook which has some of her writing in. That one is more of a keepsake. No one could make beans like my grandmother!
 
Yes, I love old cookbooks and regional cookbooks.
I have that Fannie Farmer and the 1905 edition of the White House cookbook.
Most of the old ones are on a lower shelf and if you sit in the floor in that room anywhere near the shelves it smells like an old library.
I have roughly 74 linear feet of cookbooks or 1700 cookbooks.
 
Cinisajoy said:
Yes, I love old cookbooks and regional cookbooks.
I have that Fannie Farmer and the 1905 edition of the White House cookbook.
Most of the old ones are on a lower shelf and if you sit in the floor in that room anywhere near the shelves it smells like an old library.
I have roughly 74 linear feet of cookbooks or 1700 cookbooks.
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1700 :eek:. You are serious. :happy:
 
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