TURNING OVER AN OLD LEAF
Old and Vintage Cookbooks
 

I love leafing through antiquarian cook books, especially ones that describe recipes of long forgotten English favourites such as Spotted Dick, Omlette Souffle, and Queen of Puddings. Old and Vintage Cookbooks sells vintage culinary tomes from every decade. Enjoy a piece of history when you peruse Mrs. Beeton’s Household Management, revisit La Cuisine Creole from 1885, find out The True Story of HP Sauce, or consult the array of recipes from Ecole du Petit Cordon Bleu published in 1960. Jason Hill's Wild Foods of Britain from 1939 is a fascinating read.

Though modern cookbooks present plenty of new ideas, they don't have the colourful descriptions of places or the amusing cooking methods of the old books. Elizabeth David’s A Book of Mediterranean Food reads as well and with as vivid an imagination as any novel ever written about the Med. When you enjoy her books you can see and smell the ingredients and landscapes which inspired her recipies.

Madame Prunier's Fish Cook Book (Penguin, 1938) is an iconic collection of Prunier recipies. Maison Prunier which opened in Paris in 1872 became a fashionable venue of high society. Sarah Bernhardt, Cesar Franck, Oscar Wilde, Russian Grand Dukes and Europian royalty frequented it. London's Prunier in St. James, which opened in 1935, attracted the beau monde, among them the Prince of Wales.

When it comes to sauces, syrups, stews and puddings, you will find that old can be gold. I like to rifle through these like one would a coffee table book. Their language is as refreshing as the dishes they describe. Digesting one will instantly transport you back to a bygone era when calories were not counted and no one worried whether dairy products and meat were healthy. The company also offers titles on game, wine and sport. These make ideal presents for that 'man who has everything,' and if you are after a specific title, www.oldandvintagecookbooks.com can track it down for you.