OldCooksBooks.com


Showing page 22 of 43 pages. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43

HUGHSON, L.L.D. D. - Unusual recipes; even one for Ortolans.
THE NEW FAMILY RECEIPT-BOOK:
OR UNIVERSAL REPOSITORY OF DOMESTIC ECONOMY, INCLUDING A FUND OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE IN ALL THE VARIOUS BRANCHES OF COOKERY, MEDICINE, CONFECTIONARY, PASTRY, BREWING, DISTILLING, PICKLING, PRESERVING, PER-FUMERY, DYEING, GILDING, PAINTING, VARNISHING, AGRICULTURE, FARRIERY, GARDENING, HUNTING, FISHING, FOWLING, &c. &c. &c. From scarce, curious, and valuable select Receipts and choice Memorandums, WITH SPECIFICATIONS OF THE PATENT MEDICINES, EXTRACTED FROM THE RECORDS OF THE PATENT OFFICE: ALL THE MOST SERVICEABLE PREPARATIONS FOR Domestic Purposes, AND NUMEROUS SUCCESSFUL IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ORNAMENTAL AND USEFUL ARTS, MANUFACTURES, &c. COLLECTED FROM PRIVATE SOURCES OF INFORMATION, AS WELL AS FROM FOREIGN BOOKS AND JOURNALS IN ALL THE LANGUAGES OF EUROPE: THE WHOLE FORMING AN EXTENSIVE LIBRARY OF VALUABLE DOMESTIC KNOWLEDGE AND GENERAL ECONOMY; Selected from the experience of Ages, combined with all the chief Modern Discoveries and Improvements of our own and other Coun-tries, in those useful and elegant Arts which not only contribute to the Happiness, the Convenience and the Comfort of Civilised and Social Life, but even to the Preservation of Life itself. (two straight lines) By D. HUGHSON, L.L.D. (two straight lines) LONDON: PRESENTED FOR W. PRITCHARD, 36, WARWICK-LANE, NEWGATE STREET; AND J. BYSH, 52 PATERNOSTER ROW. (one small straight line) 1817.
FIRST EDITION thus. 4to. 272 x 213 mm. 1fep. (1)Frontispiece, quite damp foxed. Title Page. [1] 2p Preface. (1)6 - 375. (1)377 - 384 Index. 1fep. Fully bound in dark brown leather with a nice patina. Spine with gilt lines and red leather label. Apart from the foxed frontis, overall in good condition.
- This is a fairly unusual book of cookery. With recipes for Fine French Bread, Prime Irish Usquebaugh (an alcoholic cordial), essence of American Spruce for making beer, "Spruce Beer from the process adopted by the famous Captain Cook", Best Brunswick Sausages, Manner of destroying caterpillars on Gooseberry Bushes in Scotland, "French Citizens' Soup', Sir John Hill's Specific for the Scurvy, To dress a turtle after the West India manner', diet drink for Ricketts, French Fricassee of Frogs, Turkish method of filtering water by Ascension, successful treatment of frozen limbs by the Russians, easy manner of always obtaining sufficient supplies of fresh water at sea, genuine Indian method of cooking a curry, art of manufacturing the fine red and yellow morocco leather as practised in Crim Tartary, genuine method of making Cheshire Cheese. One unusual article on page 151 and not usually found in English cookery books is about Ortolans. Mostly caught in Italy and France and also in large numbers in Cyprus. For lovers of game birds, Ortolans are the most prized. Also on page 293 there is unusually a recipe for Soy Sauce. Cagle quotes the BMC as regarding David Hughson L.L.D. as a pseudonym of David Pugh, author of early nineteenth century books about London. NUC states the Hughson is the pseudonym of Edward Pugh. Whomever D. Hughson was, this is a quite different and unusual book about food. There is an earlier, larger, undated and unattributed edition of 584 pages, with the smaller title; 'The Family Receipt Book' and 'Printed for the Editors'. There is an ink note on my own incomplete copy that it is a 3rd edition of 1817. This is also the same copy that Oxford p144 has, also stating it as a 3rd Edition of 1817. This throws up large doubts. For one book of 584 pages to be printed and published in 1817, then another attributed copy, abbreviated and extensively edited to a reduced 375 pages, with almost the same title page, appearing in the same year, doesn't make sense. Both copies also have completely different publishers. The earliest that the bigger copy was printed can really only be 1816, or earlier. Another mystery.!

click on image to enlarge

Antiquarian category

ref number: 11285

ANON. - Two instruction manuals, one old and rare; one modern.
ITEM 1. NAPKIN FOLDING: ITEM 2. THE BEAUTY OF THE FOLD.
ITEM 1. Series of Fully Illustrated Original Designs. Printed by Newton and Eskell. 1891. Full-page diagrams throughout with facing letterpress description with forty-nine designs including: The True-Lovers' Knot; The Cockle-Shell; The Lady Betty Balfour; The Turkey-Cock Tail; The Spill-Box; The Four-Pointed Fan; The Duplex Vase; and The Opera Glasses. ITEM 2. THE BEAUTY OF THE FOLD. A Conversation with Joan Sallas. Edited by Charlotte Birnhaum. Sternberg Press. ON THE TABLE SERIES.
ITEM 1. SOLE EDITION. 4to. Inside cover advertisements for Newton & Eskell publications. (1)List of designs. Verso Advert for Alfred Suzanne's Egg Cookery. No title page (not-proven, if one is called for). (1)Napkin Folding. 6-103. Each verso with explanation of Napkin shapes. Opposite page with each Napkin diagram. Last 3 pages + inside cover: Advertisements for Newton & Eskell publications. Covers are very lightly dusted. A very small damp stain to the top of the covers. Very light staining to the last two pages. Back cover advert for 'The Caterer and Hotel-keeper.' Publisher's cloth-backed printed boards. Spine re-backed with dark green cloth spine. Overall a very nice item. ITEM 2. FIRST EDITION. 2012. 183 x 113mm. 2feps (one with publisher's details. Title page. 1p Contents. [1] 7-9 Forward. On the verso; 2 b/w photographs of a huge feature from a 1677 folding manual. 11-27. [1] 2nd Title page. 30-86. The b/w photographs of folding techniques. [1] Verso with Advertisements. 1fep. Hard cardboard cream covers with decoration and text in maroon. Condition as new.
- ITEM 1. Napkin folding is most commonly encountered (but less often nowadays) as an elaborate table decoration in fancy restaurants. Although the modern trend is for clean, unstarched, simply folded white cloths, that have had the minimum of handling, giving a sense of good conscious health and safety awareness. It is now becoming quite rare to see the elaborate folded fantasies of the past. Typically, and for best results, a clean, pressed, well-starched square cloth (linen or cotton) napkin was used. There were many variations in napkin folding in which a rectangular napkin, or a napkin ring, a glass, or even multiple napkins may have been used. The earliest instruction manual for the artistic folding of napkins was published in 1639 by Matthia Gieger, a German meat carver working in Padua. It was part of a series of treatises on the culinary arts titled 'Le Tre Trattati'. Napkin folding has a centuries-old history and dates back to the times of Louis XIV of France (1638 – 1715), also known as Louis the Great (Louis le Grand) or the Sun King (le Roi-Soleil). He was the monarch of the House of Bourbon who ruled as King of France from 1643 until his death. The shift of the napkin from simply a folded cloth to a folded creative object occurred in 16th century Florence, Italy around the same time as voluminous clothing, such as ballooned sleeves, had become fashionable among the wealthy. Rather than simply laying a tablecloth flat on a table, starched linens were folded into large centre-pieces, called "triumphs," that could depict a variety of real and mythical animals, natural elements and architectural forms. (See item 1098 on this book-site, titled, 'Roger, Earl of Castlemaine's Embassy' by Michael Wright to get a sense of the amazing "triumphs" made from sculpted sugar pastilliage). A popular gift wedding guests received during this time was a personally folded napkin that distinguished whether they were related to the bride or groom. In the mid-18th century, table setting practices were so specific that in Germany there were particular traditions on how to fold napkins, display figures at the table and arrange plate. During this golden age of napkin folding, there was a school in Nuremberg devoted entirely to this art and butlers had shelves of instructional books to keep up with the changes in the field. Napkin folding in the form of table sculptures began being replaced by porcelain decorations during the 18th century. When I was in the Catering school in the early 1960's we students used to enjoy learning new shapes of folded napkin fantasies. Another age another time. ITEM 2. Features German master Joan Sallas, whose folded napkins graced the Metropolitan Museum's exhibit of 1780 Viennese royal table silver. (Watch him fold a ''water lily'' napkin on YouTube.) A virtuoso of the fold, has meticulously researched and mastered the history and techniques of the art of the fold. With the banquet table as a setting, his expertise and philosophy pour forth in the form of splendid, folded linen. In this precious book, Sallas shares his folding wisdom, which editor Charlotte Birnbaum contextualizes in two essays on the history of napkin folding. The texts are accompanied by an illustrated catalogue of folding techniques. A fascinating little book and a good accompaniment

click on image to enlarge

Antiquarian category

ref number: 11293

Anon.
The Oyster.
WHERE, HOW, AND WHEN TO FIND, BREED, COOK AND EAT IT. (With a woodcut vignette of Oysters) LONDON: TRUBNER & CO., 60, PATERNOSTER ROW. MDCCCLXI.
FIRST AND SOLE EDITION. 12mo. 1fep. [1] Humorous wood-engraved frontispiece of two oysters. Title page. [1] v-viii Contents. 9-96. 1-8 Advertisements. 1fep. Original publishers coloured pictorial boards, very slightly worn but still fresh looking. With a re-laid sympathetic chocolate-brown calf spine with horizontal gilt lettering and lines. Internally very clean. A very nice copy of a very scarce book.
- Cagle p.657 - informs: All the wood engravings, as well as the ones repeated on the covers are by George Cruikshank. There is also an anatomical wood engraving of an oyster on p 30. Halkett and Laing attribute this work to Herbert Byng Hall (1805?-1883) and state that it has been erroneously attributed to Eustace Clare Grenville Murray (1824-1881) BMC enters it under Hall and the NUC under Murray. Axford on p. 312 miss-dates it 1959. Besides it being confusingly assigned to so many contributors it is an uncommon, interesting and scarce book.

click on image to enlarge

Antiquarian category

ref number: 11018

DODS. MRS MARGARET - The very rare first edition.
THE COOK AND HOUSEWIFE'S MANUAL;
CONTAINING THE MOST APPROVED MODERN RECEIPTS FOR MAKING SOUPS, GRAVIES, SAUCES, RAGOUTS, AND MADE-DISHES; AND FOR PIES, PUDDINGS, PASTRY, PICKLES, AND PRESERVES: ALSO FOR BAKING, BREWING, MAKING HOME-MADE WINES, CORDIALS, &C. THE WHOLE ILLUSTRATED NOTES, AND PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS, ON ALL THE VARIOUS BRANCHES OF DOMESTIC ECONOMY. BY MRS MARGARET DODS, OF THE CLEIKUM INN, ST RONAN'S. ------"Cook, see all your sawces, Be sharp and poynant in the palate, that they may Commend you; look to your roast meats and baked meats handsomely, And what new kickshaws and delicate made things." Beaumaont and Fletcher. EDINBURGH;PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR, AND SOLD BY BELL & BRADFUTE, AND OLIVER & BOYD, EDINBURGH; LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, AND GREEN, LONDON; ROBERTSON & ATKINSON, GLASGOW; AND JOHN CUMMING, DUBLIN. 1826.
FIRST EDITION: 183 x 121 mm. Grey front paste down and end paper. 2 feps. half-title. [1] Title page. On verso - a stamp of the Mitchel Library Glasgow. 2nd half title - Part 1. [1] (1)8-9 Preface. [1] (1)14-40 Introduction. 41-47 Directions for Carving. 48-62 Scotch National Dishes. 63-75 Bills of Fare. 76-79 Illustrated pages of table settings. [1] 81-82 Suppers. 3rd half title - Part 11. [1] (1)4-352. (1)354-366 Index. 2 feps. Grey back paste down and end paper. Half green morocco with green cloth boards and green morocco tips. Spine sun faded with raised bands with blind tooling. bright gilt lettering laid down, also Mitchel Library, Glasgow code numbers on 2 compartments. The text block is lightly age browned. The half title and last page more age browned and both pages laid down indicating a later binding. Overall a nice copy.
- This first edition is substantially different from later revised editions.

click on image to enlarge

Antiquarian category

ref number: 11190

NUTT. Frederick - The very rare first edition.
The Complete Confectioner
The COMPLETE CONFECTIONER; or the Whole ART of CONFECTIONARY: Forming a Ready Assistant to all Genteel FAMILIES; giving them a PERFECT KNOWLEDGE of CONFECTIONARY: with INSTRUCTIONS, NEATLY ENGRAVED ON TEN COPPER-PLATES, How to decorate a TABLE with TASTE and ELEGANCE, Without the Expence or Assistance of a Confectioner. By a Person, Late an Apprentice to the well known Messrs. Negri and Witten, of Berkley Square. London: Printed for the Author; and sold by J. Mathews, No. 18, Strand, MDCCLXXXIX. Price 10s 6d. neatly bound. Entered at Stationers Hall. (Nutt's name did not appear on the title page until the 3rd edition of 1806)
FIRST EDITION. 8vo. Pp. Half title. Title page [v-xxiv] [1] 2-212 Illustrations: Ten numbered engraved plates, consisting of six of table settings plus three folding. Plate number 10 - a pastry molding tool, bound in separately between pages 8 & 9. A very clean copy with minimal stains. Fully bound in dark brown calf, re-backed, raised bands with blind tooling , red label with gilt lettering. Contemporary boards slightly bumped with nice polished patina. A rare item.
- Although Nutt did not add his name to the 'Complete Confectioner', it is understood that it was out of respect for another famous confectioner, Domenico Negri, at the 'Pot and Pneapple' shop in Berkley Square, where Nutt had been formally apprenticed. This probably means that many of the recipes contained in the Complete Confectioner are from the 'Pot and Pineapple' as well as his other places of employment. All conscientious apprentices would keep a journal of all recipes seen and done, as they went about learning their trade. This can be seen in the original Frederick Nutt manuscript (see item #10908 above). Approximately a total of a third of the recipes in the manuscript match all the recipes in this first edition. The eminent cookery book dealer, Janet Clarke, informs us in her catalogue online, a very interesting little snippet about Nutt the professional confectioner and his book. To quote; "The author was obviously highly proficient in his art and his recipes are meticulous and was, at one time, offered £1000 to withdraw his work from the public in order to protect his fellow confectioners who were fearful of losing business to those who might rival them having learned their art through this work". He obviously declined the offer. One wonders in what regard Nutt's fellow professionals held him after that. This also was the first book of confectionery to be published in America in 1807, for Richard Scott and sold at his Bookstore, 243 Pearl St. NY. Re-printed from the 4th English edition, with large additions.

click on image to enlarge

Antiquarian category

ref number: 10909

Mason. Charlotte
The Ladys Assistant
For Regulating and Supplying her Table, Being a Complete System Of Cookery Containing One Hundred and Fifty select Bills of Fare, properly disposed for Family Dinners Of Five Dishes, to Courses Of Eleven and Fifteen; With Upwards Of Fifty Bills of Fare for Suppers, from Five Dishes to Nineteen; And Several Deserts: Including Likewise, The fullest and choicest Receipts of various Kinds, With Full Directions for preparing them in the most approved Manner, from which a continual Change may be made, as wanted, in the several Bills of Fare: Published from the Manuscript Collection of Mrs. Charlotte Mason, A professed Housekeeper, who had upwards of Thirty Years Experience in Families of the first fashion. The Third Edition. "The most refin'd understanding and the most exalted sentiments do not place a " woman above the little duties of life." Mrs. Griffith. London; Printed for J. Walter Homer's- Head, Charing- Cross. M.DCC.LXXVII
8vo. 2fep with manuscript signature of Catharine Driffield 1701. Title Page. [1] 2pp. Introduction to First Edition and Adverts to the second edition. [1]+1-123 Bills of fare. [1] 125-428. 429-436 List of seasonal foods. 21pp Index. 1pp Adverts. 2feps. Light tan original calf boards with nice patina. New tan spine with blind and gilt tooling, and gilt lines, and red and green labels with gilt lettering. Minor foxing on last few leaves of index and the end papers. Very clean internally.
- An excellent copy. 123 Bills of fare according to the rules of polite society are the main subject of The Lady’s Assistant: its first 124 pages contain text-only arrangements for between five and nineteen dishes as well as simple cold suppers. The subsequent wealth of recipes, including some relating to New England cooking, are interspersed with pithy information about the resources required by a good cook including an entire section on spices, their origins and uses, and condiments (pp. 290-92). The work closes with lists of seasonal fruit, vegetables and meat for all months of the year, and an extensive index. The Lady’s Assistant was first published in 1773. Little is known about the author, Mrs. Charlotte Mason, whose active period ended with the eighth, i.e. final contemporary edition of this book in ca. 1800: in the subtitle, Mason declares herself ‘a professed housekeeper, who had upwards of thirty years experience in families of the first fashion’, and references her manuscript collection as a source for the material published in this book. The text is preceded by the introduction to the first edition, the ‘Advertisement to the Second Edition’ – which notes that the text has been revised and enlarged, with ‘a full, select, and really useful collection of receipts and amendments, which makes The Lady’s Assistant [...] the most complete book of cookery hitherto extant’ – and the ‘Note to this Edition’, which states that, ‘the continued quick sale of the last corrected edition of this publication [...] ascertains the merits of the book’. ESTC N12254; Maclean, p. 95. Simon, BG 1013.

click on image to enlarge

Antiquarian category

ref number: 10910

Walsh. John Henry - In fine original condition.
The English Cookery Book
uniting A GOOD STYLE WITH ECONOMY, and ADAPTED TO ALL PERSONS IN ANY CLIME; containing MANY UNPUBLISHED RECEIPTS IN USE BY PRIVATE FAMILIES. COLLECTED BY A COMMITTEE OF LADIES. and edited by J.H. WALSH F.R.C.S., author of 'A Manual of Domestic Economy' With Engravings. LONDON; G. ROTALEDGE AND CO. FARRINGDON STREE; AND 18 BEEKMAN STREET, NEW YORK. 1859.
FIRST EDITION. 8vo. 1fep. Frontispiece of kitchen ranges. Title page. [1] (1)iv Preface. (1)vi-viii Contents. (1)2-350. 351-360 Bills of Fare. (1)362-375 Index. [1] 1fep. With eight wood engraved plates (including the Frontis) Publisher's quarter red morocco and green cloth, gilt stamped on the spine and front cover. Housed in modern quarter dark tan and marbled boards slip-case, with gilt lines and tooling and gilt lettering. Internally very clean and tight with sometime past strengthening of the inside guttering. An extremely nice copy in this condition.
- Cagle, on pp 752, records an edition of 1858, unrecorded in other bibliographies. This edition of 1859 is a first also. Whether it is a 1st or 2nd issue is difficult to ascertain. The Preface is dated September 1858. Lacking any further information in the book or in Bitting or Axford, one might assume this is a first edition - 2nd issue. The spine and boards are in exceptional condition. The spine is filled with the original beautiful bright gilt figures and lettering. A large bright gilt ornament of the same quality is on the front cover. They are as good as new, thus the reason for the slip case.

click on image to enlarge

Antiquarian category

ref number: 10942

Jarrin. W.A.
THE ITALIAN CONFECTIONER
OR, COMPLETE ECONOMY OF DESSERTS: CONTAINING THE ELEMENTS OF THE ART, ACCORDING TO THE MOST MODERN AND APPROVED PRACTICE. By G.A. JARRIN, CONFECTIONER, NEW BOND STREET. THIRD EDITION, CORRECTED AND ENLARGED. LONDON: WILLIAM H. AINSWORTH, OLD BOND STREET. 1827.
First revised edition, corrected and expanded, the third edition overall. Octavo. 234x147mm. Frontispiece. Title page (cropped at both ends without loss of text) III-IV Preface to the third edition. V-IX. Preface to the first edition. X-XX. Contents. 1-260. 261-270 Index. 271-276. Description of the plates. 2 folding plates with a total of 37 Confectionery tools. 1 fep. Half brown calf, with raised bands to spine, with gilt lines and red label with gilt lettering. Marbled boards. Internally quite clean except for a little browning to the Frontis and the edge of one of the plates. Overall a very nice copy.
- - On the frontispiece we are informed W. A. (William Alexis) Jarrin was born in Colorno, Italy on 25th March 1784. He arrived in England in 1817 and published the 1st edition just three years later by 1820. One assumes that the original text would have been brought from Italy in Italian. The book sits comfortably within an English tradition of publishing recipes for food and confectionery, but it reveals more about the techniques involved and about the character of the author, than was usual in the genre. Proud of his ingenuity as an inventor, Jarrin described inventions and improvements he had devised for making confectionery. 'The Epicure's Almanack' of 1815 informs us that there were many high-class confectioners in London's smart West-end streets. One of the more famous being Gunter's of Berkley Square. Tracing its origins back to the 1760s when it was opened by Domenico Negri, as the famous 'Pot and Pineapple' confectionery shop. It went through many incarnations. From Negri and Witton (or just Witton) to Negri and Gunter, becoming Gunter's by 1806. Jarrin was employed there for some time and it played a significant part in his career. On the verso of the 'Italian Confectioner' title page, there is an advertisement for 'The French Cook' by Louis Eustache Ude where we are informed that Ude's book is an 'Invaluable Companion to Jarrin's Italian Confectioner'. (Ude was the famous Chef de Cuisine of Crockfords Club, which was just 300 yards from Gunters confectionery shop. It was/is common for Chefs then and even still today, to visit each other on their afternoon break in the middle of their daily split shifts). Jarrin's book is an elegant production with many precise, good and unusual recipes. The Italian Confectioner was reprinted at least ten times (the last in 1861, after his death), and was updated with new material on several occasions. Earlier editions incorporated small but often telling additions: for example, observations on managing ice-wells and the introduction of new instruments such as the saccharometer. For the 1844 edition he undertook a major reorganization of the material and added many new recipes" (ODNB). It is an important item in any collection of cookery books.

click on image to enlarge

Antiquarian category

ref number: 10973

Burton. George F.
Chocolates & Bon-bons
THE "NEW AREA" CHOCOLATE BOOK Home Made Chocolates Bon-Bons : Desserts Fine Art Sugar Work Sugar confectionery in General including Up-to-date Con-tinental Novelties & Finest Specialities &c. &c. COPYRIGHT BY GEORGE F. BURTON Gold Medallist, Author of "Cake-Making," etc.
FIRST EDITION. Circa 1924. 4to. 2feps. [1] Frontispiece of b&w photograph of George F. Burton. Title page. [1] 1pp Contents. 1pp Preface. 5-149. [1] 5pp Index. 1pp Illustrations. 2pp Advertisements. 1fep. Dated on the Preface; Blackpool 1924. Tan cloth covers and spine with black blind stamped writing. With an embossed round medallion of a chocolate on gilt on the front cover.A small 1" tear at the top of the spine. Some very light water-stains on the back cover. Full page illustrations in monochrome and many more in wonderful vivid colours. Some in-text illustrations as well. Overall a very handsome copy of a rare book.
- This book of confectionery is a fabulous piece of self-promotion by Burton. He proclaims himself on the Title page and Preface as a -- Gold Medallist and author of world famed book "Cake Making, Icing and Breads" Whatever Burton's self-belief, this is a very nice professional Chocolatier's and Confectioner's book of the time, made all the more attractive by the twelve beautiful lithograph plates.

click on image to enlarge

Modern category

ref number: 11005

Prunier. Madame S. B. - The book and an enclosed letter, both signed by Madame Prunier
LA MAISON
The History of Prunier's (small printer's device) MADAME PRUNIER (A small oval line device of a sailing ship with the date 1724) LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO LONDON.NEW YORK.TORONTO
FIRST EDITION 1957. 2feps, one page with the signature of MADAME PRUNIER and dated 26/6/57. Half Title. [1] Title page.[1] Dedication To my Father. [1] vii-viii Contents. ix-x Plates. 1+2-293. [1] 295-298 Index. 2feps. With 23 plates and four illustrations in the text, as called for. With the original dark green buckram with a gilt lettered label. With the original d/w illustrated by Toune in perfect condition. Also enclosed is a letter of reference, signed by MADAME PRUNIER and dated Nov.10th 1942. The reference is for M. Adolphe Cadier. (Cadier is also mentioned on page 254 of the book) There is also a copy of a letter addressed to M.Cadier from Auguste Escoffier, the famous Chef de Cuisine of the Carlton Hotel. Pall Mall. Also enclosed is a photo of M.Cadier and a wonderful small menu card from Maison Prunier. 9 Rue Duphot, Paris. All in excellent condition.
- La Maison Prunier has a wonderful culinary genealogy -- the recipes of the great Emile Prunier, of the renowned eponymous fish restaurant in Paris, were written and published in 1938 under the title 'Madame Prunier's Fish Cookery Book' The task was taken up by Emile's chef Michel Bouzy and published with the endorsement of his friend, the famous chef Auguste Escoffier. It was translated into English under the direction of Prunier's daughter Simone (author of this book) who opened a branch of Prunier's in 1934 at St. James, London W1. Prunier's hosted many of the world's famous personalities including Russian Grand Dukes, European Royalty, Sarah Bernhardt, Colette, Hemingway, Cesar Frank, Oscar Wilde and Clemenceau et al. River and lake fish including all available saltwater and shellfish were used as the signature dishes of Prunier; always the very finest and freshest. This book is full of the delights of the great pre-war Prunier Restaurants. Legendary dishes like 'Sole Prunier' with mushrooms and truffle in a Sauce Vin Blanc, Turbot Kedgeree, Oyster Souffle, Wonderful Fish Soups to start with and Prunier's famed Chocolate Creams to finish memorable meals. The glory of the book is the classic French fish repertoire, described here at its very best. At its peak and in its time, Prunier's had a reputation unequaled by any other establishment including Restaurant Boulestien and Quaqlinos. This book is a window back into a simpler and grander time, and especially Madame Prunier's diplomacy, care for customers and staff, and above all her drive to maintain the highest possible standards in peacetime and war. A wonderful item especially with the two signatures of Madame Prunier and the unusual items of ephemera. A very interesting read.

click on image to enlarge

Modern category

ref number: 11019