Mrs Beeton’s Cookbook
The oldest book I own is Mrs. Beeton’s Household Management, originally published in 1861, but published in many editions even up to 2010. I know not which edition I own as the flyleaf is missing. I have not dipped into it for many years but recently my younger daughter’s boyfriend decided he would read it to give her some tips on household management, being a good wife, etc. I am sure he meant it as a joke but it probably went down as well as me introducing the darling wife when we were newly married as ‘my first wife’. Ah, the stupidity of young men. You just can’t beat it.
The introductory page highlights sections on servants’ duties (how relevant to today’s world), etiquette (still relevant to today’s world) and trussing. I presume the latter refers to cooking but you never know. I liked the section on Cheerfulness when in front of the husband: ‘We cannot too strongly insist on the vital importance of preserving good temper amid the cares and worries of domestic life’ and ‘in conversation one should never dwell unduly on the petty annoyances and disappointments of the day.’ Quite so.
We are told that before breakfast ‘see that the children receive proper care, and are clean and comfortable.’ I am obviously not keeping up as I thought they had left years ago. Apparently ‘guests not uncommonly prefer breakfast in bed.’ Clearly we must raise our game.
Written for the peoples of the Empire we also have Typical Australian Dishes. There is Aunt Judy’s Orange Cake. Surely some mistake as Judy, my mother-in-law, has never baked a cake though she has burned her bra several times as she is so fond of reminding me. There are recipes for Bandicoot, Black Swan, Choko (someone please enlighten me), Fish a la Tasmania, parrot pie, roasted wallaby and kangaroo served several ways. I particularly liked the idea of jugged kangaroo as I would very much like to see a jug big enough to hold a kangaroo. However apart from the fish we are now not allowed to kill any of these animals. I am just going to have to rely on roadkill on Kangaroo Island.