A. Cook's Perspective

A Fascinating Insight into 18th-century Recipes by Two Historic Cooks

Clarissa F. Dillon, Deborah J. Peterson, Deborah Peterson

• Publisher: Brookline Books
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9781955041195
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Social Science Biographies
• Index: Social Sciences

A fascinating insight into 18th-century cook Ann Cook's vitriolic lambasting of a bestselling cookbook "The Art of Cookery" by Hannah Glasse. Ann Cook was an 18th-century cook and cookbook author. Her cookbook was printed in three editions and contained more than just receipts. For some reason, she had a real problem with Hannah Glasse's cookbook, The Art of Cookery: Made Plain and Easy, which had been republished many times during the 18th century and would have been the first port of call for a puzzled cook or housekeeper. Cook's book included vitriolic comments about a number of Glasse's recipes. Historic cooks Clarissa F. Dillon and Deborah J. Peterson use their skills to investigate whether Cook's remarks were valid. They prepared a number of recipes, both from Glasse and from Cook, and commented on the results. Although a number of people have written about these two women, their emphasis was on the comments, not on the validity of the criticisms. This approach makes this book unique.

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Half-Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• About the Authors
• Introduction
• Ann Cook’s receipts
• Ann Cook’s Professed Cookery
• Glossary
• Bibliography