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Victoria's Home Companion: Or, The Whole Art of Cooking: A History of 19th Century Foods, with Recipes

by Victoria Rumble

All of you who are interested in older recipes will find this a goldmine of information. Victoria's Home Companion, by Victoria R. Rumble - It contains a history of 19th century foods, descriptions of ingredients, and Recipes - it is an immense help in learning to work with old recipes in a modern kitchen.   Chef James

Book Description
Victoria's Home Companion; Or, The Whole Art of Cooking: A History of 19th Century Foods is a comprehensive summary of American culinary history from the Colonial era through the end of the Victorian era. It traces the origins of fruits, vegetables, herbs, spices, domesticated animals and fowl, and their use through 1900, along with the importance of staple ingredients in the 19th century kitchen such as sorghum, rice, vinegar, etc.
     Changes in diet brought about by shortages during the Civil War are highlighted along with care and maintenance of kitchen utensils found in a 19th century kitchen.
     Many recipes were traced from 1500 through 1900 in order to establish the basic American diet, methods of storage and preparation, and the sociologic progress demonstrated in the way the recipes were recorded for future generations.
     Each chapter has pertinent history and recipes dating from 1800 through 1900, but primarily through the first two thirds of the century. Learn the importance of vinegar as a preservative, sorghum as a sweetener, and the world-wide importance of American staples such as Carolina gold rice which was billed as the finest available.
     An excellent resource for living history sites, students, culinary historians, cookbook collectors, museums, homesteaders, historians, etc.

About the Author
Victoria R. Rumble is a contributing editor for Citizen's Companion, and The Civil War Courier, and has authored four books - the profits from two of which were given to historic preservation.
She serves as Point of Contact for the Homespun Living History Guild, a dedicated group of progressive civilian living historians who demonstrate the day to day ac
ivities of life from 1850 through 1870.