Call Number:

Ms. Codex 2187

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

1 volume(s)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

E. Macey recipe book, 1864-1910, Ms. Codex 2187, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1864-1910 (inclusive)

Creator:

Macey, E., active 1864-1910

Form:

Recipes and Cookbooks

Abstract:

This volume contains 61 culinary, medicinal, and household recipes as well as a food diary from a vacation in Switzerland written and compiled in England and Switzerland by E. Macey between 1864 and 1910.

E. Macey appears to have lived in England when she collected and recorded the recipes in this volume. She also visited Switzerland, though the dates of this visit are unknown.

The volume includes a daily diary of food eaten during what appears to be a vacation. The creator mentions both Rochebord and Pension Spier, 35 Rue du Lac, Clarens, Switzerland.

Switzerland was popular amongst wealthy English travelers in the 19th and early 20th centuries as a health and wellness destination. In 1868, Queen Victoria visited Switzerland at the recommendation of her doctor due to long-term illness and grief following the death of her husband, Albert, in 1861. This trip further popularized Swiss tourism amongst wealthy English.

The Cook's Oracle, which is the source of a recipe in this volume, is a recipe book by William Kitchiner first published in 1817. It is advertised as containing 600 recipes developed by experiments performed in the kitchen of a physician. Kitchiner (1775-1827) was an English optician and early celebrity chef.

Everton Toffee, a recipe for which is found in this volume, is a butterscotch-flavored toffee, lightly flavored with additional ingredients such as lemon. It was first created by Molly Bushell, a confectioner from Liverpool active in the 1760s. Her confectionery was passed down through her family before being sold to Nobletts of Liverpool in 1894.

Sources:

Barton, Susan. "Healthy Living in the Alps: the Origins of Winter Tourism in Switzerland, 1860-1914" Reviews in History, 2008.

"Everton Toffee." Foods of England, http://www.foodsofengland.co.uk/evertontoffee.htm

"Kitchiner, William (1778–1827), Epicure and Writer." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-15690. Accessed 14 May 2024.

Stephens, Thomas. "How Queen Victoria Transformed the Swiss Tourism Industry." SWI Swissinfo.Ch, www.swissinfo.ch, 28 Jan. 2024, www.swissinfo.ch/eng/culture/mourning-has-broken_how-queen-victoria-transformed-the-swiss-tourism-industry/44250336.

This volume contains 61 culinary, medicinal, and household recipes and a food diary from a vacation in Switzerland written and compiled in England and Switzerland by E. Macey between 1864 and 1910. The volume is bound in quarter leather with marbled paper boards. The only name included in this volume is that of E. Macey, but there are at least two hands that contribute recipes.

The volume opens with an index (p. i), then contains recipes (p. 7-43), and a food diary from the creator's travels in Rochebord and Clarens, Switzerland (p. 135-148). There are blank pages in the volume after the index (p. 1-6) and between the recipes and food diary (p. 44-134). There are additional recipes laid in to the volume (p. 135-136, 149).

Several of the recipes in the volume are attributed to individuals including Mrs. Cuckoo (p. 21), Annie Martin (p. 23), Mrs. Macey (p. 25), Dr. Pallison (p. 26), Dr. Mandarin Aigle (p. 27), Mrs. Peckey (p. 27), D. Barnard (p. 28), Mrs. Wright (p. 30), Mrs. Rowland Houghton of Cardiff (p. 32), and Mrs. Walmsley of St. Ann's Vicarage, Nottingham (p. 39).

Examples of recipes in this volume include duchess pudding (p. 11), Everton toffee and hard bake (p. 14), gooseberry vinegar (p. 19), ginger beer (p. 21), fever medicine (p. 24), sure cure for hooping cough (whooping cough) (p. 24), for bed-sores (p. 26), to make beef tea rich in phosphates (p. 32), marrow (p. 35), and medlar jelly (p. 42).