Call Number:

Ms. Codex 2370

Repository:

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

Extent:

1 volume(s)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Louisa Clare Turner cookbook, 1843, 1882, Ms. Codex 2370, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1843, 1882 (inclusive)

Creator:

Turner, Louisa Clare, 1821-1893

Form:

Codices (bound manuscripts)

Abstract:

This cookbook contains around 95 culinary recipes written and compiled by Louisa Clare Turner (1821-1893) in 1843 in England with an 1882 addition by an unidentified second hand.

This volume was written and compiled by Louisa Clare Turner in England in 1843.

This Louisa Clare Turner may have been born in Fornham, Suffolk, England in 1821. She was married to a solicitor, Sayers Turner, with whom she had six children, George Beresford Turner, Josephine Blanche Bowen, Margaret L. Turner, Frances Grace Turner, Cecil Turner, and Maud Turner. As of the 1881 census, she was a widow living with four of her children and two of her grandsons in Colchester, England. She additionally employed four servants in both the 1871 and 1881 censuses.

She died in East Hill, Colchester, England on November 1, 1893, leaving 1546 British pounds to her sons, George Beresford Turner and Cecil Turner.

The Queen, which is the source of a recipe in this volume, was an English ladies' magazine established by Samuel Beeton in 1861. It focused on English society and aristocracy, largely through the lens of fashion and culture. It also contained poetry and domestic subjects, and its name had the approval of Queen Victoria.

Mulligatawny soup, a recipe for which appears in this volume, originated from South Indian cuisine and became popular in British cuisine in the 19th century. The earliest British references to the soup date back to 1784, and by 1827 it had become ubiquitous. According to the Oxford Companion to Food, it contains chicken, mutton, lentils, fried onion, and spices. The name originates from Tamil words translating to "pepper-water."

This cookbook contains around 95 culinary recipes written and compiled by Louisa Clare Turner (1821-1893) in 1843 in England with an 1882 addition by an unidentified second hand.

The volume is bound in quarter leather over paper-covered boards. There is significant damage to the binding. There is a clipping with several recipes for the preparation of eggs pasted onto the front pastedown.

Examples of the recipes in this volume include tin lobster from The Queen 4 February 1882 (p. 4), Cumberland puddings (p. 11), sausages without skins (p. 15), ginger biscuits from East Thorpe (p. 20), splendid recipe for milk punch (p. 22), to boil rice for a curry Chinese recipe (p. 25), to cure tongues (p. 30), cabinet pudding (p. 41), sweet omelette (p. 50), Dutch pudding called King William's Pudding (p. 57), Mulligatawny soup (p. 60), Charlotte Russe pudding (p. 65), and Siberia crabs (p. 70).