What's the oldest cookbook you have in your possession? And do you use it?

Question

The reason I'm asking is that I started collecting old cookbooks after finding one in a charity shop recently ("Katie Stewart's Cookbook" not that old - 1983) that I use regularly.

I bought another today called "The Modern Woman's Encyclopaedic Cook Book" (dated 1961) edited by Ruth Berolzheimer. It's fabulous, detailing everything you need to know from the basics to the intricate stuff, including hundreds of recipes.

I've now become a sad charity shop shopper!

Answer 1

yeah a hav a cook book that ma great great grandma had, it kinda got passed down and now its mine! so its like 100 years old even probably older, although a few years ago it started to get into a really bad state so we laminated every page and put it it a binder. and to answer the question of do i use it, yes i do, its a reali good book, and i use it alot!!!!

have a nice day!!!

Answer 2

I have a DeLuca French cookbook from the 1940s!

A friend and I were walking to the car one night, and someone put all these books and stuff out on the street for trash. Well, this being Los Angeles, if it's on the street, someone is taking it.

I took some finance books and a cookbook. It was only recently that I actually read through it, and BOY was I pleasantly surprised! Lots of butter and cheeses. No attention to nutrition or health.

I made a Chicken Almondine. You brown the chicken in a stick of butter, and sautee it in a lot of wine. My kitchen smelled so good, I was jumping up and down from joy!

Answer 3

I have an old hand written cookbook that was given to my Great Grandmother on her wedding day in 1900 it has all the favorite family recipes written by the people that were known for making them, along with tips on how to do things around the house. I still make some of the recipes for Holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Answer 4

I have a book from 1947. The foreward was written by Oscar of the Waldorf Astoria. I don't cook from it, but it has a lot of information in it. I have another book that isn't quite as old, but some of the recipes are. It is a collection of the First Ladies from Martha Washington to Rosalind Carter. Very interesting what the founding fathers ate.

Answer 5

Mrs Beeton's Family Cookery. It has been around since the early 1930's, there is no date on it but by the content and the dated illustrations of appliances, I would guess that's not too far out. I have had it for 25 years and it was old then.

This book tells you everything about running a home, what your servants functions are and even how to do your laundry.

Answer 6

Lost it now, but I did have my grandmother's "Atholl Crescent Cook Book" (a cookery school in Edinburgh for people in domestic service, I think) dating from 1905. I did use it, it was the sort of thing that taught you cooking methods and how to choose ingredients rather than recipes. All plain Scottish cookery. At the back there were blank pages for people to write in their own recipes, these were filled with my mother's recipes from the days of rationing in the Second World War, for things like "Mock Cream" and scrambled eggs using dried egg - ways of trying to make disgusting ingredients palatable when there was a shortage of almost everything. Thank goodness I never needed to use those. Really sad I lost it at a turbulent time in my life - it was a piece of social history.

Answer 7

I have a Betty Crocker Cookbook. My edition isn't really that old (about 20 years), but it's perfect for telling you the best way to make very basic foods, like gravy or baked potatoes, what temperatures different cuts of meat should be cooked at and how long they should be cooked, etc. If you want to learn to cook a large variety of basic foods, it's perfect.

Answer 8

I've got a really ancient Betty Crocker cookbook I picked up at a thrift store once. Old 50s style pictures with pages in a notebook binder, calls for a lot of lard in recipes. I've also got a handwritten spiral pad of recipes I found in the trash once which is so old the paper's brittle. I kind of like the old ones too. Sometimes there's recipes in them you can't find anywhere else.

Answer 9

i have a cookbook called Joy of Cooking, original copyright is 1931. My mother used it regularly. I also have a copy, I do refer to it on occasion, it's full of how-to's. If I find a recipe somewhere that I don't understand, I can usually find the answer to my question in my Joy of Cooking cookbook. Good luck with your collection!

Answer 10

My oldest cook book doesn't actually have a date on it but the recipes suggest the Victorian/Edwardian era. No I don't use it as most of the recipes are for things we just don't/won't eat today.
The oldest book I use must be a SWRI (Scottish Woman's Rural Institute) book from 1955. It contains great "down to earth" recipes that are easily made.

Answer 11

the oldest one I have, isn't that old. I have the Red cookbook from Betty crocker. The best cookbook I have is Light and Easy Comfort food...by Southern Living. It has a Sacramento Taco soup to die for!!!...