Cookery Books

A cookbook is a book that contains information on cooking with tried and tested recipes. Up until the 18th century cookery books were used by the wealthy only. Their servants were not supposed to know how to read a cookbook, so the mistress would read the directions as the servant prepared the dish. Later, cookery books were written with the middle class in mind and they began turning up in more homes.

Early cookbooks were more journals or books of home cookery that only listed the ingredients with no mention of quantity, servings or temperature. But with the advent of gas ranges, cookbook recipes took on a more definite form, especially when the first all-electric kitchen was unveiled at the 1893 World Fair in Chicago, US. Cookery books became more precise after this time. Changes in cooking followed rapidly. In the early 1920s, cooks were allowed more accuracy with the precise measuring of cups and spoons.

Today well-written cookery books have made way into homes, hotels and restaurants. A must have at home could be the Good Housekeeping Cookery Book first published in 1948. Considered a cook’s bible, it has sold millions of copies and it reflects the sign of the times with a superb collection of more than 850 foolproof, step-by-step recipes collated and triple-tested by the renowned Good Housekeeping Institute.