Recipe Books and Collections

Recipes, medical and culinary, were the main medium for the recording and transmission of information and knowledge within pre-modern households.Whether prescribing instructions for medicinal remedies; the pickling of vegetables and fruit; simple dishes such as gruels and pies;elaborate sugar crafts to impress guests or household tips for cleaning linens and perfuming bottles, recipes held a central place within the household. Many families had a designated notebook in which to record,create and communicate these necessarily bits of quotidian knowledge. Pre-modern recipes, medicinal and culinary, have recently slipped into the limelight and enjoyed a surge in popularity and interest. This website is designed to be an entry point for anyone wishing to find out more about these intriguing documents.