A RECIPE FOR AN EXHIBITION
Showing how celebrity chefs are not a new phenomenon
IN THE era of The Great British
Bake Off, more people than ever are perfecting their work at home as they aspire to join the ranks of the nation’s leading chefs and bakers.
But long before the phrase ‘soggy bottom’ had been coined, an army of star bakers were sharing their innovative recipes so people could recreate them in their own kitchens.
Now, a new exhibition at the University of Leeds is set to explore the rise of the celebrity chef and how recipes have been collected and compiled since Roman times.
Cooks and their Books: Collecting Cookery Books in
Leeds is the latest exhibition at the institution’s Treasures of the Brotherton Gallery. Opening on September 1 and running until the end of January, it highlights the university’s extensive ‘Cookery Collection’ of books, papers and objects relating to food, drink and cooking, which date from 2500BC to the present day. The collection was established in 1939 when Blanche Legat Leigh, a former Lady Mayoress of Leeds, donated her collection of 1,500 historic volumes and manuscripts to Leeds University Library.
Dr Stella Butler, university librarian and keeper of the Brotherton Collection, said: “The display will interest anyone interested in the history of food with its fascinating stories about how what we eat has changed over time.”
The exhibition, co-curated by renowned food historians Peter Brears and Dr Eileen White, showcases the world’s first illustrated cookbook; the first English cookery book ever published outside London – which was printed in Leeds; and why a long-forgotten writer dubbed the ‘Queen of Ices’ really deserves the Victorian cookbook crown taken by Mrs Beeton.
Dr White, from Idle, who has been studying the archive for more than 40 years, told The
Yorkshire Post: “Cookbooks aren’t just for cooks. They give us an insight into society and into major events in history. They are a vital resource for understanding the way that people live.
“For example, with the expansion of the British Empire came curry recipes,” she added.
“Another element is women like Hannah Glasse and Mrs Beeton, coming to the fore as all the early books were by men.”
The way we cook has also changed over the passage of time, with yeast used to make cakes rise before the 18th century, before recipes for fruit cakes were introduced in the 1730s, which used eggs to achieve the desired result.
Dr White said: “In Elizabethan times there were cake recipes which instructed you to beat the eggs for an hour. Can you imagine the poor servant girl having to do that to make them rise?”
But her favourite recipe is a trifle containing “proper custard”, rosewater and sherrysoaked sponge, which can be found in Gervase Markham’s
The English Housewife, first published in 1615. Other highlights include MrsAB Marshall’s Larger Cookery Book
of Extra Recipes, published in 1891, and her book Fancy
Ices, printed in 1894. Agnes Marshall was the celebrity chef of the late 1800s. Her books, cookery school, demonstrations and weekly paper The Table instructed the booming middle class in fine cookery. She earned the nickname the ‘Queen of Ices’ for her writing on ice cream and other frozen desserts.
They are a vital resource for understanding the way that people live. Dr Eileen White, food historian, on historic cookery books.