The Duchess of Devonshire's Cookbooks

 If you follow our site, Lucindaville, you will know that we are big fans of the Mitford Sisters.  One of our early posts on Cookbook Of The Day was the Duchess of Devonshire's Chatsworth Cookery Book.  While many famous folk produce ghost-written cookbooks and then claim them to be their own, the Duchess was very upfront in her book that she didn't really cook, but she had eaten most of the dishes.

Today, Sotheby's held an auction entitled: Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire: The Last of the Mitford Sisters. Among the items were her cookbooks.  The original estimate for over 40 books was 300 -500 pounds. Has anyone at Sotheby's purchased cookbooks recently?  Needless to say, the lot sold for 3125.

A COLLECTION OF COOKERY BOOKS, 1875-2011, including:

Cooke, M.C. British Edible Funghi. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., 1891, 12 colour plates, library stamp to title, frontispiece and list of plates loose, worn at head and foot of spine) 

Beeton, Isabella. Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management. Ward, Lock & Co., 1907, 30 colour plates, later dark red backed green boards, lettered in gilt on spine)

Boulestin, X. Marcel and Jason Hill. Herbs, Salads and Seasonings. Heinemann, 1930, number 23 of the edition of 75 copies signed by both authors, spine faded)

Heath, Ambrose. The Country Life Cookery Book. Country Life Limited, 1937, wood engravings by Eric Ravilious, boards rubbed)

Maclean, Veronica. Lady Maclean's Diplomatic Dishes. Collins, 1975, inscribed by the author, head of spine worn with loss)

Parker Bowles, Tom. E is for Eating. Long Barn, 2004, inscribed by the author and the illustrator, dust-jacket)

Green, Rachel. Chatsworth Cookery Book. Green Shoots, 2007, inscribed by the author.

An additional 32 others, of which 6 inscribed to Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire, mostly original cloth and wrappers, many with the Duchess's bookplate, some wear to dust-jackets.











What do we most covet from the list?  Ambrose Heath's The Country Life Cookery Book.

The Jemima Code

I love Toni Tipton-Martin. She is a kindred soul, a cookbook collector.  I read that she keeps many of her cookbooks in a gun safe! A true collector would appreciate such care. Frankly, more gun safes should be stuffed with cookbooks...but I digress.

If you are a cookbook collector, and if you collect a lot of old Southern cookbooks, there is one thing that often stands out in older books. The "author" of said cookbook would thank her own cook. Why? Well generally, because the recipes came from the cook, not the author. News flash...if you watch someone make cornbread, ask questions, then write down the recipe, it is not your recipe, it is your transcription.

Toni Tipton-Martin has amassed a huge collection of cookbooks by African American authors. She has made it a calling to highlight the accomplishments of theses often overlooked culinary pioneers.  In The Jemima Code, she highlights many of the books from her collection. While there are several recipes, the book is more of a history than an actual cookbook. Her cookbook is forthcoming! To understand the hypothesis of this book, the best description comes from the author, herself:

"Black codes once defined legal place for former slaves. Historically, the Jemima code was an arrangement of words and images synchronized to classify the character and life’s work of our nation’s black cooks as insignificant. The encoded message assumes that black chefs, cooks and cookbook authors — by virtue of their race and gender — are simply born with good kitchen instincts. It diminishes the knowledge, skills and abilities involved in their work and portrays them as passive and ignorant laborers incapable of creative culinary artistry.

Throughout the 20th century, the Aunt Jemima advertising trademark and the mythical mammy figure in Southern literature provided a shorthand translation for a subtle message: “If slaves can cook, you can, too,” or “Buy this flour and you’ll cook with the same black magic that Jemima put into her pancakes.” In short: a sham."

Here is a simple recipe from Katharin Bell's Mammy.  In the self-published text from 1927, Bell fully credits her cook, Sallie Miller. Bell can see that there is great genius in Miller's recipes and approaches them in a reverent manner.  As one often sees in early Twentieth century cookbooks, the instructions are a bit sketchy.

Shrimp and Tomato Salad

Chop shrimps and tomatoes together with a little celery and mayonnaise and serve on lettuce leaves.

Basically, this is exactly how I make shrimp salad, with the addition of scallions!  Does one need more.

If you care about food, Southern food, history, or cookbooks, Toni Tipton-Martin's The Jemima Code is a must have.

TWO FOOTNOTES

I know we all love online shopping and it has its advantages. When I ordered The Jemima Code, I rather expected a regular, lackluster, university press book.  I was surprised!  It is big, beautiful, and wonderful.  Now, I would have purchased this book no matter what.  But coming across this book in an actual store, seeing it, picking it up, flipping through it...this act holds the potential to sell more books that simply seeing its flat image on a cell phone screen. Bookstores DO matter.

The second thing is purely personal.  Screw you Toni Tipton-Martin!  It is hard enough to locate these books as it is.  Now you just made everyone want to find these old gems and the prices are going to out of control, and I am never going to find reasonable copies of books I have been looking for forever. But I forgive you....


 

Not A Cookbook -- A Web Site

As you know, because you know food, the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History acquired Julia Child's kitchen and it was a  good thing. After several years, they removed the exhibit and included it a large one; it was literally moved into a larger context -- Food: Transforming the American Table, 1950-2000.  

 Food: Transforming the American Table, 1950-2000 is a must pilgrimage for food lovers, but if you can't make it to D.C., here is the next best thing. The Food exhibit has gone on-line with a great new web site.  Check out Food here.

Not A Cookbook -- An Article

By now I am sure that most of you have seen the New York Time's article: Are Cookbooks Obsolete?

We scoff.

Top Ten Cookbooks

I am perhaps as big a cookbook fanatic as one can be. This year, I have been surprised at how many lists there out there that feature ten books -- and not a single book I care about. Perhaps I am getting old and out of touch? Well, I don't think so. We will be giving you a few of this years favorites over the next few weeks. In the meantime...

Noma seems to be on quite a few "BEST" lists out there. It is one of those books that I care nothing about. I do not equate big and expensive with great. But if any of my readers out there want to change my mind, go ahead, you write the review and we will post it.

Until someone steps up, here are some "Top Ten Lists" to peruse.


StarChefs.com gives Noma their top nod. My only pick on their list: Heston's Fantastical Feasts


The irascible or rascible or curmudgeonly or nasty or lovable (depending on your personality and perhaps his) Jeffery Steingarten has his list for Vogue. He too, gives highest honors to Noma. He give a place of honor to Jessica Harris's High on the Hog. I'm sure that this would be on my list, however it will not be published until 2011. So really it should be on next years list, Jeffery. He is also anticipating, as am I, Blood, Bones, and Butter, by Gabrielle Hamilton. I have been looking forward to a book by Hamilton for years now, so lets get it published already. So it would seem, Jeffery and I already have a pretty good "Top Ten List" for 2011!!


Let us know what's on your list!