Combining equal parts of scholarly devotion to her subject and skill in the art of cooking, Elisabeth Ayrton has written a book which restores glory to the English kitchen.
The astonishingly varied recipes come from all branches of English cooking and from all periods from the fifteenth century onwards. They have been translated In terms of modern preparation and have been reduced in quantity to serve four, six or eight people. Seasoning has sometimes been adapted to accord with modern taste, and quantities of fat have occasionally been reduced. Otherwise no alterations have been made.
All the recipes -- some of them simple, some rather grand and complicated — are traditionally English, and in most cases the pedigree of the dish is given. Often they demonstrate that our traditional cooking is a good deal less 'English' than we suppose: for example, blanquette de veau and poulet à la creme au riz were both served in England earlier than they were in France. The book is rich in this kind of information, being almost as much a history of English eating as it is a cookery book. [FROM THE PUBLISHER]
VINTAGE HARDCOVER - VERY GOOD CONDITION