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A Colonial Plantation Cookbook: The Receipt Book of Harriott Pinckney Horry, 1770
Recipes and household formulas from a prominent Southern family.
168 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 1984
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 29, 2022
A really fascinating look at how the cooking life was on a successful plantation in the 1700s.
The recipes are her original text and I plan to try some!
Harriott was in a very wealthy position which must be remembered (in my opinion) as many in this era were incredibly poor. Her life looked easy in the sense of her ability to acquire foreign ingredients and her extensive travels as well as how many workers she had at her disposal to do the complicated and very time consuming jobs we take for granted (e.g. there’s a chunk of pages dedicated on how to make successful butter).
I thought this book was really unique because at a time that women were not as empowered as they are today, Harriott took charge and made a lasting, famous legacy for herself.
I also love books like this as they are more of an “inside look” at history written by someone experiencing it in real time.
The recipes are her original text and I plan to try some!
Harriott was in a very wealthy position which must be remembered (in my opinion) as many in this era were incredibly poor. Her life looked easy in the sense of her ability to acquire foreign ingredients and her extensive travels as well as how many workers she had at her disposal to do the complicated and very time consuming jobs we take for granted (e.g. there’s a chunk of pages dedicated on how to make successful butter).
I thought this book was really unique because at a time that women were not as empowered as they are today, Harriott took charge and made a lasting, famous legacy for herself.
I also love books like this as they are more of an “inside look” at history written by someone experiencing it in real time.
February 14, 2011
I found this book disappointing. First of all the book is very small in size and very thin, so there isn't much to it. It contains 124 recipes for mostly food, and a few for things like insect control and soap, etc.
Most of the recipes have some of the ingredients given in pounds, ounces, quarts or pints, but other ingredients in the same recipe aren't given in a standard measurement and would have to be guessed at. The directions are far from clear as the editor did not make any changes to the original author's writing, which is good from a historical standpoint, but makes the recipes hard to understand.
There is only one recipe that I might attempt to make, and it's a recipe that someone other than the original author of the recipe book wrote in the book. It's much more clear and straight forward.
The best thing about this book is the introduction, which gives a brief, but interesting, history of the author.
Most of the recipes have some of the ingredients given in pounds, ounces, quarts or pints, but other ingredients in the same recipe aren't given in a standard measurement and would have to be guessed at. The directions are far from clear as the editor did not make any changes to the original author's writing, which is good from a historical standpoint, but makes the recipes hard to understand.
There is only one recipe that I might attempt to make, and it's a recipe that someone other than the original author of the recipe book wrote in the book. It's much more clear and straight forward.
The best thing about this book is the introduction, which gives a brief, but interesting, history of the author.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews