The Boston Cooking School Book

[JPK Huson 1863]

One more I have in front of me, although I know there are a couple more. In the interests of not having to go dig these up again, thought I might as well post these while here. I do use them frequently.

The Boston Cooking School Book Cook Book, Fannie Merrit Farmer, revised edition, Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1922.

This one doesn't just have good, period recipes but reminds me of the early editions of what would have passed for the New York Times cookbook meets Julia Childs without being SO tough to follow ( love Julia a LOT, had to give away her cookbook simply because it was baffling from cover to cover. ).

 

[donna]

I have the Fannie Farmer Cookbook. It a later addition. Was given it when first got married. Use it all the time.

 

[Dave Hull]

One more I have in front of me, although I know there are a couple more. In the interests of not having to go dig these up again, thought I might as well post these while here. I do use them frequently.

The Boston Cooking School Book Cook Book, Fannie Merrit Farmer, revised edition, Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1922.

This one doesn't just have good, period recipes but reminds me of the early editions of what would have passed for the New York Times cookbook meets Julia Childs without being SO tough to follow ( love Julia a LOT, had to give away her cookbook simply because it was baffling from cover to cover. ).

The trick to understanding Julia Childs cookbook is to really study and learn the techniques and terms she explains at the beginning. I bought her book for Lori about 15 years ago and she had the same issue initially, but after studying for a bit, was able to blast through her recipes.

We were actually talking about this this morning before I saw your post. When Lori started using Julia's recipes she thought the were great, but quickly realized that the stuff was actually kind of bland. Great technique, but lacking in many of the herbs and spices so prevalent today. She now just makes up her own recipes employing a French/Country fusion style. Since she started experimenting with fresh herbs, her meals went from great to fantastic.

I will have to be on the look out for these cookbooks. I love being the beneficiary of getting my wife a cookbook where she finds a new recipes and then tweaks it to make it her own.

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

Ha! It SOUNDS like there's another niche for a cookbook! Julia's book really was like algebra to me, and I did kinda-sorta ok in calc. I wantedddd to follow it on the grounds that Julia is/was a super hero of mythic proportions ( at 6 feet, she filled those shoes extremely well ) in my head. A spy AND a cook, please?!? When I was a little girl, the answer to ' And what do you want to be when YOU grow up, little girl? ' was " A SPY " ( " more correctly " A THPY ", had a lisp, still do when not paying attention. ) No idea why, must have read something in one of Dad's book which started the whole thing. By jr. high had ascertained the high mortality rate amongst spies, became disillusioned. Then Julia swam into view and I've been her devoted disciple ever since. Just need an interpreter like your wife!

Flipping back and forth, 'See page unpteenth', where the puff pastry was to take another hour and a half while the cream sauce was on hold defeated me. Turning the whole thing into something a LOT more linear, plus as you said tweaking the recipes ( I'm personally convinced there's nothing which cannot be improved by fresh garlic ) on the part of someone who knows this stuff would have we amatuers eating ( scuse the pun ) out of her hand.

 

[James B White]

I think that the way Fannie Farmer revolutionized measuring ingredients has become so pervasive today, that modern cooks have trouble understanding the mindset of period recipes, and therefore tend to reject Civil War-era recipes as incomprehensible instructions that need "modernized" before they're useful.

For modern cooks, she accomplished something great. But for those interested in period foodways, she put up a barrier that most modern-taught cooks don't bother to get past. I think that understanding the difference in mindset between Fannie-Farmer-style recipes, and those of the early-to-mid-19th century, is crucial to understanding how period cooks were thinking about recipes and food. They're two different worlds.

For example:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fannie_Farmer

Farmer... also helped to standardize the system of measurements used in cooking in the USA. Before the Cookbook's publication, other American recipes frequently called for amounts such as "a piece of butter the size of an egg" or "a teacup of milk." Farmer's systematic discussion of measurement — "A cupful is measured level ... A tablespoonful is measured level. A teaspoonful is measured level." — led to her being named "the mother of level measurements."

 

[donna]

James B. White You are right about that purest cooks who want to prepare the recipes as originally written, don't like the standardized measurements. However, for many Fannie Farmer's standardized system of measurements was a God-send.

If one wants to prepare a recipe as originally written, one can. However, one needs to learn what terms like a piece of butter the size of an egg means. or what size is a teacup. It can be fun to prepare the old recipes but one needs to practice them or the food will taste terrible.

I enjoy posting the old recipes but sometimes to help folks, there is need to recreate them or modernize them.

These are my opinions and I don't mean to offend any of you.

Thanks.

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

Oh, I love reading all of these. My 'thing' is baking, and I've jumped into the ancient cookbooks because it's been a BLAST seeing how all the 'they's' did it waybackwhen. I'll tell you what, cakes especially are much, much better from the old recipes, hand's down. No idea why- I think it's possibly this fairly recent thing about 'fluffy' hence beating the bejeesis out of the eggs. I've gone back to who CARES on the fluffy, give me moist. I'm sure somewhere most families have those little, fall-to-bits notebooks, of course never published, with recipes like ' Calf Brain ' . Acckk. I'll follow Julia off a cliff, so have 'dabbled', but will never claim profiency in THAT kind of kitchen. Just watching that woman grip a wooden spoon makes me feel better about my chicken soup.

I had no idea it would have been the Fannie Farmer books which had done the 'translating', actually had wondered about that. I kind of learned in the UK, where women were much more likely to give me advice which sounded similar to the ' spoon-sized lump' and 'hefty pinch'. Hysterical to be 22, foreign and have NO clue what anyone's talking about. I think cookbooks must have been such a relief for young wives to turn to, maybe having no one to instruct them properly when they set up their kitchen for the first time.

Hee- here's a table I've never seen, be a great thread. Translate ' lump', 'pinch', 'Hefty pinch', 'SCANT pinch', 'Fist-sized', etc. Have to go page through the old things to see what other inexact terms they used- funny!

 

[donna]

Fannie Farmer is a role model for me. At age 16 she suffered a stroke and she could not walk. She had to stay at her parents home but learned to cook . She turned her mother's house into a boarding house and it was known for the great meals provided by Fannie. At age 30, when she could walk but with a limp, she enrolled in the Boston Cooking School. She was one of their top students and by 1891 she became the school's principal.

In 1896 she published her book, "The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book. It was a best seller. In the book, she standardized the system of measurements used in cooking in U.S. She was named " the mother of level measurements".

In 1902 she created her own school of cooking. She wrote another book, "Food and Cookery for the Sick and Convalescent". During the last 7 years of her life, she used a wheelchair. However, she continued to lecture, write and invent recipes. She died in 1915 and is buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Ma.

This is the story of a woman who overcame adversity to accomplish her goals and contribute greatly to cooking.

Information taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fannie_Farmer

 

[donna]

I brought this thread back up since question on Fannie Farmer's book.

Facsimilies of the original 1896 book are being sold as well as other editions. The Fannie Farmer Cookbook has also been reissued. The most recent in 1996 for 1ooth anniversary of the original, The Boston Cooking School Cook Book.

Annie, your original copy is very valuable to cook book collectors. It is wonderful you have that one.

 

[donna]

Bumping thread on Fannie Farmer.

 

[Northern Light]

The Fanny Farmer Cook Book is a gem. I have used it since my mother got her copy eons ago. Best peanut butter cookie recipe EVER! My copy, purchased when I got married is coverless and stained, well used and well loved!

 

[donna]

Bumping for Fannie Merritt Farmer's birthday, March 23.

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

Bumping for Fannie Merritt Farmer's birthday, March 23.

So weird, Donna! JUST got ours out yesterday, to look something up! Of course it is not possible to do that without spending another hour reading 7 other recipes.......

 

[AnnaLee]

I used to watch Julia's tv cooking show. Loved it. She had many tips in cooking and baking of which I applied to my own recipes. But after almost 50+ years in the kitchen I think my best results have been to take the basic recipes and apply my own touches to them. I almost never measure exactly per recipe and one trick is not to overbake or overcook the food. I still have Fanny Farmer's and Julia's cookbooks on my book shelf.

 

[donna]

Another thread on Fannie Farmer.