Food And Cooking Recommended Books and Bestsellers

1Domestic Cookery, Useful Receipts, and Hints to Young Housekeepers

By Elizabeth E. Lea

The compiler of [this book] having entered early in life upon a train of duties, was frequently embarrassed by her ignorance of domestic affairs. For, whilst receipt books for elegant preparations were often seen, those connected with the ordinary, but far more useful part of household duties, were not easily procured; thus situated, she applied to persons of experience, and embodied the information collected in a book, to which, since years have matured her judgment, she has added much that is the result of her own experiments.<br /><br />Familiar, then, with the difficulties a young housekeeper encounters, when she finds herself in reality the mistress of an establishment, the Authoress offers to her young countrywomen this Work, with the belief that, by attention to its contents, many of the cares attendant on a country or city life, may be materially lessened; and hoping that the directions are such as to be understood by the most inexperienced, it is respectfully dedicated to those who feel an interest in domestic affairs.<br />Summary by the Authoress.

2How to Cook Fish

By Myrtle Reed

Olive Green is the pseudonym for the prolific late 19th Century/early 20th Century author, Myrtle Reed. She wrote over thirty-three books and hundreds of magazine articles and pamphlets during her short lifetime. Ms. Reed was best known for writing romance novels that often included themes of everlasting and unrequited love, ironic revenge, mystery, and the occult. Her best known book is <i>Lavender and Old Lace</i>, which later became the basis for <i>Arsenic and Old Lace</i>.<br /><br /> Ms. Reed used the name Olive Green to write books and articles about domestic homemaking and cooking. Her cookbooks include <i>How to Cook Fish</i>, <i>What to Have for Breakfast</i>, and <i>One Thousand Simple Soups</i>. Myrtle Reed committed suicide in 1911 just after the publishing of her last novel, <i>A Weaver of Dreams</i>.<br />(Summary by Mary)

3Ideal Bartender

By Tom Bullock

The book was written by Tom Bullock, a well-known bartender at the St. Louis Country Club. His skills as a bartender were so remarkable that a libel suit hinged on the excellence of his drinks. In The Ideal Bartender, Tom collects some of his best known beverage recipes.

4Good Things to Eat As Suggested By Rufus

By Rufus Estes

Rufus Estes was born a slave in 1857 in Tennessee, and experienced first hand the turmoil of the Civil War. He began working in a Nashville restaurant at the age of 16, and in 1883 took up employment as a Pullman cook. In 1897, he was hired as principal chef for the private railway car of U.S. Steel magnates (the fin-de-siecle equivalent of today's Lear Jets for corporate travel). There he served succulent fare for the rich and famous at the turn of the 20th century. (Summary by Denny Sayers)

5Chocolate: or, An Indian Drinke

By Antonio Colmenero de Ledesma

The Author sings the praises of Chocolate. "By the wise and Moderate use whereof, Health is preserved, Sicknesse Diverted, and Cured, especially the Plague of the Guts; vulgarly called <i>The New Disease</i>; Fluxes, Consumptions, & Coughs of the Lungs, with sundry other desperate Diseases. By it also, Conception is Caused, the Birth Hastened and facilitated, Beauty Gain'd and continued."

"Mrs. Beeton's" is a guide to all aspects of running a household in Victorian Britain. Published in 1861, it was an immediate bestseller, running to millions of copies within just a few years. In the cookery sections, Mrs. Beeton follows the animal "from his birth to his appearance on the table.” Learn how to care for poultry during moulting season, how to wean calves, how to cure hams, salt cod, carve mutton, and much more. (Summary by Wikipedia and Sarah Jennings)

7Cocoa and Chocolate

By Arthur William Knapp

As that heavenly bit of chocolate melts in our mouths, we give little thought as to where it came from, the arduous work that went in to its creation, and the complex process of its maturation from a bean to the delicacy we all enjoy. This "little book" details everything you have ever wanted to know (and some things you never knew you wanted to know) about cocoa and chocolate from how the trees are planted and sustained to which countries produce the most cacao beans. Do cacao beans from various countries differ? What makes some types of chocolate higher quality than other kinds? Are there any health benefits to eating chocolate? Read on to learn the answers to these and many other questions about that wondrous little treat we call chocolate. (Summary by Allyson Hester)

A book of simple receipts for little folk with important cooking rules in rhyme together with handy lists of the materials and utensils needed for the preparation of each dish. (Summary from the text)

9Khaki Kook Book

By Mary Kennedy Core

We cannot ignore the fact that we must eat, and that much as we dislike to acknowledge it, we are compelled to think a great deal about filling our stomachs. This is especially true these days, when prices have soared and soared and taken along with them, far out of the reach of many of us, certain articles of food which we heretofore have always felt were quite necessary to us.<br><br>About ten years ago the idea of writing a little cook book had its birth. We were in Almora that summer. Almora is a station far up in the Himalayas, a clean little bazaar nestles at the foot of enclosing mountains. Dotting the deodar-covered slopes of these mountains are the picturesque bungalows of the European residents, while towering above and over all are the glistening peaks of the eternal snows.<br><br>The people of India since Vedic times have eaten curry and always will. (Excerpt from text)

How does occultism regard vegetarianism? It regards it very favorably, and that for many reasons. These reasons may be divided into two classes: those which are ordinary and physical, and those which are occult or hidden. Let us see in detail why a vegetarian diet is emphatically the purest and the best. (Summary from <em>Vegetarianism and Occultism</em>)