SC - Hello & Questions

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Gretchen M Beck wrote:

> I've got a question about Fettiplace (when I got it interlibrary loan, I
> skimmed it, but didn't read the whole thing).  I couldn't date any of
> her recipes.  Does she give a scheme for this?  I know the intro says
> that the recipes are written in different hands starting in 1604, but
> don't remember finding (see above for how hard I searched) any
> references to which recipes belonged to which period.
> 
> toodles, margaret

The story goes something like this:

The recipes in Elinor's own hand were copied in 1604. We don't know
which of these were Elinor's recipes and which were passed along from
her mother, grandmother, etc. Some of the recipes seem remarkably
archaic by the standards of the day, and the possibility exists that
they predate Elinor by a couple of hundred years or so.

Now, there are recipes that post-date Elinor, as well. They appear in a
more modern handwriting, and occur later in the book, assuming the book
was written turning the pages from right to left. These date from as
late as the eighteenth century. If I remember correctly, some of them
are signed and/or dated.

Spurling's notes address this question to some extent, but the coverage
is pretty sporadic, so you may not get this information in connection
with any specific recipe you're interested in.

Hope this helps put things in perpective...

Adamantius