cookbooks. May was a professional cook, working for several
Catholic noble households. The work was fi rst published in 1660
immediately after the king returned. May’s cooking procedures and ingredients are traditionally English,
but they also refl ect the latest continental fashions and Baroque
taste. Like his patrons, he looked to Catholic Europe for aesthetic
inspiration, but he still remained thoroughly English. This can be
seen throughout his recipes.England in the 18th Century
In contrast to the Baroque cooking of late-17th-century England,
there was an entirely different side of English cooking that was
based on the country house with cookbooks addressed to women.
Authors of these types of cookbooks included Hannah Woolley, E.
Smith Twiddy, and Hannah Glasse.
There are dozens of this type of cookbook in the 18th century, all
of which stole from each other. These country estate cookbooks
support the notion that there are two very different sides to English
cookery, and one might argue down to the present that there is
still the relatively simple, local, and traditional versus the exotic,
continental, and innovative. It is also no surprise that these books appealed to the American
colonists as well, especially those who had their own country
estates. E. Smith Twiddy’s cookbook was the fi rst cookbook
published in the colonies, in Williamsburg.Bennet, Ale, Beer, and Brewsters.
Dawson, The Good Huswifes Jewell.
Glasse, Art of Cookery.
The Good Huswifes Handmaide for the Kitchen.
Suggested Reading