Old recipe books

I am a passionate collector of recipe books, both old and new, but I have to say, the old ones are by far my favourites. Over the next few weeks I will be reviewing some of these almanacs of practical and economic cookery advice and trying out a few recipes. Whilst I'm not about to start serving up 'Pig's Trotter in Aspic', I do intend to recreate some of these century-old dishes for our delectation and evaluate the results.

The first volume that has been put to practical use is the inspirationally-named 'Foulsham's Universal Cookery Book' and promises "The best value cookery guide and 1000 tested and inexpensive recipes." Published by W. Foulsham and Co. Ltd, Fleet Street, London. circa 1940, this was kindly given to us for Christmas by our discerning friends, Barbara Jane and Des Miller.

Whilst the front cover may look a little 'utilitarian', I can only imagine that the driving thought behind this gift was that the book is actually covered in old brown paper and stuffed full of newspaper cuttings and hand-written recipes; far more interesting to look at and aesthetically pleasing. See below.

The makeshift brown paper cover, both front and back, are full of neatly folded recipes collected from newspapers that date from as far back as 1939.



This beautifully hand written recipe for Eclairs was slotted between the pages

 Whilst I do have an eccentric obsession with these artifacts of culinary history, I am equally interested in the variety of dishes and meals that wait to be brought to life again in someone's kitchen. With guests invited for lunch today, I was contemplating baking some traditional farmhouse cakes; the sort my Grandmother used to make when I was a child. The one cake that came to mind was the mini Bakewell tart. The type that has a pastry base, a layer of raspberry jam, topped with a moist almond sponge and sprinkled with flaked almonds. I am sure everyone has come across these before.

Mentioning no names, I pulled down a pile of my favourite modern cookbooks written by much-loved and acclaimed cookery writers, television presenters and chefs. Not one recipe for individual Bakewell tarts. Even East Anglia's own Delia omitted this farmhouse favourite from her classic tomes.

My next logical, yet slightly delayed thought was 'we're talking granny's baking here, so we need a book that granny would have used.' Confidently sliding this understated paperback from my pantry shelf and turning to the chapter entitled 'Biscuits, buns, cakes, tarts and teacakes', there it was; "Macaroon Tartlets." Not quite the title I was expecting, but it fitted the description perfectly.

Macaroon Tartlets-AKA Mini Bakewell tarts

I love the sparseness of information given in the instructions. Nowadays, less experienced cooks would require the recipe for shortcrust pastry and more precise guidance as to the finish, texture and colour of each stage. Experience and a greedy reminiscence of this moist, jammy delight, guided me quickly through every basic step. Once my speedy, butter shortcrust pastry had rested in the refrigerator, I brought out the recently made raspberry jam, mixed up my almond and egg paste and began to assemble these little beauties. Fussy recollections caused me to alter the topping from thin pastry strips to a scattering of flaked almonds to fit in with my expectations.

Under construction



The finished product, brought to life from a wartime culinary manual



Mini Bakewell Tarts, or 'Macaroon Tartlets' sit side by side with some quick mini pavlovas on my china cabinet. In the background and on the right, Granny and Grandad Thacker are pictured on their wedding day and on the left, Great Grandma Woodland, her mother, survey the dining room as I wait for my guests to arrived. I hope I have made them proud.

In the next few days, I will be reviewing another of our vintage recipe books. I may even try making something a little more daring and unusual!