The Compleat Cook or the Secrets of a Seventeenth-Century Housewife

First published in 1974, The Compleat Cook is a book to inspire any creative cook in the days of tasteless, mass-produced foods. By the subtle use of herbs, wines and flavorings of all kinds Rebecca Price has provided us with multitude of new culinary experiences. These are the recipes of a practical cook, collected, tried and commented upon with meticulous care. Furthermore the book also tells us about Rebecca, her family, friends, servants, her kitchen and even the silver she used as hostess to many guests throughout her life in Westbury, Bucks, in London and in Houghton Regis, Beds. Madeleine Masson in her introduction is able to set Rebecca Price’s work in a scholarly historical context to give a lively account of her family background. This book will be a useful resource for collectors of cookery books and also for social historians and students of food history.