RECIPE BOOK

Manuscript Recipes in French, with a few in English, for a mouth-watering and very large range of patisseries, entremets fantaisis (fancy sweets), petits fours secs (macaroons, galettes, biscuits, etc.), soufflés, glaces, bombes, and fruit dishes, with a few special sauces, soups, and scones, mainly in one hand (possibly German or Russian), and, near the end, in a French hand, menus and wine lists from special occasions, in particular the 'Fêtes Franco-Espagnoles' (pp.66-71, 7 menus), 'Voyage du Président Loubet à Bordeaux en 1905' (p.73-74), and the 'Fêtes Franco-Anglaises' (p. 75), over 200 recipes not counting the many single-line descriptions of 'bombes', 76 sides 8½" x 6¾", n.p., c. 1905 - unstitched and hard covers detached, apparently lacking two leaves, existing order not quite certain

Several recipes show marks of origin. Scones come from Dunrobin Castle in Scotland (pp.5-6), a wide range of Austrian delights from Maison Gerstner, Vienna, [19]09 (pp.34-37), others are from the Ritz Hotel (p.23, added later), the Palace Hotel (p.43), the Café Napolitain (a long series of 'bombes', listing their 'extérieur' and 'intérieur', p.46), and the Paris Ritz (p.58). On p. 56, headed 'Princesse Hatzfeldt', is a "sauce Hatzfeldt" made from Düsseldorf mustard, oil and sugar, then in English "Corned Beef Hash", which can be served "with salt and pepper to taste" or formed "into flat cakes", fried in butter, and placed in a hot oven for 20 minutes, ascribed to 'Rinaldi'. Princesse Hatzfeldt may well be Claire, (1860-1928) the American wife of Prince Franz of Hatzfeldt-Wildenburg, (1853-1910) who lived in London.
The upper detached cover bears an emblematic device 'Gallia' and inside are two sheets, one a map of the French départements, the other tabular information about them, suggesting this was an otherwise blank school exercise book. Inside the back cover is a note "This Cookery Book A[u]gust 1914 Belonged to Monsieur Alexie Streiff".

Item Date:  1909

Stock No:  52676      £175

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