1896 Boston Cooking-School Cookbook [Hardcover]

Fannie Merritt Farmer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 16, 1997

This is a facsimile edition of the original Fannie Farmer Cookbook—a perennial bestseller first published in 1896. A pioneering work in the culinary field, it was the first cookbook to provide level measurements and easy-to-follow directions.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 567 pages
• Publisher: Gramercy (September 16, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517186780
• ISBN-13: 978-0517186787
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #284,740 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

67 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A tasty way to digest history, March 25, 1998

By 

A Reader (New York City, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 1896 Boston Cooking-School Cookbook (Hardcover)

This treasure trove of butter drenched, fried, preserved and heavily sweetened recipes is loaded with practical homemaking advice from the days when "fresh" was only seasonally available per market, and cholesterol was not a vocabulary word. It makes you think about how people "lived to eat" in the Northeastern US at the turn of the century before foreign travel, immigration, mass media, refrigeration, food processors, mixers, nutrition research, etc. made exotic cuisines and "fresh and light" everyday fare.

The recipes are classic, yet loaded with good and creative cooking ideas that might have been overlooked in the 20th century...nutmeg in poultry dressing, etc. They are invitations to create meals that make you think about how economic and scientific considerations influenced how people ate. For example, you'll find more varieties of angel cakes; when you consider that sugar was more expensive than butter and therefore more of a treat, it's not surprising. Canning and preserving, and making out of season foods taste good, were necessary skills of any good housekeeper. Physical labor was a daily necessity, meaning bigger, heartier meals.

This cookbook is as interesting to read as it is a source of good old fashioned American recipes. Adjust them to 1990's dietary considerations, and you've got an enduring classic you can use every day.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Family Heirloom, June 27, 2004

By 

Lor Dooley (Groveland, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 1896 Boston Cooking-School Cookbook (Hardcover)

I LOVE THIS COOKBOOK! My Grandmother owned this book and bought my mom a copy when she was married in 1937. When my grandmother died i got her copy. Now my daughter is 19 and moving away from home. I am buying myself a new copy as I am passing on my grandmothers original book to her. It provides all the basic down to earth information that a new cook needs and is not found in most modern day cookbooks.

44 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nana to Mom to Daughter to Daughter and now to Grands., November 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: 1896 Boston Cooking-School Cookbook (Hardcover)

My original copy of Fanny Farmer's Cookbook has no cover, pages behave as falling leaves unless handled with care, but I would not give it up for a new one, never never. What would I do without my years of scribbled notes in the margins? The copies I am buying now are for two granddaughters who are college frosh this year. They will get Fanny, Miss Manners, New College dictionary, etc. to start their own home libraries. Every home need Fanny Farmer because it is basic, easy to read and understand and calls for ingredients readily available - if not on the home shelf then at any grocery. FYI, when the grandson goes off to college he will also get a copy of Fanny to take with him, along with his microwave and a covered frying pan.