Modern cookery for private families

"Modern Cookery for Private Families" by Eliza Acton is a comprehensive cookbook produced in the late 19th century. The book focuses on practical domestic cookery, emphasizing efficient preparation and nutrition to reduce waste and improve the health of families. It aims to serve all classes, promoting the idea that proper cooking is attainable and beneficial to everyone, not just the affluent. The opening of the book presents a preface by Eliza Acton, where she discusses the pressing need for better domestic cookery and the detrimental effects of poor food preparation on health and finances. She addresses the rampant waste of food in England and expresses her desire to elevate culinary practices for all socio-economic classes through clear, precise instructions. Acton also emphasizes her commitment to offering reliable recipes that prioritize wholesome nourishment over extravagant dishes. Additionally, she shares her anxiety about the lack of trained cooks and outlines her approach to remedying this deficiency by providing accessible knowledge and clear instructions for novice cooks. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Eliza Acton was an English food writer and poet who produced one of Britain's first cookery books aimed at the domestic reader, Modern Cookery for Private Families. The book introduced the now-universal practice of listing ingredients and giving suggested cooking times for each recipe. It included the first recipes in English for Brussels sprouts and for spaghetti. It also contains the first recipe for what Acton called "Christmas pudding"; the dish was normally called plum pudding, recipes for which had appeared previously, although Acton was the first to put the name and recipe together.