Focus on Form
The London Art of Cookery
The first printed cookbooks meant for the masses were published in the mid-15th century. The arrival of the Renaissance in Europe encourage new ways of thinking about all aspects of society and culture, including food. Cookbooks began to reflect new methods of food preparation and cooking, as well as new ingredients. The invention of the mechanical printing press and moveable type in 1450 made mass production of books possible, and cookbooks began to be published with a broader audience in mind. The dawn of widely-published cookbooks brought with it the trend of recipe plagiarism, a problem that still exists to this day.
One such collection of plagiarized recipes is chef John Farley's The London Art of Cookery and Domestic Housekeeper's Complete Assistant. First published in 1783, this cookbook contained not only recipes, but also information about the following:
- food preparation techniques
- monthly dinner course recommendations
- uses of ingredients for health considerations
- butchering
- when different ingredients are in season
- culinary poisons
- marketing tables
- tables of expenses, income, or wages
Like many cookbooks that were published during and following the Renaissance, Farley's book refers to cooking as an "art", an activity that requires precision and forethought.
Like The Forme of Cury, The London Art of Cookery does not include illustrations or images accompanying recipes of dishes. However, as seen in the images above from the 1811 edition, it does contain charts and other illustrations of butchering and carving. Recipes do not include a separate list of ingredients, but they do provide ingredient measurements and cooking times, as precision in this art of cooking is key. Because this cookbook is printed rather than handwritten, information and recipes are organized by varied font sizes and styles (italics, bolding, and spacing). Another element of this cookbook is its inclusion of both a general table of contents and an index of recipes.