A manuscript recipe book belonging to Mall Crossman, 1683-1686, 86pp., laid paper, written in brown ink to rectos and versos, in several different hands, first leaf with inscription with flourishes on recto 'Mall: Crossman :- Her Booke :- 1686', and further inscriptions 'Gualterus Clopton' and 'Maria Crossman', and on verso 'Ffor Mrs. Eliz. Smith att Mr Doman house at Kennett near Newmarkett' and 'To Mr. Robert Brereton att Clement Inn beyond Temple bear', approximately 200 culinary recipes and medical receipts, many leaves with initials 'SCB', large brown stain throughout, one leaf almost entirely torn away (with small remains at gutter), sheet size 25.5 x 17.5cm (10 x 7ins), original limp vellum binding bound in (creased and stained), modern panelled cream cloth, with gilt lettered spine label, 4to, together with a bound typescript of the manuscript, containing an introduction by Peter Edden, small folio A remarkable early cookery book, compiled by a Suffolk family. Much of the copperplate is probably that of Mrs. Crossman's husband, who refers to her as "honeykin" or "wiffo". We have been unable to establish the identity of Mall (presumably Maria) Crossman, but according to a marginal note she was "bloodily akin" to John Brundish, Rector of Whelnetham (1652-1724), whose recipe 'To Roast a Shoulder of Mutton in Blood' appears near the front of the volume. A note beneath the Rector's recipe reads "I beg good Cos Crosse feed not me nor my Honeykin with such damn'd French dishes". It follows a recipe 'To make a Ragoon of Veal', which ends "then dish it Garnish it & it will be a Dish to poyson the Devill". The variety of recipes and their ingredients indicate a certain sophistication in late Stuart cooking. Claret, white wine, and cider was used, and there was clearly an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as a wide variety of spices and herbs. Oranges and lemons were plentiful (one recipe calls for forty oranges), as were salmon and oysters, and of course all kinds of game. The Crossman's kitchen was clearly not ill-equipped, with "tinn panns" for baking, tea cups for measuring, a chocolate mill for whisking ingredients, and presumably some kind of clock or hourglass, as cooking times are often given. Superstitions jostle amongst the practical details; a recipe 'To make a very good Cake' for a wedding advises "dispose of the Rest to ye young Ladys that are unmarried, to lay under their pillows, that they may dream of their bridegroom." Even more nonsensical is 'A precious Receit as good as how to make the countess of Kent's Powder' which calls for the flowers of salt petre, the juice of the powder of grind-stone and the yolks of several eggs to be "larded with the bacon that grew of the ear of a black she hog" before boiling the concoction in best saw dust "about twice as long as the old woman was kissing the further end of her Cowe". On the same page is a marginal note "when you are in Gloucestershire drink mine & my Honykins health... & my little Boyes, who is in a close plott but not a dissenters plott". Written in 1683, this certainly refers to William Russell's execution in July that year for his part in the Rye House Plot, an attempt to murder Charles II as he travelled from Newmarket to London. "A receipt for any Infections of Plague or Spotted Feavour" is a reminder that the Great Plague of London, which began in 1665, was not solely confined to the capital. The epidemic spread to other towns and cities, including Norwich, Colchester and Ipswich, and its effects would have been fresh in the memories of Mall and her family. On the final page is a curious poem in rhyme on the subject of unrequited love entitled 'Ah Cruel beauty now', followed by the rather charming epilogue "Madame your Humble Servant most Entirely wishes more joys to you than In the Sea are fishes or In the Ayre are fowls; or on the Earth are flowers or drops of Rain in a Hundred Thousand Showers." (1)
A manuscript recipe book belonging to Mall Crossman, 1683-1686, 86pp., laid paper, written in brown ink to rectos and versos, in several different hands, first leaf with inscription with flourishes on recto 'Mall: Crossman :- Her Booke :- 1686', and further inscriptions 'Gualterus Clopton' and 'Maria Crossman', and on verso 'Ffor Mrs. Eliz. Smith att Mr Doman house at Kennett near Newmarkett' and 'To Mr. Robert Brereton att Clement Inn beyond Temple bear', approximately 200 culinary recipes and medical receipts, many leaves with initials 'SCB', large brown stain throughout, one leaf almost entirely torn away (with small remains at gutter), sheet size 25.5 x 17.5cm (10 x 7ins), original limp vellum binding bound in (creased and stained), modern panelled cream cloth, with gilt lettered spine label, 4to, together with a bound typescript of the manuscript, containing an introduction by Peter Edden, small folio A remarkable early cookery book, compiled by a Suffolk family. Much of the copperplate is probably that of Mrs. Crossman's husband, who refers to her as "honeykin" or "wiffo". We have been unable to establish the identity of Mall (presumably Maria) Crossman, but according to a marginal note she was "bloodily akin" to John Brundish, Rector of Whelnetham (1652-1724), whose recipe 'To Roast a Shoulder of Mutton in Blood' appears near the front of the volume. A note beneath the Rector's recipe reads "I beg good Cos Crosse feed not me nor my Honeykin with such damn'd French dishes". It follows a recipe 'To make a Ragoon of Veal', which ends "then dish it Garnish it & it will be a Dish to poyson the Devill". The variety of recipes and their ingredients indicate a certain sophistication in late Stuart cooking. Claret, white wine, and cider was used, and there was clearly an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as a wide variety of spices and herbs. Oranges and lemons were plentiful (one recipe calls for forty oranges), as were salmon and oysters, and of course all kinds of game. The Crossman's kitchen was clearly not ill-equipped, with "tinn panns" for baking, tea cups for measuring, a chocolate mill for whisking ingredients, and presumably some kind of clock or hourglass, as cooking times are often given. Superstitions jostle amongst the practical details; a recipe 'To make a very good Cake' for a wedding advises "dispose of the Rest to ye young Ladys that are unmarried, to lay under their pillows, that they may dream of their bridegroom." Even more nonsensical is 'A precious Receit as good as how to make the countess of Kent's Powder' which calls for the flowers of salt petre, the juice of the powder of grind-stone and the yolks of several eggs to be "larded with the bacon that grew of the ear of a black she hog" before boiling the concoction in best saw dust "about twice as long as the old woman was kissing the further end of her Cowe". On the same page is a marginal note "when you are in Gloucestershire drink mine & my Honykins health... & my little Boyes, who is in a close plott but not a dissenters plott". Written in 1683, this certainly refers to William Russell's execution in July that year for his part in the Rye House Plot, an attempt to murder Charles II as he travelled from Newmarket to London. "A receipt for any Infections of Plague or Spotted Feavour" is a reminder that the Great Plague of London, which began in 1665, was not solely confined to the capital. The epidemic spread to other towns and cities, including Norwich, Colchester and Ipswich, and its effects would have been fresh in the memories of Mall and her family. On the final page is a curious poem in rhyme on the subject of unrequited love entitled 'Ah Cruel beauty now', followed by the rather charming epilogue "Madame your Humble Servant most Entirely wishes more joys to you than In the Sea are fishes or In the Ayre are fowls; or on the Earth are flowers or drops of Rain in a Hundred Thousand Showers." (1)
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