Anna Christina Warg (23March 17035February 1769), better known as Cajsa (or Kajsa) Warg, was a Swedish cookbook author and one of the best-known cooks in the Swedish culinary history. Born in

Örebro Örebro ( ; ) is the seventh-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Örebro Municipality, and capital of Örebro County. It is situated by the Närke Plain, near the lake Hjälmaren, a few kilometers inland along the small river Svartån, and ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, she worked as a cook and housekeeper for notable individuals in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. She is particularly renowned for her famous

cookbook A cookbook or cookery book is a kitchen reference containing recipes. Cookbooks may be general, or may specialize in a particular cuisine or category of food. Recipes in cookbooks are organized in various ways: by course (food), course (appetize ...

titled ''Hjelpreda i Hushållningen för Unga Fruentimber'' (''Helpful Guide in Housekeeping for Young Women''), published in 1755. An essential reference for homemakers in 18th-century Sweden, this book had several editions and was also translated in German, Danish and Estonian.

Early life

Warg was born in

, the younger of two daughters, to accountant Anders Warg (died 1708) and Karin Livijn (died 1755). In 1710, her mother married the nobleman Eric Rosenstråle, with whom she had seven more children and moved with to Borggård Manor outside Finspång.

Cookbook

In 1755, Warg inherited 5000 daler from her mother when she died. The same year, she published ''Hjelpreda I Hushållningen För Unga Fruentimber'' ("Guide to Housekeeping for Young Women") which was published in fourteen editions of which the last version was printed in 1822. It was also translated into German, which came out in four editions, and one Estonian edition. The book mostly contains food recipes but also includes instructions on dyeing textiles and other things related to household maintenance. From the third edition (1762), it included an appendix with the title ''Underrättelse om Färgning'' ("instruction on dyeing"). The appendix on dyeing was translated into Danish with two editions (1773 and 1794). Warg's work was the leading cookbook for several generations and remained relevant until the late 19th century when new household goods, industrially manufactured

kitchen stove A kitchen stove, often called simply a stove or a cooker, is a kitchen appliance designed for the purpose of cooking food. Kitchen stoves rely on the application of Heat transfer#Conduction, direct heat for the cooking process and may also conta ...

s and changes in cuisine made most of its recipes outdated.

Editions

;Swedish *first edition, 1755 (also published in a

facsimile A facsimile (from Latin ''fac simile'', "to make alike") is a copy or reproduction of an old book, manuscript, map, art print, or other item of historical value that is as true to the original source as possible. It differs from other forms of r ...

edition in 1970) *second edition, 1759 *third edition, 1762 (expansion with an appendix on dyeing textiles) *fourth edition, 1765 (expansion with an appendix with more recipes) *fifth edition, 1770 *sixth edition, 1773 (from this edition described as ''"å nyo öfwersedd, förbättrad och tilökt"'', "again reviewed, improved and expanded") *seventh edition, 1780 *eighth edition, 1781 *ninth edition, 1790 *tenth edition, 1795 *eleventh edition, 1800 *twelfth edition, 1809 *thirteenth edition, 1814 *fourteenth edition, 1822 ;German *''Schwedisches Koch- und Haushaltungs-Buch'', first edition (1772) *second edition (1778) *third edition (1789) *fourth edition (1805) ;Danish (only the appendix on textile dyeing) *''Den paa Kundskab og Erfaring grundede nye Farve-Bog'', first edition (1773) *second edition (1794) ;Estonian *''Köki ja Kokka Ramat, mis Rootsi Kelest Eesti-ma Kele üllespandud on'' (1781)

References

* Ärlemalm, Ingrid ''Cajsa Warg, Hiram och de andra: om svenska kokboksförfattarinnor.'' Ordalaget, Bromma. 2000. * Palmær, Margit, ''Cajsa Warg och hennes kokbok. Cajsa Wargs kokbok utgiven i urval med kulturhistorisk inledning.'' Stockholm. 1985. * Du Rietz, Richard, ''Gastronomisk spegel: historisk översikt jämte förteckning över svenska kok- och hushållsböcker fram till 1850.'' Stockholm. 1953. * Öjvind Swahn, Jan, ''Man tager vad man haver'' (1970)

Early life

Cookbook

Editions

See also

References

Further reading