A cookbook or cookery book is a kitchen reference containing

recipe A recipe is a set of instructions that describes how to prepare or make something, especially a dish (food), dish of prepared food. A sub-recipe or subrecipe is a recipe for an ingredient that will be called for in the instructions for the main r ...

s. 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 (appetizer, first course, main course, dessert), by main ingredient, by cooking technique, alphabetically, by region or country, and so on. They may include illustrations of finished dishes and preparation steps; discussions of cooking techniques, advice on kitchen equipment, ingredients, tips, and substitutions; historical and cultural notes; and so on. Cookbooks may be written by individual authors, who may be chefs, cooking teachers, or other food writers; they may be written by collectives; or they may be anonymous. They may be addressed to home cooks, to professional restaurant cooks, to institutional cooks, or to more specialized audiences. Some cookbooks are didactic, with detailed recipes addressed to beginners or people learning to cook particular dishes or cuisines; others are simple aide-memoires, which may document the composition of a dish or even precise measurements, but not detailed techniques.

History

Early works

Not all cultures left written records of their culinary practices, but some examples have survived, notably three Akkadian tablets from Ancient Mesopotamia, dating to about 1700 BC, large fragments from

Archestratus Archestratus ( ''Archestratos'') was an ancient Greek poet of Gela or Syracuse, Magna Graecia, in Sicily, who wrote some time in the mid 4th century BCE, and was known as "the Daedalus of tasty dishes". His humorous didactic poem ''Hedypatheia ...

, the Latin ''

Apicius ''Apicius'', also known as ''De re culinaria'' or ''De re coquinaria'' (''On the Subject of Cooking''), is a collection of Food and dining in the Roman Empire, Roman cookery recipes, which may have been compiled in the fifth century CE, or ea ...

'' and some texts from the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

. The earliest collection of recipes that has survived in Europe is ''

De re coquinaria ''Apicius'', also known as ''De re culinaria'' or ''De re coquinaria'' (''On the Subject of Cooking''), is a collection of Roman cookery recipes, which may have been compiled in the fifth century CE, or earlier. Its language is in many ways ...

'', written in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

. An early version was first compiled sometime in the 1st century and has often been attributed to the Roman gourmet

Marcus Gavius Apicius Marcus Gavius Apicius is believed to have been a Roman gourmet and lover of luxury, who lived sometime in the 1st century AD, during the reign of Tiberius. The Roman cookbook ''Apicius'' is often attributed to him, though it is impossible to prov ...

, though this has been cast in doubt by modern research. An ''

'' came to designate a book of recipes. The current text appears to have been compiled in the late 4th or early 5th century; the first print edition is from 1483. It records a mix of ancient Greek and Roman cuisine, but with few details on preparation and cooking. An abbreviated epitome entitled ''Apici Excerpta a Vinidario'', a "pocket Apicius" by Vinidarius, "an illustrious man", was made in the

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty ( ; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charles Martel and his grandson Charlemagne, descendants of the Arnulfing and Pippinid c ...

era. In spite of its late date it represents the last manifestation of the cuisine of Antiquity.

Medieval

Asian

Arabic

The earliest cookbooks known in Arabic are those of al-Warraq (an early 10th-century compendium of recipes from the 9th and 10th centuries) and al-Baghdadi (13th century).

Indian

Manasollasa The ' also known as ''Abhilashitartha Chintamani'', is an early 12th-century Sanskrit text composed by the Kalyani Chalukya king Someshvara III, who ruled in present-day Karnataka. It is an encyclopedic work covering topics such as polity, gove ...

'' from India contains recipes of vegetarian and non-vegetarian

cuisines A cuisine is a style of cooking characterized by distinctive ingredients, techniques and dishes, and usually associated with a specific culture or geographic region. Regional food preparation techniques, customs and ingredients combine to ena ...

. While the text is not the first among Indian books to describe fermented foods, it contains a range of cuisines based on fermentation of cereals and flours.

Chinese

Chinese recipe books are known from the

, but most were lost. One of the earliest surviving Chinese-language cookbooks is "Madame Wu's"

Wushi Zhongkuilu Wushi Zhongkuilu () is a late-13th-century medieval Chinese culinary work on household cookery written by an anonymous author from the Pujiang region known only as "Madame Wu". It is the earliest known culinary work written by or attributed to ...

from the late 13th century and

Hu Sihui Hu Sihui (, 和斯輝, 忽斯慧, also Hu Zheng Qi Huei; active nr. 1314–1330) was a Chinese court therapist and dietitian during Yuan dynasty. He is known for his book '' Yinshan zhengyao'' (''Dietary Principles''), that became a classic in C ...

's " Yinshan Zhengyao" (Important Principles of Food and Drink), believed to be from 1330. Hu Sihui,

Buyantu Khan Buyantu Khan ( Mongolian: Буянт хаан; Mongolian script: ; ), born Ayurbarwada (Mongolian: Аюурбарбад ; ), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Renzong of Yuan (, April 9, 1285 – March 1, 1320), was the fourth emperor o ...

's dietitian and therapist, recorded a Chinese-inflected Central Asian cuisine as eaten by the Yuan court; his recipes were adapted from foods eaten all over the

Mongol Empire The Mongol Empire was the List of largest empires, largest contiguous empire in human history, history. Originating in present-day Mongolia in East Asia, the Mongol Empire at its height stretched from the Sea of Japan to parts of Eastern Euro ...

. In 1792,

Yuan Mei Yuan Mei (; 1716–1797) was a Chinese poet of the Qing dynasty. He was often mentioned with Ji Yun as the "Nan Yuan Bei Ji" (). Biography Early life Yuan Mei was born in Qiantang (, in modern Hangzhou), Zhejiang province, to a cultured famil ...

published Recipes from the Garden of Contentment, which criticized the corruption of Chinese cuisine by the Manchu.

Korean

'' Sanga yorok'' was written in 1459 by the physician Jeon Soon. It is the oldest Korean cookbook, found thus far. '' Eumsik dimibang'', written around 1670 by Jang Gye-hyang, is the oldest

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

n cookbook first written by a woman.

European

After a long interval, the first recipe books to be compiled in Europe since Late Antiquity started to appear in the late thirteenth century. About a hundred are known to have survived, some fragmentary, from the age before printing. The earliest genuinely medieval recipes have been found in a Danish manuscript dating from around 1300, which in turn are copies of older texts that date back to the early 13th century or perhaps earlier. Low and

High German The High German languages (, i.e. ''High German dialects''), or simply High German ( ) – not to be confused with Standard High German which is commonly also called "High German" – comprise the varieties of German spoken south of the Ben ...

manuscripts are among the most numerous. Among them is '' Daz buch von guter spise'' ("The Book of Good Food") written c. 1350 in Würzberg and ''Kuchenmeysterey'' ("Kitchen Mastery"), the first printed German cookbook from 1485. Two French collections are probably the most famous: '' Le Viandier'' ("The Provisioner") was compiled in the late 14th century by

Guillaume Tirel Guillaume Tirel (), known as Taillevent (, "wind-cutter" i.e. an idle swaggerer) (born ca. 1310 in Pont-Audemer – 1395), was an important figure in the early history of French cuisine. He was cook to the Court of France at the time of the fir ...

, master chef for two French kings; and '' Le Menagier de Paris'' ("The Householder of Paris"), a household book written by an anonymous middle class Parisian in the 1390s. Du fait de cuisine is another Medieval French cookbook, written in 1420. From Southern Europe there is the 14th century

Valencian Valencian can refer to: * Something related to the Valencian Community ( Valencian Country) in Spain * Something related to the city of Valencia * Something related to the province of Valencia in Spain * Something related to the old Kingdom of ...

manuscript Llibre de Sent Soví (1324), the Catalan ("The book of all recipes of dishes") and several Italian collections, notably the Venetian mid-14th century ''Libro per Cuoco'', with its 135 recipes alphabetically arranged. The printed ''

De honesta voluptate et valetudine ''De honesta voluptate et valetudine'' (, often shortened to ''De honesta voluptate'') was the first cookbook ever printed. Written by Bartolomeo Platina; it first appeared between 1470 and 1475 in Rome, and in 1475 in Venice. Written in Latin ...

'' ("On honourable pleasure"), first published in 1475, is one of the first cookbooks based on Renaissance ideals, and, though it is as much a series of moral essays as a cookbook, has been described as "the anthology that closed the book on medieval Italian cooking". Medieval English cookbooks include ''

The Forme of Cury ''The Forme of Cury'' (''The Method of Cooking'', from Old French , 'cookery') is an extensive 14th-century collection of medieval English recipes. Although the original manuscript is lost, the text appears in nine manuscripts, the most famou ...

'' and '' Utilis Coquinario'', both written in the fourteenth century. The Forme of Cury is a cookbook authored by the chefs of

Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward, Prince of Wales (later known as the Black Prince), and Joan, Countess of Kent. R ...

. Utilis Coquinario is a similar cookbook though written by an unknown author. Another English manuscript (1390s) includes the earliest recorded recipe for ravioli, even though ravioli did not originate in England.

Modern cookbooks

With the advent of the

printing press A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a printing, print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in whi ...

in the 16th and 17th centuries, numerous books were written on how to manage households and prepare food. In Holland and England competition grew between the noble families as to who could prepare the most lavish banquet. By the 1660s, cookery had progressed to an art form and good cooks were in demand. Many of them published their own books detailing their recipes in competition with their rivals. Many of these books have now been translated and are available online. By the 19th century, the Victorian preoccupation for domestic respectability brought about the emergence of cookery writing in its modern form. In 1796, the first known American cookbook titled, ''

American Cookery ''American Cookery'', by Amelia Simmons, is the first known cookbook written by an American, published in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1796. Until then, the cookbooks printed and used in the Thirteen Colonies were British. Its full title is: Hi ...

'', written by Amelia Simmons, was published in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

. Until then, the cookbooks printed and used in the

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies were the British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America which broke away from the British Crown in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and joined to form the United States of America. The Thirteen C ...

were British. The first modern cookery writer and compiler of recipes for the home was

Eliza Acton Eliza Acton (17 April 1799 – 13 February 1859) 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-un ...

. Her pioneering cookbook, '' Modern Cookery for Private Families'' (1845), was aimed at the domestic reader rather than the professional cook or chef. This was an immensely influential book, and it established the format for modern writing about cookery. The publication introduced the now-universal practice of listing the ingredients and suggested cooking times with each recipe. It included the first recipe for

Brussels sprouts The Brussels sprout is a member of the Gemmifera cultivar group of cabbages (''Brassica oleracea''), grown for its edible buds. Etymology Though native to the Mediterranean region with other cabbage species, Brussels sprouts first appeared i ...

. Contemporary chef

Delia Smith Delia Ann Smith (born 18 June 1941) is an English cook and television presenter, known for teaching basic cookery skills in a direct style. One of the best-known celebrity chefs in British popular culture, Smith has influenced viewers to bec ...

is quoted as having called Acton "the best writer of recipes in the English language". ''Modern Cookery'' long survived her, remaining in print until 1914 and available more recently in facsimile reprint. Acton's work was an important influence on Isabella Beeton, who published ''

Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management ''Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management'', also published as ''Mrs. Beeton's Cookery Book'', is an extensive guide to running a household in Victorian Britain, edited by Isabella Beeton and first published as a book in 1861. Previously ...

'' in 24 monthly parts between 1857 and 1861. The book was a guide to running a Victorian household, with advice on fashion,

child care Child care, also known as day care, is the care and supervision of one or more children, typically ranging from three months to 18 years old. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(ren), childcare typica ...

animal husbandry Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, animal fiber, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, management, production, nutrition, selective breeding, and the raising ...

, poisons, the management of

servants A domestic worker is a person who works within a residence and performs a variety of household services for an individual, from providing cleaning and household maintenance, or cooking, laundry and ironing, or care for children and elderly d ...

, science, religion, and industrialism. Despite its title, most of the text consisted of recipes, such that another popular name for the volume is ''Mrs Beeton's Cookbook''. Most of the recipes were illustrated with coloured engravings, and it was the first book to show recipes in a format that is still used today. Many of the recipes were plagiarised from earlier writers, including Acton. In 1885 the ''Virginia Cookery Book'' was published by Mary Stuart Smith. In 1896 the American cook

Fannie Farmer Fannie Merritt Farmer (23 March 1857 – 16 January 1915) was an American culinary expert whose '' Boston Cooking-School Cook Book'' became a widely used culinary text. Education Fannie Farmer was born on 23 March 1857 in Boston, Massachusetts, ...

(1857–1915) published '' The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book'' which contained some 1,849 recipes.

Types of cookbooks

Cookbooks that serve as basic kitchen references (sometimes known as "kitchen bibles") began to appear in the

early modern period The early modern period is a Periodization, historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There i ...

. They provided not just recipes but overall instruction for both kitchen technique and household management. Such books were written primarily for housewives and occasionally domestic servants as opposed to professional cooks, and at times books such as '' The Joy of Cooking'' ( USA), '' La bonne cuisine de Madame E. Saint-Ange'' (

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

), ''The Art of Cookery'' ( UK, USA), '' Il cucchiaio d'argento'' (

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

), and ''

A Gift to Young Housewives ''A Gift to Young Housewives'' () is a Russian literature, Russian cookbook written and compiled by and usually referred to as "Molokhovets" rather than its long title. It was the most successful book of its kind in the 19th and early 20th-centu ...

'' (

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

) have served as references of record for national cuisines. Cookbooks also tell stories of the writers themselves and reflect upon the era in which they are written. They often reveal notions of social, political, environmental or economic contexts. For example, during the era of industrialization, convenience foods were brought into many households and were integrated and present in cookbooks written in this time. Related to this class are instructional cookbooks, which combine recipes with in-depth, step-by-step recipes to teach beginning cooks basic concepts and techniques. In vernacular literature, people may collect traditional recipes in

family cookbooks Family cookbooks are books which contain a variety of recipes collected by specific families. Whilst these cookbooks are sometimes later published, the concept is of a commonplace book Commonplace books (or commonplaces) are a way to compil ...

. While western cookbooks usually group recipes for main courses by the main ingredient of the dishes, Japanese cookbooks usually group them by cooking techniques (e.g., fried foods,

steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

ed foods, and grilled foods). Both styles of cookbook have additional recipe groupings such as

soup Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot – though it is sometimes served chilled – made by cooking or otherwise combining meat or vegetables with Stock (food), stock, milk, or water. According to ''The Oxford Compan ...

s or sweets.

International and ethnic

International and ethnic cookbooks fall into two categories: the kitchen references of other cultures, translated into other languages; and books translating the recipes of another culture into the languages, techniques, and ingredients of a new audience. The latter style often doubles as a sort of culinary travelogue, giving background and context to a recipe that the first type of book would assume its audience is already familiar with. Popular Puerto Rican cookbook, Cocina Criolla, written by Carmen Aboy Valldejuli, includes recipes that are typically of traditional Puerto Rican cuisine such as mofongo and

pasteles ''Pasteles'' (; singular ''pastel''), also pastelles in the English-speaking Caribbean, are a traditional dish in several Latin American and Caribbean countries. In Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, ...

. Valldejuli's cookbook was not only important to Puerto Ricans, but also very popular in the United States where her original cookbook has since been published in several editions, including English versions. These include The Art of Caribbean Cookery - Doubleday, 1957; Puerto Rican Cookery - Pelican Publishing, 1983; and, Juntos en la Cocina (co-authored with her husband, Luis F. Valldejuli) - Pelican Publishing, 1986.

Professional cookbooks

Professional cookbooks are designed for the use of working chefs and culinary students and sometimes double as textbooks for culinary schools. Such books deal not only in recipes and techniques, but often service and kitchen workflow matters. Many such books deal in substantially larger quantities than home cookbooks, such as making sauces by the liter or preparing dishes for large numbers of people in a

catering Catering is the business of providing food services at a remote site or a site such as a hotel, hospital, pub, aircraft, cruise ship, park, festival, filming location or film studio. History of catering The earliest account of major service ...

setting. While the most famous of such books today are books like ''

Le guide culinaire ''Le Guide Culinaire'' () is Georges Auguste Escoffier's 1903 French restaurant cuisine cookbook, his first. It is regarded as a classic and still in print. Escoffier developed the recipes while working at the Savoy, Ritz and Carlton hotels fro ...

'' by Escoffier or ''The Professional Chef'' by the

Culinary Institute of America The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) is a private culinary school with its main campus in Hyde Park, New York, and branch campuses in St. Helena and Napa, California; San Antonio, Texas; and Singapore. The college, which was the first to ...

, such books go at least back to medieval times, represented then by works such as Taillevent's '' Viandier'' and Chiquart d'Amiço's ''Du fait de cuisine''.

Single-subject

Single-subject books, usually dealing with a specific ingredient, technique, class of dishes or target group (e.g. for kids), are quite common as well. Jack Monroe for example features low budget recipes. Some imprints such as

Chronicle Books Chronicle Books is a San Francisco–based American publishing company that publishes books for both adults and children. History The company was established in 1967 by Phelps Dewey, an executive with Chronicle Publishing Company, then-publish ...

have specialized in this sort of book, with books on dishes like

curries Curry is a dish with a sauce or gravy seasoned with spices, mainly derived from the interchange of Indian cuisine with European taste in food, starting with the Portuguese, followed by the Dutch and British, and then thoroughly internation ...

pizza Pizza is an Italian cuisine, Italian, specifically Neapolitan cuisine, Neapolitan, dish typically consisting of a flat base of Leavening agent, leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomato, cheese, and other ingredients, baked at a high t ...

, and simplified

ethnic food A cuisine is a specific set of cooking traditions and practices, often associated with a specific culture or region. Each cuisine involves Outline of food preparation, food preparation in a particular style, of food and drink of particular types ...

. Popular subjects for narrow-subject books on technique include

grilling Grilling is a form of cooking that involves heat applied to the surface of food, commonly from above, below or from the side. Grilling usually involves a significant amount of direct, radiant heat, and tends to be used for cooking meat and v ...

barbecue Barbecue or barbeque (often shortened to BBQ worldwide; barbie or barby in Australia and New Zealand) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that employ live fire and smoke to coo ...

baking Baking is a method of preparing food that uses dry heat, typically in an oven, but it can also be done in hot ashes, or on hot Baking stone, stones. Bread is the most commonly baked item, but many other types of food can also be baked. Heat is ...

outdoor cooking Outdoor cooking is the preparation of food in the outdoors. A significant body of techniques and specialized equipment exists for it, traditionally associated with nomad in cultures such as the Berber people, Berbers of North Africa, the Arab ...

, and even recipe cloning (Recipe cloning is copying commercial recipes where the original is a

trade secret A trade secret is a form of intellectual property (IP) comprising confidential information that is not generally known or readily ascertainable, derives economic value from its secrecy, and is protected by reasonable efforts to maintain its conf ...

Community

Community cookbooks (also known as compiled, regional, charitable, and fund-raising cookbooks) are a unique genre of culinary literature. Community cookbooks focus on home cooking, often documenting regional, ethnic, family, and societal traditions, as well as local history. Sondra Gotlieb, for example, wrote her cookbooks on Canadian food culture by visiting people and homes by region. She gathered recipes, observed the foodways, observed the people and their traditions of each region by being in their own homes. Gotlieb did this so that she could put together a comprehensive cookbook based on the communities and individuals that make up Canada.

Gooseberry Patch Gooseberry Patch is an American company that publishes cookbooks. It was founded in 1984 by Vickie Hutchins and Jo Ann Martin, who were neighbors in Delaware, Ohio, as a mail-order recipe catalog "selling old-fashioned, country-style products." ...

has been publishing community-style cookbooks since 1992 and built their brand on this community. Community cookbooks have sometimes been created to offer a counter-narrative of historical events or sustain a community through difficult times. ''The Historical Cookbook of the American Negro'', published in 1958 by the

National Council of Negro Women The National Council of Negro Women, Inc. (NCNW) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1935 with the mission to advance the opportunities and the quality of life for African-American women, their families, and communities. Mary McLeod Bethune, ...

, includes recipes that illuminate histories of Black resistance, including "

Nat Turner Nat Turner (October 2, 1800 – November 11, 1831) was an enslaved Black carpenter and preacher who led a four-day rebellion of both enslaved and free Black people in Southampton County, Virginia in August 1831. Nat Turner's Rebellion res ...

Crackling Bread." The 1976 ''People's Philadelphia Cookbook'', published by grassroots organization The People's Fund, includes recipes from members of the

Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist and Black Power movement, black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newto ...

, The United Farm Workers, and the Gay Activist Alliance of Philadelphia. For ''In Memory's Kitchen'', written in the 1940s by Jewish women interned at the Theresienstadt concentration camp in Czechoslovakia, women drew on their memories to contribute recipes.

Chefs

Cookbooks can also document the food of a specific chef (particularly in conjunction with a

cooking show A cooking show, cookery show, or cooking program (also spelled cooking programme in British English) is a television genre that presents food preparation, often in a restaurant kitchen or on a Television studio, studio set, or at the host's p ...

) or restaurant. Many of these books, particularly those written by or for a well-established cook with a long-running TV show or popular restaurant, become part of extended series of books that can be released over the course of many years. Popular chef-authors throughout history include people such as

Julia Child Julia Carolyn Child (Birth name#Maiden and married names, née McWilliams; August 15, 1912 – August 13, 2004) was an American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for having brought French cuisine to the American pu ...

James Beard James Andrews Beard (May 5, 1903 – January 21, 1985) was an American chef, cookbook author, teacher and television personality. He pioneered television cooking shows, taught at The James Beard Cooking School in New York City and Seaside ...

Nigella Lawson Nigella Lucy Lawson (born 6 January 1960) is an English food writer and television cook. After graduating from Oxford, Lawson worked as a book reviewer and restaurant critic, later becoming the deputy literary editor of ''The Sunday Times'' in ...

, Edouard de Pomiane, Jeff Smith,

Emeril Lagasse Emeril John Lagasse III ( ; born October 15, 1959) is an American chef, restaurateur, television personality, cookbook author, and National Best Recipe award winner for his "Turkey and Hot Sausage Chili" recipe in 2003. He is a regional James ...

Claudia Roden Claudia Roden (née Douek; born 1936) is an Egyptian-born British cookbook writer and cultural anthropologist of Sephardi/ Mizrahi descent. She is best known as the author of Middle Eastern cookbooks including ''A Book of Middle Eastern Food'' ...

Madhur Jaffrey Madhur Jaffrey Order of the British Empire, CBE (née Bahadur; born 13 August 1933) is an Indian-born British-American actress, cookbook and travel writer, and television personality. She is recognized for bringing Indian cuisine to the weste ...

, Katsuyo Kobayashi, and possibly even

, the semi-pseudonymous author of the Roman cookbook

, who shared a name with at least one other famous food figure of the ancient world.

Famous cookbooks

Famous cookbooks from the past, in chronological order, include: *''

(The Art of Cooking)'' (late 4th / early 5th century) by

*''Kitab al-Tabikh'' (''The Book of Dishes'') (10th century) by

Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq () was an Arab author from Baghdad. He was the compiler of a tenth-century cookbook, the (, ''The Book of Dishes''). This is the earliest known Arabic cookbook. It contains over 600 recipes, divided into 132 chapters. The is the oldest survivi ...

*''Kitab al-Tabikh'' (''The Book of Dishes'') (1226) by

Muhammad bin Hasan al-Baghdadi Muḥammad bin al-Ḥasan bin Muḥammad bin al-Karīm al-Baghdādī (; ), usually called simply al-Baghdadi, was the compiler of an early Arab cookbook of the Abbasid period, ''Kitāb al-Ṭabīḫ'' (; ''The Book of Dishes''), written in 1226. ...

*'' Liber de Coquina (The Book of Cookery)'' (late 13th / early 14th century) by two unknown authors from France and Italy *''

Forme of Cury ''The Forme of Cury'' (''The Method of Cooking'', from Old French , 'cookery') is an extensive 14th-century collection of medieval English recipes. Although the original manuscript is lost, the text appears in nine manuscripts, the most famou ...

'' (14th century) by the Master Cooks of King Richard II of England *''Viandier'' (14th century) by Guillaume Tirel alias Taillevent *''

'' (1475) by

Bartolomeo Platina Bartolomeo Sacchi (; 1421 – 21 September 1481), known as il Platina () after his birthplace of Piadena, was an Italian Renaissance humanist writer and gastronomist, author of what is considered the first printed cookbook. Platina star ...

- the first cookbook printed in a native language (Italian) in 1487 *''Cookbook of Infanta Maria of Portugal'' (c. 1565) - the oldest extant Portuguese cookbook * '' The Good Huswifes Jewell'' (1585) by Thomas Dawson * '' The English Huswife'' (1615) by

Gervase Markham Gervase (or Jervis) Markham (ca. 1568 – 3 February 1637) was an English poet and writer. He was best known for his work ''The English Huswife, The English Huswife, Containing the Inward and Outward Virtues Which Ought to Be in a Complete Woma ...

*''Arte de Cocina, Pastelaria, Vizcocheria e Conservaria'' by Francisco Martinez Montiño - palace cook of King

Philip II of Spain Philip II (21 May 152713 September 1598), sometimes known in Spain as Philip the Prudent (), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of Naples and List of Sicilian monarchs, Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598. He ...

(1680). *'' The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digbie Knight Opened'' by

Kenelm Digby Sir Kenelm Digby (11 July 1603 – 11 June 1665) was an English courtier and diplomat. He was also a highly reputed natural philosopher, astrologer and known as a leading Roman Catholic intellectual and Thomas White (scholar), Blackloist. For ...

(1669) *'' Eumsik dimibang'' (1670) by Jang Gye-hyang of

Andong Andong () is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in South Korea, and the capital of North Gyeongsang Province. It is the largest city in the northern part of the province with a population of 167,821 as of October 2010. The Nakdong Ri ...

Jang clan *''Arte de Cozinha'' by Domingos Rodrigues - the first cookbook printed in Portuguese (1680) *'' Compendium ferculorum, albo Zebranie potraw'' by Stanisław Czerniecki – first cookbook in Polish (1682) *'' The Compleat Housewife'' (first American edition 1742) by Eliza Smith *'' The Art of Cookery, Made Plain and Easy'' (1747) by

Hannah Glasse Hannah Glasse (; March 1708 – 1 September 1770) was an English cookery writer of the 18th century. Her first cookery book, ''The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy'', published in 1747, became the best-selling recipe book that century. It wa ...

*''Hjelpreda I Hushållningen För Unga Fruentimber'' (1755) by

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

*'' The Experienced English Housekeeper'' (1769) by Elizabeth Raffald *''

'' (1796) by Amelia Simmons *'' A New System of Domestic Cookery'' (1806) by Maria Eliza Rundell *'' Le Cuisinier Royal'' (1817) by André Viard *'' Modern Cookery for Private Families'' (1845) by

*''El Cocinero Puerto - Riqueño 1859 (author unknown) *''

'' (1861) by

Mrs Beeton Isabella Mary Beeton ( Mayson; 14 March 1836 – 6 February 1865), known as Mrs Beeton, was an English journalist, editor and writer. Her name is particularly associated with her first book, the 1861 work ''Mrs Beeton's Book of Household ...

*''Подарок молодым хозяйкам'', ''

'' (first Russian edition 1861) by Elena Molokhovets *''Domestic Cook Book: Containing a Careful Selection of Useful Receipts for the Kitchen'' (1866) by Malinda Russell – first known cookbook by an African American woman *'' La scienza in cucina e l'arte di mangiar bene'' (1891) by Pellegrino Artusi *''The Epicurean'' (1894) by Charles Ranhofer *''The

Boston Cooking-School Cook Book The ''Boston Cooking-School Cook Book'' (1896) by Fannie Farmer is a 19th-century general reference cookbook which is still available both in reprint and in updated form. It was particularly notable for a more rigorous approach to recipe writin ...

'' (1896) by Fannie Merritt Farmer *''The Settlement Cook Book'' (1901) and 34 subsequent editions by

Lizzie Black Kander Elizabeth Black Kander (1858–1940) was an American progressive reformer, philanthropist and author, founder of a settlement house in Milwaukee, where she originated her best-known work, '' The Settlement Cookbook''. Early life Elizabeth Black wa ...

*'' The Cook's Decameron: A Study In Taste, Containing Over Two Hundred Recipes For Italian Dishes'' (1901) by Mrs. W.G. Waters *Various cookbooks (between 1903 and 1934) by

Auguste Escoffier Georges Auguste Escoffier (; 28 October 1846 – 12 February 1935) was a French chef, restaurateur, and culinary writer who popularised and updated traditional French cooking methods. Much of Escoffier's technique was based on that of Marie-A ...

*'' Edmonds Cookery Book'' (1908) by T.J. Edmonds Ltd *'' Household Searchlight Recipe Book'' (1931) by Ida Migliario, Zorada Z. Titus, Harriet W. Allard, and Irene Nunemaker *'' The Joy of Cooking'' (1931) by

Irma Rombauer Irma Rombauer (, October 30, 1877 – October 14, 1962) was an American cookbook author, best known for ''Joy of Cooking, The Joy of Cooking'' (1931), one of the world's most widely read cookbooks. Following Irma Rombauer's death, periodic revisi ...

*'' Larousse Gastronomique'' (1938) *''Книга о вкусной и здоровой пище'', '' The Book of Tasty and Healthy Food'' (first Soviet edition 1939) by the Institute of Nutrition, USSR *''O Livro de Pantagruel'' (first edition 1946) by Bertha Rosa-Limpo *'' A Book of Mediterranean Food'' (1950) by

Elizabeth David Elizabeth David ( Gwynne, 26 December 1913 – 22 May 1992) was a British cookery writer. In the mid-20th century she strongly influenced the revitalisation of home cookery in her native country and beyond with articles and books about Europea ...

*'' Il cucchiaio d'argento'' (1950) *''The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook'' (1954) by Alice B. Toklas *''Cooking with the Chinese Flavor'' (1956) and subsequent books by Lin Tsuifeng ("Mrs.

Lin Yutang Lin Yutang (10 October 1895 – 26 March 1976) was a Chinese inventor, linguist, novelist, philosopher, and translator. One scholar commented that Lin's "particular blend of sophistication and casualness found a wide audience, and he became a ma ...

") *''Mrs Balbir Singh's Indian Cookery'' (1961) by Mrs Balbir Singh *'' The Artists' & Writers' Cookbook'' (1961) with recipes from 150 famous writers and artists *''

Mastering the Art of French Cooking ''Mastering the Art of French Cooking'' is a two-volume French cookbook written by Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, both from France, and Julia Child, from the United States. The book was written for the American market and published by Kno ...

'' (1961) by

Simone Beck Simone "Simca" Beck (7 July 1904 – 20 December 1991) was a French cookbook writer and cooking teacher who, along with colleagues Julia Child and Louisette Bertholle, played a significant role in the introduction of French cuisine, French cooki ...

, Louisette Bertholle and

*'' Ten Talents'' (1968) by Rosalie Hurd *''Helen Gurley Brown's Single Girl's Cookbook'' (1969) by Helen Gurley Brown * The ''Fanny and Johnnie Cradock Cookery Programme'' (1970) by Fanny and Johnnie Cradock *'' Diet for a Small Planet'' (1971) by

Frances Moore Lappé Frances Moore Lappé (born February 10, 1944) is an American researcher and author in the field of food and democracy policy. She is the author of 20 books including the 2.5-million-copy selling 1971 book '' Diet for a Small Planet'', which the ...

*'' The Vegetarian Epicure'' (1972) by Anna Thomas *''

The Farm Vegetarian Cookbook ''The Farm Vegetarian Cookbook'' (later ''The New Farm Vegetarian Cookbook'') is a Veganism, vegan cookbook by Louise Hagler, first published in 1975. It was influential in introducing Americans to tofu, included recipes for making and using temp ...

'' (1975) by Louise Hagler *''The Complete International Jewish Cookbook'' (1976) by Evelyn Rose *'' Laurel's Kitchen'' (1976) by Laurel Robertson, Carol Flinders, and Bronwen Godfrey *'' Moosewood Cookbook'' (1978) by

Mollie Katzen Mollie Katzen (born October 13, 1950, in Rochester, New York, U.S.) is an American cookbook author and artist. The author of twelve cookbooks (all of which she also illustrated), she is best known for the hand-lettered, illustrated ''Moosewood Co ...

*'' Australian Women's Weekly Children's Birthday Cake Book'' (1980) by Maryanne Blacker and Pamela Clark *'' Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone'' (1997) by Deborah Madison

Collections and collectors

Several libraries have extensive collections of cookbooks. * Harvard's Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America has a collection of 20,000 cookbooks and other books on food, including the earliest American cookbook, and the personal collections and papers of

, M.F.K. Fisher, and the authors of '' The Joy of Cooking''. * New York University's Fales Library includes a Food and Cookery Collection of over 15,000 books, including the personal libraries of

Cecily Brownstone Cecily Brownstone (18 April 1909 – 30 August 2005) was a Canadian-born American food writer, who wrote several cookbooks and articles about food over a period of 39 years. She was the Associated Press Food Editor from 1947 to 1986—for th ...

, and Dalia Carmel. * The Brotherton Library at

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

holds a Designated Cookery Collection of over 8,000 books and 75 manuscripts, including the personal collections of Blanche Leigh, John Preston and Michael Bateman. Some individuals are notable for their collections of cookbooks, or their scholarly interest therein.

Elizabeth Robins Pennell Elizabeth Robins Pennell (February 21, 1855 – February 7, 1936) was an American writer who, for most of her adult life, made her home in London. A researcher summed her up in a work published in 2000 as "an adventurous, accomplished, self-ass ...

, an American critic in London from the 1880s, was an early writer on the subject, and has recently been called "one of the most well-known cookbook collectors in the world". Much of her collection eventually went to the Rare Book and Special Collections Division at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

. Held alongside hers are the thousands of gastronomic volumes donated by food chemist Katherine Bitting; their collections were evaluated in tandem in ''Two Loaf-Givers'', by one of the LOC's curators; a digital version is available.

Usage outside the world of food

The term ''cookbook'' is sometimes used metaphorically to refer to any book containing a straightforward set of already tried and tested "

s" or instructions for a specific field or activity, presented in detail so that the users who are not necessarily expert in the field can produce workable results. Examples include a set of circuit designs in

electronics Electronics is a scientific and engineering discipline that studies and applies the principles of physics to design, create, and operate devices that manipulate electrons and other Electric charge, electrically charged particles. It is a subfield ...

, a book of magic spells, or ''

The Anarchist Cookbook ''The Anarchist Cookbook'', first published in 1971, is a book containing instructions for the manufacture of explosives, rudimentary telecommunications phreaking devices, and related weapons, as well as instructions for the home manufacture o ...

'', a set of instructions on destruction and living outside the law.

O'Reilly Media O'Reilly Media, Inc. (formerly O'Reilly & Associates) is an American learning company established by Tim O'Reilly that provides technical and professional skills development courses via an online learning platform. O'Reilly also publishes b ...

publishes a series of books about

computer programming Computer programming or coding is the composition of sequences of instructions, called computer program, programs, that computers can follow to perform tasks. It involves designing and implementing algorithms, step-by-step specifications of proc ...

named the Cookbook series, and each of these books contain hundreds of ready to use, cut and paste examples to solve a specific problem in a single

programming language A programming language is a system of notation for writing computer programs. Programming languages are described in terms of their Syntax (programming languages), syntax (form) and semantics (computer science), semantics (meaning), usually def ...

Notes

References

*Adamson, Melitta Weiss ''Food in Medieval Times.'' Greenwood Press, Westport, CT. 2004. *''Food in the Middle Ages: A Book of Essays.'' Melitta Weiss Adamson (editor). Garland, New York. 1995. *''Regional Cuisines of Medieval Europe: A Book of Essays.'' edited by Melitta Weiss Adamson (editor). Routledge, New York. 2002. *
What's the Recipe? - Our hunger for cookbooks.
Adam Gopnik, ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'', 2009. *

External links

* The Wikibooks' open-content cookbook anyone can edit
Janice Bluestein Longone Culinary Archive

– a learning resource on the history of cookery books from the British Library
Baby food cookbooksFeeding America at Michigan State University Digital Library
��a collection of influential early American cookbooks, including a large number of books specializing in immigrant cuisine
Home Economics (including cookbooks) at Project GutenbergMenus and Cookbooks at The New York Public Library
*

Royal Baking Powder Company The Royal Baking Powder Company was one of the largest producers of baking powder in the United States. Royal Baking Powder is still marketed today. History The company was started by brothers Joseph Christoffel Hoagland and Cornelius Nevius ...

, with books a
Project Gutenberg
{{Authority control Food-related literary genres *