This week I am still dreaming about the past and cooking from my lovely old antiquated cookery books. The latest grand dame of the kitchen is Maura Laverty and her book ‘Full and Plenty’, which was fondly known as a doorstopper due to it’s hefty size and weight. This book was first published in 1960 and was the first ‘real’ Irish cookbook. Before that, the only cookbook Irish people owned, was the one you got free with the cooker! Maura was quite the character and her cook book is filled with funny little anecdotes. She was something of a Renaissance lady with a talent for writing and broadcasting as well as cookery. She was a woman before her time and if she was still around today she would most likely be a millionaire. Maura initially started writing pieces for the paper, and then progressed to writing novels (some of which were banned) and plays. Her cookbook came about from her love of food which was shaped by the time she spent in Spain working as a governess. Her first cookbook was commissioned by the government and its intention was to show Irish housewives how to make do with what little food they had at their disposal. Continue Reading…
Last week I was given something very special. My grandmother gave me her first ever cookbook ‘Good Housekeeping’ which was given to her by her Mother. The book dates back to the nineteen fifties and the old yellowed pages are splattered and stained. The spine is coming apart from over-use and the pages are clinging on by just a few threads. The book is crammed with hand written recipes and notes neatly penned by my grandmother. It’s also cluttered with cut-outs from the paper with recipes that caught her eye. I feel like I am going back in time, as I read the old recipes and paper cuttings from a time gone by.
