In 1884 Mary J. Lincoln wrote the cooking textbook for the Boston Cooking School, one of the earliest cooking schools in America. Mrs. Lincoln was principal of the school. After her, Fannie Merritt Farmer was principal and had to update the book. Fannie Farmer revised it under her own title, the now famous “The Boston Cooking School Cook Book” eventually with over seven million copies sold, and still selling.
It is well known that Fannie Farmer had to update the old Mary Lincoln textbook. By comparing both cookbooks, I hope to highlight where Miss Farmer’s work closely follows Mrs. Lincoln’s and where she introduces original content in the original 1886 edition. But before that occurs, the question is–
Where did Mary Lincoln get her recipes?
Many times she just tells us where the recipes originated in the recipe title such as, “Custard Souffle. (Miss Parloa.) and she further helps by giving a list at the end of her book:
Among the many valuable authorities on subjects connected with food, the following have been consulted in preparing this work. The Cook Books are named, not according to their merit, but in the order in which the author [Mary Lincoln] has had personal knowledge of them: —
Youmans’s Handbook of Household Science.
Johnston’s Chemistry of Common Life.
Wells’s Science of Common Things.
Lewes’s Physiology of Common Life.
Gray’s How Plants Grow.
Dalton’s Physiology.
Webster’s Dictionary.
Food. By A. H. Church.
Food for the Invalid.
Family Receipt Books without number; and Cook Books by Mrs. Henderson, Marion Harland, Mrs. Cornelius, Mrs. Beecher, Warne, Francatelli, Soyer, Mrs. Whitney, Miss Parloa, Mrs. Campbell, Miss Corson, Mrs. Beeton, and Mrs. Ewing.
We begin this process here to find out, eventually, the history of Fannie Farmer’s recipes.
from Mrs. Lincoln’s The Boston Cook Book, [giving credit to Mrs. Campbell.]
Tomato Catchup. (Mrs. Campbell.)
Boil one bushel of ripe tomatoes, skins and all, and when soft strain through a colander to remove the skins only. Mix one cup of salt, two pounds of brown sugar, half an ounce of cayenne pepper, three ounces each of ground allspice, mace, and celery seed, two ounces of ground cinnamon, and stir into the tomato. Add two quarts of best cider vinegar, and when thoroughly mixed strain through a sieve. Pour all that runs through into a large kettle, and boil slowly till reduced one half. It is an improvement to add a pint of brandy ten minutes before the catchup is done, but many think it unnecessary. Put it in small bottles, seal, and keep in a cool, dark place.
Mrs. Lincoln’s recipe, above, compared with Mrs. Campbell’s from The Easiest Way in Housekeeping and Cooking: Bold text highlights the differences. Mrs. Lincoln’s version is more concise, specifies apple cider vinegar, and does not promise that it “keeps for years.”
TOMATO CATCHUP.
Boil one bushel of ripe tomatoes, skins and all, and, when soft, strain through a colander. Be sure that it is a colander, and not a sieve, for reasons to be given. Add to this pulp two quarts of best vinegar; one cup of salt; two pounds of brown sugar; half an ounce of cayenne pepper; three ounces each of powdered allspice and mace; two ounces of powdered cinnamon; three ounces of celery-seed. Mix spices and sugar well together, and stir into the tomato; add the vinegar, and stir thoroughly. Now strain the whole through a sieve. A good deal of rather thick pulp will not go through. Pour all that runs through into a large kettle, and let it boil slowly till reduced one-half. Put the thick pulp into a smaller kettle, and boil twenty minutes. Use as a pickle with cold meats or with boiled fish. A teacupful will flavor a soup. In the old family rule from which this is taken, a pint of brandy is added ten minutes before the catchup is done; but it is not necessary, though an improvement. Bottle, and keep in a cool, dark place. It keeps for years.