The Accomplisht Cook: Or, the Art & Mystery of Cookery

When Robert May published The Accomplisht Cook in 1660, he did something radical: he organized chaos. At over 400 pages, it was the largest English cookbook ever printed, and the first to group recipes into 24 logical sections rather than dumping them into a disorganized heap. May had spent decades cooking in noble households, absorbing French and Italian techniques that most English cooks kept secret. Here, he finally shared them. The book moves from roasts and boiled meats through fish (eight sections devoted to carp, pike, salmon, sturgeon, and shellfish) to sauces, salads, puddings, and baking. There are entire chapters devoted to eggs and artichokes alone. What surprises modern readers most: this 17th-century English cookbook already includes potatoes and turkeys, the New World ingredients just beginning to transform European tables. May wrote for both the aristocrat demanding an extravagant banquet and the practical housewife needing reliable weekday meals. It's a time capsule of Restoration-era tastes, but also a working professional's manual written by someone who actually cooked. Four centuries later, it remains indispensable for anyone curious about what the English were actually eating before modern cuisine existed.