|
|
 |
| |
| It’s the olde worlde way
to cure an itch or ague |
Not much is known about the elusive Martin
Brooke who compiled these colourful recipes and remedies in the
18th century, writes Dan Carrier
Recipes and Remedies, 1784-1809, Collected by Martin Brooke
by Aidan Flood, Rachel Dilworth and Mark Aston
London Borough of Camden, Leisure and Community Services £3.95
|
Aidan Flood and page samples from Martin Brooke’s recipes
and remedies
|
THE leather bound book was tucked away in a box that had not
seen the light of day for at least 40 years – and between its
pages lay a host of 18th-century secret recipes, ranging from how
to make a salve for itches to pickling cucumbers, from how to cure
a viper bite through to making elder beer with ginger.
The book was discovered by Aiden Flood, an archivist at the Camden
studies team based in Holborn Library – and it sheds light
on some of the bizarre tinctures and delicacies previous generations
swore by.
Mr Flood was searching a storeroom for some Georgian letters a historian
was interested in when he stumbled across a series of old boxes.
One was crammed with papers given to the Holborn library in Theobald’s
Road before Camden Council took it over in 1965.
Hidden among the papers lay the dog-eared notebook.
Mr Flood had found a unique historical document that sheds light
on the daily life of a man from Holborn who lived around the turn
of the 1800s.
“The historian was writing a biography of a man from Camden
and thought we may have some papers that would help him with his
biographical research,” Mr Flood says.
“We had some boxes that had never been catalogued. We had stored
them but had never had the time to sort them out properly.”
Now Mr Flood has deciphered the Olde English in the the 200-year-old
manuscript and published his find.
“It had been given to Holborn council some time ago,”
he says.
“We don’t know quite when. It came from an antique dealer.
Some of the letters are interesting, but others are simple things
like shopping lists.
“As I went through these letters I wondered what else would
be in the box – and that was when I came across Martin Brooke’s
book.”
“It was said on the front cover Receipts: 1784 – which
in the language of the time means recipes,” said Mr Flood.
“It doesn’t look like the manuscript was a working copy
as there are no food splashes on any of the pages. It was probably
kept as a reference book.”
And Martin Brooke’s manuscript was apparently treasured. The
recipes are written on page after page of beautiful copper-plate
script. Mr Flood turned detective to discover more about Mr Brooke
– but could find little information about the author.
“Inside it said: Martin Brooke, Red Lion Street, 1784,”
says Mr Flood.
“Although we had the address, he was not marked as paying rates
for the property. This suggests it was a boarding house, and he
rented a room there. Otherwise, we have drawn a blank as to he is.”
The home, which is still standing, is a short walk from the library
where the book was found nearly 250 years later. But its occupant
is not registered in other historical documents – Mr Brooke
does not appear to have been christened, married or buried in any
of the local churches.
However, Mr Flood has managed to paint a picture of his life through
the entries in the book
“There are things we can deduce from what he has written,”
he says.
He believes Mr Brooke was reasonably well-off – the entries
include tips for how cavalry officers polish their boots.
“Some of the ingredients seem to be exotic and give a clear
indication as to just how much of the world was open to international
trade at that time.
“There are spices from India and the West Indies, herbs from
the Americas and fruits and wine from Spain,” Mr Flood continues.
The other challenge facing Mr Flood was to work out some of the
names of the ingredients and the methods used. Written in the English
of the time, it was not always apparent what the author was doing.
“I got hold of an old copy of the Oxford English Dictionary
and used that to work out what he was going on about,” he says.
For the modern reader, he has put a glossary at the back of the
book.
It reveals such information as a scruple being a unit of weight
used by an apothecary, a guiacum is a tree native to the Caribbean
while a diapente is a medicine used by farriers to purge horses.
Mr Flood adds: “Although many of the ingredients would not
be used now – some of them are actually quite dangerous –
all the recipes make sense. They all work, and Mr Brooke, who ever
he is, has left us a fascinating insight into the store cupboard
of a kitchen at the turn of the 1800s.” |
|
Get to work on your tannin
BORDEAUX winemakers – long regarded as the world’s greatest
– are in trouble. Government health campaigns and strict enforcement
of French drink driving laws are causing a dramatic decrease in French
wine consumption.
FULL STORY
It all comes down to cash
AFTER confessing to not being able to swim the other week, I was deluged
with offers of help.
FULL STORY
|
