I’m slowly getting into reading more again after I basically completely stopped reading for pleasure in my free time during my PhD due to the demands of my research work. I mostly love non-fiction history books that are engagingly written and open up a window for me into another person’s life.
Before Mrs Beeton: Elizabeth Raffald, England’s Most Influential Housekeeper – by Neil Buttery
This book chronicles the life of chef, entrepreneur and restaurateur Elizabeth Raffald – and what a powerhouse she was! Elizabeth Raffald lived in the 18th century, from 1733 until 1781. The
author Neil Buttery does a beautiful job tracing Elizabeth Raffald in the records and fleshing out the details of her life in an engaging style while always based on rigorous research.
The density of Elizabeth Raffald’s achievements, nowadays too little known, is breathtaking. She was housekeeper (an upper servant role of great responsibility) in an aristocratic family’s
mansion in Cheshire at a remarkably young age, before marrying and entering the new chapter of her life by starting a whole flurry of food-based businesses.
With a knack for a market opportunity and for delectable treats, she tackled a catering business, a cooking school, writing cookbooks and compiling a business directory, as well as running an
inn, alongside motherhood, head on. Her publications on cooking and housekeeping were huge hits in her lifetime. This was, as Neil Buttery highlights so well, chiefly due to the genuine
practicability of her self-tested recipes as well as her straight-forward but respectful style which met working- and middle-class wives at eye level. Her recipes have remained true classics and
were picked up by other, more famous authors later on, such as by Mrs Beeton. Elizabeth Raffald also provides an early, possibly the first, written recipe of the ‘bridal cake’ – essentially
establishing the practice of wedding cakes in society.
I read this book within very few days and greatly enjoyed it. The author also has a very informative food history podcast called “British Food History”.
ISBN 978-1399084475