Although the last decade has seen an intense and widespread interest in the writing and publishing of cookery books, surprisingly little contextualized analysis of the recipe as a generic form has appeared. This essay collection asserts that the recipe in all its cultural and textual contexts—from the quintessential embodiment of lifestyle choices to the reflection of artistic aspiration—is a complex, distinct, and important form of cultural expression. Contributors address questions raised by the recipe and its context, cultural moment, and mode of expression. Examples are drawn from such diverse areas as nineteenth- and twentieth-century private publications, official government documents, campaign literature, magazines, and fiction, as well as cookery writers themselves, cookbooks, and TV cookery.

 

The Recipe Reader brings new perspectives, contexts, and arguments into the existing debate about cookery writing and will interest scholars of literature, popular culture, social history, and women’s studies, as well as food historians and professional food writers.

Janet Floyd is a senior lecturer in American studies at King’s College in London, the author of Writing the Pioneer Women, and the coeditor of Domestic Space: Reading the Nineteenth-Century Interior. Laurel Forster is a senior lecturer in media studies at the University of Portsmouth, coeditor of British Culture and Society in 1970s Britain: The Lost Decade, and author of numerous articles on feminism and women’s writing.

“If you’re a recipe reader . . . you’ll find plenty of insights and substantial exploration within the pages of The Recipe Reader.”—Gastronomica