Food

Abbie and Faye's reconstruction of Margaret Baker's Wayfer Cakes!

When Margaret Baker’s recipe book (V.a.619) was introduced to our Recipes Book Project class back in October 2016 recreating one of the recipes from its pages was an activity that immediately appealed to many of us. Initially, as historians we were curious about the authenticity of reconstructions of dishes from the past, could we successfully reproduce recipes from the seventeenth century? However, as our project progressed over the academic year and we uncovered and examined the life and times of Margaret Baker through her recipe book, the recreation of a recipe became increasingly compelling. By recreating one of the recipes from Baker’s manuscript we interact with Baker’s world in a more intimate way than merely writing or reading about her. As Faye and I were to discover, Baker’s world was not an easy one to recreate.

Skip straight to our reconstruction of Margaret Baker's Wayfer Cakes here!

Baker’s recipe book, much like other recipe books from the seventeenth century, includes recipes to create a whole host of products such as food, medicine, recipes for good housekeeping, for vermin control, veterinary medicine, and to create seasonal decorations, to name but a few. Deciding which recipe to reconstruct was not an easy task. Medical recipes were among those that we shortlisted due to their interesting ingredients, for example this recipe for “the smale pox” includes dragon water! However luckily for our human guinea pigs (otherwise known as taste testers) we decided against attempting to heal ailments, for fear of doing any real damage and of course the difficulty of finding any dragon water. The dragon’s blood that makes up this unusual ingredient comes not from mythical beasts but from the equally exotic dragon’s blood tree, Draecana Cinnabari, which is native to the Socotra Archipelago in the Arabian Sea. When wounded this bizarre tree bleeds dark red resin known as dragon’s blood which has been highly valued since ancient times. Read more about the dragon’s blood tree here.

We determined many recipes to be too difficult to attempt due to their requirement of specialist equipment. For example, recipes that instructed us to distill liquids would need the right apparatus - a still. Other recipes required rare ingredients or were simply too confusing to follow. We had look at another reconstruction website, Cooking in the Archives, to see if their reconstructions could inspire ours. Their sweet dishes seemed most appealing to recreate and so we sought out desserts in Bakers book.

Eventually, we decided to reconstruct Baker’s recipe for “Wayfer Cakes”.

There was so much for us to consider when we first began our reconstruction. For instance, we had to figure out how we would make the recipe as authentic as possible. After thinking about how to go about reconstructing a recipe, we concluded that it would be impossible for us to replicate Baker's recipe perfectly, however, we knew we could give it a good shot and attempt to follow the recipe as closely as possible. We knew that we were up to a huge task as our classmate, Florence, previously tried Baker's recipe for Sugar Cakes, link to previously tried Baker’s recipe. She concluded that a 21st century reconstruction could not replicate a recipe written 300 years prior.

From seeing other attempts at reconstruction, we thought the main issues we would face were translating the measurements, achieving authenticity and, the biggest problem, trying to understand the implied knowledge in Bakers recipe. There is so much implied knowledge throughout Baker's recipe book which makes it very difficult for us to accurately reconstruct.

Achieving authenticity is a real problem when attempting reconstructions. Historian, Natalie Zemon Davis agrees that aiming for authenticity is problematic, and even argues that sometimes the result of attempting to be authentic could end up being less ‘true’ than the less authentic version. This is an interesting opinion and perhaps if we hadn’t have overthought the instructions we may not have overlooked the ingredient ‘cracke.’ (Davis)

Pamela Smith, historian, also sees problems in reconstructing. She rightly argues that “there is no doubt that we can ever have true empathy with figures in the past” which of course we cannot. We, unfortunately, can never know how exactly Baker used her recipes (not without a time machine anyway!) However, using reconstruction as a technique is still important because “experience is a different form of knowledge from discursive or propositional knowledge that can be written down and codified.” (Smith 12). Therefore, despite the problems in achieving authenticity we still hoped that our reconstruction would bring us closer to Baker through the experience of her recipes.

Before any actual cooking could take place a clear transcription and translation of the recipe was required.

(f.123)v.

my Cousen Quier, To make wayfer Cakes

Take :2: quarts of flower & :2: pounds of sugar

a pound of fresh butter put in some rose water

& sacke the yolks of :8: eggs & wett it with

creame; role them thin & put them in the hott irons

and soe bake them; you must wipe them ouer

with butter in a rage euery time you use them

you must have a bord or tinn the bignes of

your irons so rowle them out thin & cut them by yt

Transcribing our chosen recipe not only allowed for us to easily follow it once it was typed up, it also forced us to closely read the manuscript numerous times which furthered a deeper understanding of the recipe and its context. From the label of “my Cousen Quier” in the margin we can infer that she received the recipe from her cousin “Quier”, or that it was recommended to her by them.

This definitely played a role in our decision to use this recipe for our reconstruction as it displays a level of intimacy between Baker and her contacts. During the seventeenth century recipes were traded for many reasons, usually family was central to the transmission of recipes and recipe books. (Leong 4) Baker refers to many cousins throughout her recipe book, and as the bibliography of Baker on the EMROC website suggests, this can be revealing of her family history. However, unfortunately for us, Baker had only given one name for this cousin and so we are left at a dead end when attempting to place her within Bakers family tree.

Recipes were commonly passed down from generation to generation and added to by numerous compilers in each household, or by extended family. Baker probably enjoyed a relatively close relationship with her Cousen Quier in order to have shared recipes. In this way the transmission of recipes was a private affair. Books may have contained guarded family recipes and were not intended to stray from lines of inheritance.(Leong 4-6) Recipes were considered to be valuable sources of information and in some cases their transmission may have been restricted. Recipes would have also been traded as gifts, perhaps to welcome a new member marrying into the family. By trading recipes people opened themselves up to forms of intimacy, by forging new relationships or strengthening old ones. Montserrat Cabré’s blog post on The Emotional Life of Recipes explores the intimacy in recipe transmission, it considers “that the act of writing, keeping, filing, giving, receiving or inheriting recipes may be highly emotionally charged.”

When reconstructing Bakers recipe we too have a chance to connect with her on a more intimate level. By cooking a dish that Baker would have once produced we are shaping our relationship with Baker, much like someone who would have received one of her recipes as a gift.

Once we had a clear transcription of our recipe, the next task was to source our ingredients. We understood from Baker’s recipe that we needed butter, flour, cream, rosewater and sugar to make her Wayfer Cakes, so we made our short shopping list and set off to the grocery store. These ingredients were easy for us to source.

Baker's choice of ingredients throughout her recipe book are interesting. Some, for example milk, are less fascinating as this has been a staple food for some time, but on the other hand, others were relatively new and exotic, for example sugar. Sugar was imported to Britain from the Caribbean and was one of the highest value imports. Sugar was a luxury for the rich (something that is now hard to imagine), thus, illustrating the social standing of Baker to use such an expensive ingredient in many of her recipes. (http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/texts/cook/1500s2/1550s2.html)

Sugar was important as an ingredient for recipes but also to preserve certain foods, particularly fruits.

Rosewater is also a particularly interesting ingredient as it is, again, not historically ‘British.’ A Persian physician named Avicenna has been credited with the discovery of rosewater in the 10th Century. From then onwards became particularly popular in Arab cookery, before the British began using it. (Adamson 29) It is a wonder if Baker knew just how exotic her ingredients were originally?

If Baker was in need of something, for instance any animals for her recipes, she would take it and use it. This again illustrates her social standing, as a woman who, if she wanted something could most likely get it. This also demonstrates Baker’s willingness to experiment with different ingredients.

So what does the recipe for Wayfer Cakes reveal about Margaret Baker?

While Baker may not have realised it, her recipes reveal many aspects of her life to twenty-first century readers. The recipe for wayfer cakes can suggest what kind of life Margaret Baker might have lived. We know that this recipe once belonged to someone else which is evidence to suggest that Margaret Baker was a sociable woman, who traded recipes among family, friends and neighbours. This suggestion is supported by the numerous other recipes from her recipe book which are from other named contributors. In total forty eight people were credited for their recipes by Baker. These contributions range from medical recipes from Doctors, such as Dr Lucatella – an irregular practitioner whose knowledge would have been especially prestigious, to special occasion food dishes from friends, like that of the Wayfer Cakes that we have reconstructed.

We are unsure if Baker had tried and tested any of these recipes herself, however (as seen in the image on the left) there is evidence of her crossing through a recipe credited to someone else, which she may have found to be unsuccessful.

Alternatively, she may have been transcribing this recipe into her recipe book and have decided midway through that it is not useful to her. The recipe trails off after the ingredient “Beres suett”. The fat from bears was not commonly used in England as an ingredient as it was very hard to come by and this may have been why Margaret decided to abandon the recipe before completing it. Bear fat would have been more readily available as an ingredient for recipes in the Continent or North America, suggesting that this recipe may have originated there. There is certainly evidence of it in recipes for hair and beauty products in nineteenth century America, as a blog post by Sean Trainor points out. Additionally, Margaret Baker was known to have connections with Europe; she includes recipes from contributors like Janne Tanner (f.100r) and (f.106r). who appears to be Dutch. International contributors suggest that Baker may have travelled abroad or lived in a multinational environment such as London.

The status of the people who contributed recipes also help to provide insights into the social circles, and therefore social status, that Margaret Baker may have occupied. Significant names include Lady Corbett, Lord Ro. Rich, Old Lady Montague, and Lady Croon. The title of Lord and Lady would have belonged to those who occupied the top of the social hierarchy, which suggests that Baker was of a high enough status to socialise in aristocratic environments. During a time in which a person's wealth would determine their social status we can assume that Baker was therefore considerably wealthy. Furthermore, Baker appears to have received an education as she can read, write, and (presumably) follow the complicated and diverse recipes included within her book, Some of these recipes involve scientific processes, which Baker has summarised in an alchemical section at the back of her book on (f.133v). and (f.134r). In this section she explains scientific methods such as ‘distillation’ and ‘exalltation’. While we did not have to distill anything for this reconstruction of wayfer cakes (thank goodness) Baker’s appendix helps us to comprehend seventeenth century cooking, and appreciate how scientific and specialized it could be.

A woman hard at work distilling. Wellcome Library, London

part of Baker's copy of Leonard Phioravant's An Exact Collection of the Choicest and most Rare Experiments and Secrets in Physick and Chyrurgery (1659), V.a.619 (f.19r).

Baker appears to have taken a keen interest in learned anatomical texts and copied extracts from various print sources. From this we learn that Baker was enthusiastic about scholarly scientific works and widely read upon the subject.

History often assigns women to solely domestic and maternal duties and gendered understandings of the kitchen as a ‘woman’s space’ emphasises these idealistic roles. (Pennell 38) It is often overlooked that in reality some of these domestic duties were complex, and kitchens during this period were actually ‘unfixed and at times contested’ spaces.(Pennell 37) Read more about early modern kitchens here in Tracey Cornish’s blog post.

Recipes are a prime example of the complexities of domesticity as they required a certain amount of specialist knowledge and intelligence to follow, especially when they required a scientific process such as distillation. As Baker’s book reveals; chemistry and cooking and the spaces in which these activities occurred were not distinct.

During the seventeenth century housewifery connected naturally with chemistry, this was not a new phenomenon as a longstanding correspondence had existed between the two.(Archer 193) Contemporary opinions, such as those of Margaret Cavendish (1623?-1673), were that it was the “diligent, careful, and meticulous housewife who makes the best chymist.” (Archer 195) Women took full advantage of the blurred lines that existed between domestic spaces and chemistry. Alisha Rankin’s work on early modern women who were involved in medicine displays just how well versed women could be in such a scientific field. Her research into one German women, Dorothea of Mansfeld is an especially good example of early modern women in chemistry. Dorothea oversaw an established medical practice over the course of more than 40 years, she was remarkably well versed in medicine and its practice; diagnosing illness, making and administering medicines. Her success and fame as an author and administrator of medical recipes gained her fame across Germany and beyond. (Rankin 2013, 93, 94, 126) Another women, Elizabeth of Rochlitz had an active involvement in attempting to heal herself during the sixteenth century, displaying an avid interest in healthcare and medical recipes despite being non-expert in the field. (Rankin 2008, 109-111) Explore the sophisticated science behind domestic medicine in more depth on Sarah Osho's page, Medicine Part 2.

By Abbie Burnett and Faye Glover

Bibliography:

Adamson,Melitta Weiss, Food in Medieval Times (USA, 2004).

Archer, J ‘Women and Chymistry in Early Modern England: The Manuscript Receipt Book (c. 1616) of Sarah Wigges’, in K. Long, ed. Gender and Scientific Discourse in Early Modern Culture (Ashgate, 2010), p. 191-216.

Baker, Margaret. Receipt Book of Margaret Baker, ca. 1675, MS V.a.619. Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C.

Davis, Natalie Zemon, 'Any Resemblance to Persons Living or Dead: Film and the Challenge of Authenticity' in The Yale Review, 86 (1986-87) pp.457-82.

Leong, E. and S. Pennell, ‘Recipe Collections and the Currency of Medical Knowledge in the Early Modern “Medical Marketplace”’, in M. S. R. Jenner and P. Wallis, eds. Medicine and the Market in England and Its Colonies, c. 1450-1850(Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007)

Pennell, S. The Birth of the English Kitchen, 1650-1850 (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2016)

Rankin, A. Panaceia's Daughters: Noblewomen as Healers in Early Modern Germany (Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2013)

Rankin, A. ‘Duchess, heal thyself: Elisabeth of Rochlitz and the patient's perspective in early modern Germany’, Bulletin of the History of Medicine 82, 1 (2008): 109-144.

Smith, P.H., 'In the Workshop of History: Making, Writing, and Meaning' in West 86th: A Journal of Decorative Arts, Design History, and Material Culture, 19(1), pp.4–31.

https://sites.google.com/s/0B_y3r3mhfSHAMjFycEloOVFLdm8/p/0BwR4qMkf5zRqcG9HZS1JeDIwY28/edit Accessed: 4/5/17.

https://recipes.hypotheses.org/4742 Accessed: 9/5/17.

https://recipes.hypotheses.org/1069 Accessed 9/5/17.

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http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/texts/cook/1500s2/1550s2.html Accessed: 06/05/17.

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