Editing English cuisine (section)

=== Eighteenth century ===

[[File:FourTimesMorning.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Tom King's Coffee House]] in [[William Hogarth]]'s painting ''[[Four Times of the Day]]'', 1738]]

[[John Nott (cook)|John Nott]]'s ''[[The Cooks and Confectioners Dictionary]]'' (1723), still with rather few precedents to go by, chose an alphabetical treatment for its recipes, from [[Ale|Al]] to [[Zest (ingredient)|Zest]]. The book covered everything from soups and salads to meat and fish, as well as pastries of many kinds, confectionery, and the making of beer, cider, and wine. Bills of fare are given for each month of the year.<ref name="Nott">{{cite book |last1=Nott |first1=John |title=The cooks and confectioners dictionary; or, The accomplish'd housewifes companion|date=1723 |publisher=C. Rivington |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/cooksandconfect00nottgoog}}</ref>

The second edition of ''[[Primitive Cookery]]'', published in 1767 by an anonymous author, promoted budget-friendly, [[lacto-vegetarian]] dishes, though some recipes included meat.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Primitive Cookery Book |url=https://www.townsends.us/collections/cookbooks/products/primitive-cookery-book-bk627-p-1434 |access-date=2025-03-22 |website=Townsends}}</ref><ref name="Sherman 2010">{{Cite book |last=Sherman |first=Sandra |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Invention_of_the_Modern_Cookbook/-qz2EAAAQBAJ |title=Invention of the Modern Cookbook |year=2010 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=979-8-216-10463-6 |pages=211–212}}</ref>

[[James Woodforde]]'s ''[[Diary of a Country Parson]]'' gives a good idea of the sort of food eaten in England in the eighteenth century by those who were reasonably prosperous.{{sfn|Dickson Wright|2011|pp=285–289}} To welcome some neighbours on 8 June 1781, he gave them for dinner:<ref name="ParsonWoodforde" />

{{blockquote|a Couple of [[chicken as food|Chicken]] boiled and a [[Beef tongue|Tongue]], a Leg of [[Mutton]] boiled and [[Capers]] and Batter Pudding for the first Course, Second, a couple of Ducks rosted and green Peas, some [[Artichoke]]s, Tarts and [[Blancmange]]. After dinner, Almonds and Raisins, Oranges and Strawberries, Mountain and [[Port Wine]]s. Peas and Strawberries the first gathered this year by me. We spent a very agreeable day.<ref name=ParsonWoodforde>{{cite book |last1=Woodforde |first1=James |author-link=James Woodforde |editor1-last=Beresford |editor1-first=John |title=The Diary of a Country Parson |date=1949 |orig-date=1935 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=171}}</ref>}}

Another country clergyman, [[Gilbert White]], in ''[[The Natural History of Selborne]]'' (1789) recorded the increased consumption of vegetables by ordinary country people in the south of England, to which, he noted, [[potato]]es, from the [[Americas]], had only been added during the reign of [[George III|King George III]]:<ref name="GilbertWhite" />

{{blockquote|Green-stalls in cities now support multitudes in comfortable state, while gardeners get fortunes. Every decent labourer also has his garden, which is half his support; and common farmers provide plenty of beans, peas, and greens, for their [[wikt:hind#Etymology 3|hinds]] to eat with their bacon.<ref name=GilbertWhite>White Letter XXXVII (1778).</ref>}}

[[Hannah Glasse]]'s ''[[The Art of Cookery made Plain and Easy]]'' was the best-selling cookery book for a century from its publication in 1747. It ran to at least 40 editions, and was widely pirated.<ref name=StavelyFitzgerald2011>{{cite book |last1=Stavely |first1=Keith W. F. |last2=Fitzgerald |first2=Kathleen |title=Northern Hospitality: Cooking by the Book in New England |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pRbJUQMM0ssC&pg=PA8 |date=1 January 2011 |publisher=Univ of Massachusetts Press |isbn=978-1-55849-861-7 |page=8}}</ref>