Work

‘Preserve or perish’: food preservation practices in the early modern kitchen

Year: 2019

Type: article

Abstract: Early modern manuscript recipe books have become increasingly popular sources for historical research over recent years. Extensive compilations of food recipes, medicinal remedies and household tips, these manuscripts provide rich, multi-faceted opportunities for historical study and discussion. This paper utilizes recipe books as a means to examine contemporary food preservation practices. Through detailed textual analysis of these manuscripts, and the reconstruction of early modern preserving recipes, I explore the explicit and tacit 'domestic knowledge' required for food preservation. I argue that, rather than being a straightforward activity, this was a complex process requiring significant judgement, intuition and experience on the part of the housewife. Preservation was an experimental practice that might be considered under the umbrella of early modern natural philosophy, and the housewife was a legitimate actor in the associated knowledge production.

Source: Notes and Records the Royal Society Journal of the History of Science

DOI: 10.1098/rsnr.2019.0004

Author: Lucy J. Havard

Institution: University College London

Language: English

Topic: Historical Philosophy and Science

Subfield: History and Philosophy of Science

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Funders: U.S. Department of Energy, Wellcome Trust, Department of Science and Technology Studies, University College London

OpenAlex ID: W2961931769

FWCI: 4.487

Cites:

Cited by: 15

Related to: 10