A Belfast Cookery Book of Queen Anne's Time
- Year
- 1711
- Era
- 18th century
- Origin
- Ireland · Europe
- Language
- English
- Category
- English pre-1800
A Belfast Cookery Book of Queen Anne's Time is an early eighteenth century Irish manuscript receipt book compiled by Margaret McBride during the reign of Queen Anne. Domestic in origin and handwritten rather than printed, it preserves the culinary and household practices of an Ulster household of the period, offering rare evidence of Irish provincial cookery, ingredients, and medicinal receipts at a time when few comparable Irish sources survive.
Cooking from this book
Potted Beef
Signature dishPotted beef stands out as a quintessential dish from this early Belfast manuscript. A staple of Queen Anne era Irish kitchens, it involved slowly cooking seasoned beef until meltingly tender, then pounding it smooth and sealing it beneath a layer of clarified butter for keeping. The technique reflects the practical preserving wisdom of an Ulster household around 1711, and its presence among Margaret McBride's receipts speaks to the gentry table traditions linking Ireland with wider British culinary fashion.
An editorial note on a dish associated with this book, written for The Coquinist. It is not a reproduction of the book's recipe.
