Image: Verral, William · Public domain
A Complete System of Cookery
- Year
- 1759
- Era
- 18th century
- Origin
- England · Europe
- Language
- English
- Category
- English pre-1800
A Complete System of Cookery, issued in 1759 by William Verral, master of the White Hart Inn at Lewes, ranks among the earliest English works to transmit the French haute cuisine of the eighteenth century to a domestic readership. Drawing on training under the celebrated cook Pierre Clouet, Verral set out elaborate ragouts, fricassees, and made dishes for English kitchens. Surviving copies are notably scarce.
Cooking from this book
Pigeons à la Duxelle
Signature dishVerral's pigeons dressed in the Duxelle manner stands as a hallmark of this curious book, in which the landlord of the White Hart at Lewes set down the lessons he had absorbed from his master, the French cook Saint Clouet. The dish, a delicate treatment of young pigeons with a savoury mushroom preparation, captures Verral's mission: to bring the refined sauces and finesse of French haute cuisine within reach of English kitchens of the mid eighteenth century.
An editorial note on a dish associated with this book, written for The Coquinist. It is not a reproduction of the book's recipe.
