Fortnum & Mason Catalogue/Recipe books
- Year
- 1900-
- Era
- 20th century
- Origin
- England · Europe
- Language
- English
- Category
- Trade/Advertising
Issued from around the turn of the twentieth century onward by the Piccadilly grocers Fortnum & Mason, these combined catalogues and recipe books served as both trade promotion and domestic guide, listing the firm's celebrated provisions, preserves, teas, and hampers alongside instructions for their use. Early editions are particularly prized, offering a vivid record of Edwardian luxury retailing and the evolving English taste for imported and colonial goods.
Cooking from this book
Scotch Eggs
Signature dishFew items are as closely tied to Fortnum & Mason as the Scotch egg, which the Piccadilly store famously claims to have devised in 1738 as a portable savoury for travellers setting off by carriage. Across the long run of Fortnum's catalogues and recipe booklets it appears again and again as a hamper essential, an emblem of the shop's gift for turning everyday provisions into something fit for picnics, country house weekends and royal warrants alike.
An editorial note on a dish associated with this book, written for The Coquinist. It is not a reproduction of the book's recipe.