The Accomplish'd Servant-maid
- Year
- 1747
- Era
- 18th century
- Origin
- England · Europe
- Language
- English
- Category
- English pre-1800
The Accomplish'd Servant-maid, issued in 1747 under the name of Eliza Johnston, belongs to a popular genre of mid eighteenth century English manuals addressed to young women entering domestic service. Combining moral instruction with practical guidance on household tasks, marketing, preserving, and plain cookery, it documents the breadth of competence demanded of maidservants and offers valuable evidence of kitchen practice and household economy in Georgian England.
Cooking from this book
A Boiled Leg of Mutton with Caper Sauce
Signature dishThis plain but respectable joint stands as an emblem of the modest English household table that Eliza Johnston's manual was written to serve. A well boiled leg of mutton, glossed with a sharp caper sauce, represented exactly the kind of competent, unshowy cookery a maid-of-all-work was expected to master. Neither grand nor mean, it spoke to the book's purpose: equipping young women to feed a middling family with confidence and propriety.
An editorial note on a dish associated with this book, written for The Coquinist. It is not a reproduction of the book's recipe.
