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The Universal Cook
- Year
- 1783
- Era
- 18th century
- Origin
- England · Europe
- Language
- English
- Category
- English pre-1800
The Universal Cook, issued in 1783, is a comprehensive late-Georgian cookery compilation arranged for the practical management of a genteel English household. Among its notable features are monthly bills of fare guiding the seasonal ordering of meals across the year, alongside receipts covering roasting, boiling, made dishes, pastry, and preserves. The work exemplifies the ambitious, encyclopaedic style of culinary instruction that flourished in England during the closing decades of the eighteenth century.
Cooking from this book
A Grand Made Dish of Sweetbreads
Signature dishFew preparations capture the ambition of Stanhope's late-Georgian table quite like a grand made dish of sweetbreads, a centrepiece of the second course in her monthly bills of fare. Rich, delicate and ornamented with forcemeat, truffles and a glossy ragout, it embodies the polite English kitchen of the 1780s, where French refinement met native abundance. Its repeated appearance across her seasonal menus marks it as a defining dish of the book.
An editorial note on a dish associated with this book, written for The Coquinist. It is not a reproduction of the book's recipe.
