OP: The Daily Mail Cookery Book

Associated Newspapers, Ltd., 1919. Hardcover. Very Good. First printing.

Constance Dorothy Evelyn Peel (1868–1934), writer of both fiction and non-fiction, as well as editor of several periodicals over her lifetime, had an eye for cooking within limited means. Editor of the women’s page at the The Daily Mail during WWI, she was already well-known for her economical household tips, so letters arrived in droves, even from POWs in German camps, seeking advice for making the most out of a scanty food supply.

The Daily Mail Cookery Book followed in 1919, which proclaimed that, “To-day as a nation we cook better than we cooked before 1914,” as “necessity was…indeed, the Mother of Invention.” Comprising pointers for saving on resources like gas, as well as cost-effective recipes and basic housekeeping and entertaining advice, the book captures well the ethos of the interwar period.

The humble dishes, which one might eat with a stiff upper lip, include:

• White fish soup, which includes only the fish stock, not the flesh, thickened with a gill of milk and an ounce of flour, garnished with parsley
• Cornish pasties filled with meat and potatoes
• Hand-shaped oatmeal sausages—equal parts suet and grain—crumb-coated and fried
• Cornflour pudding, flavored with citrus peel, layered with jam (and an option to add condensed milk or chopped nuts for something a little more showy)

Heartier fare can be found as well, but the memory of war shortages holds fast.

Our copy is in Very Good condition, soundly bound, with some splatters and wear to the green cloth case. The interior is clean and unmarked, save for some staining to the title page, apparently a ghost from the glue used on the front endpaper.