The Queen-Like Closet facts for kids
Frontispiece
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| Author | Hannah Woolley |
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| Country | England |
| Subject | Cookery |
| Publisher | Richard Lowndes |
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Publication date
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1670 |
| Pages | 383 |
The Queen-like Closet, Or, Rich Cabinet was a popular cookbook published in 1670. It was written by Hannah Woolley (1622 – c.1675), an English writer who taught people how to manage their homes. This book was so popular that it was printed five times in English by 1684. It was even translated into German!
The book shares many interesting recipes. You can find how to make a trifle (a dessert with cream), a gooseberry fool (a fruity dessert), and even hot chocolate. It also includes recipes for cheesecakes and mince pies. Back then, mince pies still had meat in them, along with dried fruits! Some ingredients, like pumpkins and molasses, came from the New World (America). This book also has the first known recipe for a special dish called Sussex pond pudding.
Contents
About Hannah Woolley
Hannah Woolley was a very important writer. Before The Queen-like Closet, she had already published two other books: The Ladies Directory in 1661 and The Cooks Guide in 1664. She was probably the first person ever to earn a living just by writing books about how to run a household. This was a big deal for women at the time!
Inside the Cookbook
Richard Lowndes published Hannah Woolley's The Queen-Like Closet in 1670. The book's name was a nod to another popular book from 1655 called The Queens Closet Opened. Hannah Woolley dedicated her book to her friend, Mrs. Grace Buzby. Interestingly, the very first page of the book calls it The Ladies New Closet. OR RATHER Rich Cabinet, which is a bit different from the title page.
How the Book is Organized
This cookbook is mostly a collection of numbered recipes. Before the recipes, Hannah Woolley wrote a special letter. It was addressed "To all Ladies, Gentlewomen, and to all other of the Female Sex who do delight in, or be desirous of good Accomplishments." She also included a short poem.
After all the recipes, there are "bills of fare." These are like suggested menus for different times of the year. They include ideas for big summer parties, winter meals, smaller gatherings, and even meals for fish days or fasting days.
Woolley also described the jobs of different household staff. This included the cook, the cook's helper, the butler, and the person who carved the meat. She also wrote about the "Gentlewomen" who were in charge of making "Sweet-Meats." These were often desserts or preserved fruits. The first part of the book has many recipes for these sweet treats.
The book finishes with two separate lists of recipes, organized from A to Z.
Pictures in the Book
The Queen-Like Closet doesn't have many pictures inside. It only has a front page illustration. This picture shows six different kitchen scenes. You can see a pot cooking over a fire, drinks being made, a bread oven, and roasts cooking on a spit. There's also a special title design in the middle.
What Recipes Are Inside?
Part 1: Sweet Treats and Remedies
The first part of the book has 293 recipes. They aren't grouped into clear sections. Some of the first recipes (numbers 1 to 36) are for medicinal drinks and waters. These were meant to help with health issues.
After that, you find a mix of recipes. There are cakes, creams, puddings, more remedies, and even wines. For example, recipe 58 is for a trifle. It's made with boiled cream, rosewater, and a spice called mace. Recipe 109 is a gooseberry fool made with gooseberries, sugar, egg yolks, cream, and nutmeg.
Recipe 101 is a fun one: "To make Collops of Bacon in Sweet-meats." This recipe uses marzipan paste, sugar, cinnamon, and ginger. It's sliced to look like bacon, but it's actually a sweet treat! These recipes were for the "Sweet-Meats" that Hannah Woolley thought her readers would be in charge of making.
Later, you find recipes involving meat. Recipe 138, "To make Christal Jelly," uses veal and calves feet. Recipe 139, "To make China-Broth," uses "china" (likely a type of root), hartshorn, a red rooster, raisins, and barley.
Recipe 142 is for "To make Chaculato," which is a hot chocolate drink. It's made with claret wine, chocolate, egg yolk, and sugar.
Part 2: Main Dishes and More
The second part of the book is titled "The Second Part of the Queen-Like Closet." It adds more recipes and focuses on all kinds of cooking. This includes fish, meat, and pastry dishes. This part also mentions Hannah Wolley, sometimes called Chaloner, and was published by "R. L." in 1670.
Recipe 3 is the first main dish: "To make Coller'd Beef." This involves marinating beef with salt, spices, and herbs. Then it's cooked slowly in a pot with claret wine and butter.
Recipe 6 is for cheesecakes. These are made with milk, manchet (a type of fine bread) to thicken it, butter, cheese curd, currants, eggs, cream, and sugar, all baked in pastry. More meat dishes appear from recipe 18, like a chicken pie. There are also recipes for brawn (a meat jelly), pasties (meat pies), and a fancy "Olio." An Olio was a rich stew with many ingredients like calves head, oysters, anchovies, pigeons, bacon, and veal.
Recipe 102 is for "Minced Pies." The filling for these pies was made with equal amounts of veal and suet (animal fat). It also included dried fruits like raisins, currants, prunes, and dates, along with spices, verjuice (a sour juice), and sugar.
Recipes 113 to 121 are all about fish dishes. They start with "a Fricasie of Oisters" (oysters cooked in a sauce).
Recipe 132 is for "Pumpion-Pie," which is a pumpkin pie. The pumpkin is fried with beaten egg, then baked in a pie crust with dried fruits, butter, sack (a type of wine), and some tart apples.
Recipes 144 to 157 are for different meat or fish pies. Recipe 261 is for a "Haggus Pudding" (a type of savory pudding).
Recipe 285 is for "Vin de Molosso, or Treacle Wine." This recipe uses molasses boiled with spices and rosemary. Then it's brewed like beer.
Different Versions of the Book
The Queen-Like Closet was very popular and was printed many times. Here are the English versions that we know about:
- 1670 – The very first edition, published by Richard Lowndes.
- 1672 – The second edition, also by Richard Lowndes.
- 1681 – The fourth edition, published by R. Chiswel and T. Sawbridge.
- 1684 – The fifth edition, also by R. Chiswel and T. Sawbridge.
At least two versions of a German translation were also published. They were called Frauenzimmers Zeitvertreib, which means "Ladies' Pastime."
- 1674 – A special addition called A Supplement to the "Queen-Like Closet," or, A Little of Every Thing was also published.
