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Introduction (Most keen cooks collect)

Most keen cooks collect recipes - their own or other people's - sometimes scribbled on a scrap of paper or torn from a newspaper or magazine. Few, though, equal the astonishing feat of Lady Clark of Tillypronie, who filled more than three thousand pages of manuscript, as Catherine Frere says, 'not only written over every available margin, but often crossed like a shepherd's plaid', with culinary details and carefully recorded recipes of meals and dishes she enjoyed.

What strikes me so forcibly is the modernity of Lady Clark's food. Her preference for simple cooking with unblemished, distinctive flavours her worst criticism of a dish is that it tastes dull makes her food attractive even a century later. And her electicism, born of her well-travelled childhood and life as the wife of a diplomat, produced dishes that still appeal to present-day tastes. European cooking is particularly well represented. The years spent in Turin bring recipes for pasta to her pages with various versions of ravioli and a number of fine-flavoured sauces, while the tour of duty in Paris ensures a generous quota of classic French dishes there are five recipes for Tartare Sauce alone and many examples of satisfying cuisine bourgeoise. And the Anglo - Indian cooking of the British Raj, now once again in vogue, appears in dishes such as Rabbit Pish - Pash, subtly flavoured with cardamon seeds, and in a whole chapter devoted to curries. Yet, unlike many cookery books from the past, Lady Clark's remains eminently usable. The recipes are brief and to the point, and as evidence of their origin in the heat of the kitchen, the cook's attention is often deftly drawn to the most vital aspect of a recipe. Thus we are sensibly advised that Seville oranges for marmalade should be pared 'as thin as possible, as if they were apples', and that 'a soupçon of soda improves all thin biscuits'. Lady Clark's clear, helpful voice rings from every page, as in her delightfully-named Birk Hall Excursion Pie or her stricture to 'have the kettle not simply boiling, but rattling its lid', and the observation that 'this dish sounds easy to prepare, but requires very nice cooking to make the birds tender and juicy'. Her chapters on baking, sauces and fish are both instructive and full of interest, and, as befits a Scottish author, her views on potatoes are well worth reading. In a true spirit of inquiry Lady Clark gathers recipes of 'dishes that interest her' and their explanation reflects the warm, appreciative personality which is such an important and endearing aspect of her book. The recipes were for use in her own household rather than, as in the case of her contemporary Mrs Beeton, with a view to publication. As a result, this 'labour of love' amounts to a fascinating portrait of the food of Victorian aristocracy. Though clearly the food of a privileged minority, it was by any standard some of the best food of the time. And because the recipes were dictated to Lady Clark and in many cases prepared under her watchful eye by the cooks and chefs themselves, this work of culinary reportage has great value. Not only is it an important social document but it is also a practical cookery book. The book is a treasure trove of culinary ideas, any of which could make a worthwhile and delectable contribution to one's cooking. Or by following the recipes as they stand one can within the limitations of contemporary cooking - faithfully reproduce some of the most delicious dishes of the nineteenth century. For it is, after all, this