AUS T R A L I A’ S F I R S T C O OK B O OK Th Originea The English and Australian Cookery Book by Edward Abbott Esq. Published by The Culinary Historians of Tasmania The National Dictionary of Biography calls it “a landmark publication.” 150 years ago this year (1864 – 2014) Edward Abbott Esq. published Australia’s first cookery book: The English and Australian Cookery Book: Cooking for the Many as well as the Upper Ten Thousand. To experts like Michael Symons it is still Australia’s best cook book. ‘Any Australian cook’s bookshelf without it is the lesser’ says Gourmet Farmer Matthew Evans. In some 1500 recipes across 300 pages the book offers dozens of unique Australian dishes to the world’s cuisine and rivals Larousse Gastronomique for depth. Abbott not only published recipes for kangaroo, emu, duck, swan, mutton birds, possum and wombat, he also described, from the culinary perspective, a hundred local fish, wrote of the contemporary restaurant and café scene (could do with improvement) and promoted a very wide range of gourmet foods. Out of print for over 100 years, now adventurous foodlovers, cookery book devotees, cooks and culinary students can immerse themselves in Abbott’s landmark work just as he published it. The facsimile is accompanied by a Companion Volume of explanatory essays. The book’s sesquicentenary is being celebrated with a yearlong Edward Abbott food festival. " BACKGROUND LIMITED SEQUICENTENARY EDITION l! THE FACSIMILE " With 287 pages of recipes and culinary advice and printed in the same coloured bindings with the same gold foil of the original on the shield and spine, this is a faithful facsimile in almost every regard. It contains all pages, all the colour plates together with the 12 pages of advertisments. The 1864 edition Abbott’s book was bound in green and gold cloth and had a red quarter-cover spine. Only about 20 copies are known to exist in public collections. They can sell for up to $13,000 each. "Victorian wines, Tasmanian salmon, Cascade Pale Ale as well as NSW beers and South Australian flours, recipes for turtles, sheep heads, quail, quince and quin sauce, a dozen puddings, two dozen sauces, 300 drinks. " The facsimile is presented in a handsome slipcase together with the CompanionVolume. The 2014 facsimile Original print run: 3000 copies : Facsimile print run: 3000 copies Arguably, still the best Australian cookery book in terms of both its scope and earnestness. Michael Symons, One Continuous Picnic Australia’s preeminent food historian A gl the E n C o m pa nion to ish ra and A u s t lian y Cooker Book THE COMPANION " The cover of the Companion Volume. Below: An original Edward Abbott bookplate. The Abbott Coat of Arms (also shown) features a shield with three Warden pears. Abbott was the first Warden of Clarence Municipality. The Companion Volume’s scholarly essays explore the life of the father of Australian cuisine, the publication of his extraordinary work together with instructive chapters by contemporary chefs on his continuing influence. The Companion is a faithful replica of its companion the facsimile, mimicking the original’s typography and design in a contrasting livery. It has twelve exquisitely quirky black and white illustrations created by Penny Carey Wells and Diane Perndt from their vast library of 19th century illustrations. Contributors to the Companion include Michael Symons (One Continuous Picnic), Barbara Santich (Professor Emeritus at the University of Adelaide and author of Bold Palates: Australia’s Gastronomic Heritage, Tony Marshall (Retired Senior Librarian (Heritage Collections) at Tasmania’s State Library, Sebastian Reaburn (Australian cocktail historian), Sally Wise (author of A Year in a Bottle, A Year on the Farm) and Bernard Lloyd (author of Tasmania’s culinary history: BeforeWe Eat). Genealogical research commissioned by the publishers located Abbott’s descendants, still living in Tasmania. They provided exclusive access to the contents of Edward Abbott’s writing box which contains documents dating back to 1770, before the settlement of Australia. No Cookery-book has been presented to the public with better claims on universal favour. Smith, Ellis & Co, London " Not only the most popular cookery book of the day, this is the best book of the kind ever published. Mercury " A very readable book indeed, and eminently characteristic of the author's peculiar studies, favourite pursuits and natural humour. Tasmanian Times The Australian Cookery Book is beautifully “mounted”. Its embellishments in the way of illustration are superb, and its typography cannot be surpassed. It abounds with racy anecdotes of old colonists, and old celebrities, besides quotations from, we should think, nearly every poet and author. A “multum in parvo” of modern cookery. Cornwall Chronicle It reveals all the mysteries of cookery, from the Roast Beef of Old England to the Australian kangaroo. Sydney Morning Herald In a different form to most books of the kind, and being written in a light racy style—with apt extracts and appropriate quotations, it is thought that it will have an extended sale in the mother Country and Colonies. [The publisher] It is an amusing Book, and the receipts will find favour with both house-wives and their husbands. The Athenaeum An entertaining and informative volume that gently but firmly reminds Australia of where our food culture all began. Matthew Denholm The Australian The “Cookery Book” was, during the last few months before the departure of the English mail, creating more noise than the literary essays, the startling poems, the glittering novels, or the sparkling plays of the entire British press. Princes and Peers, Statesmen and Peasants were studying it; studying it, and “Bantings theory” of how to keep thin. For you must get fat if you act up to the precepts of the “Cookery Book”. It not only teaches you what to eat, and how to enjoy the social glass; but at the same time it amuses you; it makes you laugh if you are in ever so melancholy a mood, and a good laugh it is established, is by far the best medicine. Cornwall Chronicle " It includes, it is believed, the largest number of ‘drinks,’ British, American, and colonial, yet published. The Monthly Circular, London " An Acceptable Gift for the Miner's Wife or Daughter...A product that cannot be injured by Free Trade; there is an originality about it that is charming, and it is the cheapest. Ballarat Star A highly creditable compilation; it ought to have a large sale in Melbourne, Adelaide, Tasmania and Sydney. Walch’s Literary Intelligencer TESTIMONIALS CONTRIBUTORS " Lyn Abbott is the great great grand daughter of E.A. and has supported the project in every way. She resides in NSW. " " Peter Abbott is the great great grandson of E.A. and has also quietly supported the project immensely. He lives in Hobart. " Bernard Lloyd compiled Before We Eat: A delicious slice of Tasmania’s culinary life. He lives in Hobart. " Tony Marshall Senior Librarian (Heritage Collections) at Tasmania’s State Library when he began researching Edward Abbott in 1992, he gave the keynote address on Abbott at the 1999 Australian Gastronomic Symposium as well as many subsequent public talks. Now retired, he knows more about Edward Abbott than any person on earth. " Nick Osborne A commercial and editorial photographer with a lifetime’s experience of documenting Tasmania. As well as photographing the relics he rendered the shield on the book’s cover. He lives in Hobart. Sebastian Reaburn A refined mix of one part cocktail maker, two parts cocktail historian and three parts cocktail storyteller. He resides in Melbourne, Australia. " Barbara Santich Professor Emeritus at the University of Adelaide, Barbara and has written, among many other works, Bold Palates: Australia’s Gastronomic Heritage. She lives in Adelaide. " Michael Sprod Proprietor of Astrolabe Booksellers, Hobart, has been selling antiquarian books for thirty years in Tasmania. " Michael Symons The father of food history in Australia who wrote One Continuous Picnic. First published by Duck Press in Adelaide in 1982, it continues to charm us while Michael is not done with challenging us. He lives in Sydney. " Penny Carey-Wells and Diane Perndt the slightlytwisted sisters of Cloud Design — all swimming, all dancing illustrators; graphic designers and makers of artists’ books and boxes. Their business is in Hobart. " Sally Wise Tasmanian author and cook who came to national attention with her best-selling recipe book A Year in a Bottle. She has a special interest in colonial cookery. She preaches its virtues, teaches its practices and recreates its splendours. Her latest book, A Year on the Farm, includes over 200 preserving recipes. Sally lives near Molesworth, Tasmania. "EDWARD ABBOTT ESQ. MP. JP The Father of Australian Cuisine " Edward Abbott was a colourful and passionate character born in Sydney in 1801. He arrived in Van Diemens Land (Tasmania) in 1816 with his mother and father—who had been appointed Judge Advocate. " During a life of 69 years he began in his father’s office where he made enough to purchase two thousand acres of land. He became a successful g r a z i e r a n d p r i z e p o t a t o b r e e d e r. H e subsequently started a newspaper, worked as a Coroner and Magistrate, served in both houses in Tasmania, was the first warden of Clarence municipality and finally, declaring himself An Australian Aristologist (one who studies the art and science of dining) wrote Australia’s first cookery book. " He was determined beyond belief, hot-tempered, wilful and creative. " Edward Abbott’s fob watch with the 12 numerals replaced by the letters of his name.The only known image of Edward Abbott (below). " He was well known for his generosity as host and the quality of his table. He hosted agricultural dinners, a feast for several thousand at the annual ploughing match and fancied himself no amateur at curing. " He married late in life but had four children. THE ABBOTT FAMILY " " " The Abbott family have preserved the good name and the records of their forebears, including Edward Abbott, but also his father and his father before him. These records have been in the family for nearly 250 years. They have kept the records in Tasmania and freely (though we proudly say, some records were shown exclusively to us). Paul and Bernard with Abbott’s great great granddaughter Lyn Abbott holding the family copy of the famous cookery book at Edward Abbott’s grave in Tasmania. (Below right): E.A.s crested silver salt and pepper cellars. " Culinary Historians and Co-publishers " Bernard Lloyd (left) and Paul County (right). " PUBLICATION " "" “Through research, including tracking down several of Abbott’s descendants and a treasure trove of his personal effects, County and Lloyd have shed new light on an unsung national hero.” Matthew Denholm The Australian " "" The journey to this publication began 10 years ago with the publication of Before We Eat. That delicious slice of Tasmania’s culinary life was filled with quotations from a then-mysterious author known to us only as E.A. " " Five years ago, with the publication of Tasmania’s Table, itself a scrapbook of Tasmanian recipes, food history and dining adventures, the experience required to publish the masterpiece was gained. Two years ago, with the sesquicentenary on the horizon, planning began for the reprinting of the facsimile. It was decided to give the book a fresh copy of itself. Scans provided from Australia’s best remaining copy, held in the William Crowther Library in Tasmania were carefully cleaned of the marks of the intervening years. " Research into paper, binding, printing and the all-important gilt seal on the book’s front cover together with experimentation and dummy printings resulted in the finished product. " " July Stuffing the Porcupine Allport Library, Hobart August First Warden’s Gala Dinner The Barn, Clarence September High Tea National Launch National Library of Australia, Canberra October Colonial Gala Dinner Mortlock Chamber, Adelaide November Edward Abbott Dinner Builder’s Arms Hotel, Melbourne 7.00pm Monday 24th December 1864 Dinner, Hobart 2015 January E.A.T lunch Edward Abbott Tasmania Hobart Farmer’s Market March Acclimatisation Dinner Launch of Exhibition edition " Festival event details and updates: www.facebook.com/EnglishAndAustralianCookeryBook " " to an Historic Gala Dinner Mortlock Chamber Wednesday 8th October 5.30pm for 6.00pm Lounge suit / After Five The State Library is delighted to showcase a rare item in our collection, the 150 year old cookbook, “An Australian Abbott, Edward 1801-69, The English and Australian cookery book. Originally published 1864 The entire Menu will be from Edward Abbott’s cookery book. Jimmy Docherty’s Australian Food Adventure. Jimmy will be present and the evening includes a conversation with Carole Whitelock and two of Australia’s most highly renowned food historians, Prof. Barbara Santich, and Mr Bernard Lloyd. Ticket price $150 pp inclusive of canapés, three course meal and all beverages We invite you to be part of this extraordinary dining experience RSVP by 1 October: [email protected] or phone 8207 7292 www.tasfoodbooks.com Bernard Lloyd 0434 511 449 www.facebook.com/EnglishAndAustralianCookeryBook ORDERS [email protected] RRP $75.00
© Copyright 2024