From the nuances of frying veals’ feet to how to dress a lamb’s head, Mary Randolph was the 19th-century’s answer to Ina Garten. Generally considered the country’s first cookbook author, she wrote the wildly popular The Virginia House-Wife in 1824, which enjoyed brisk sales and 19 printings until the outbreak of the Civil War.
To commemorate the 200th anniversary of its original publication, Historic Tuckahoe, in partnership with Virginiana Press, has reissued this 291-page peek into life in a Virginia kitchen two centuries ago. The historic hostess, who lived at Tuckahoe Plantation in Goochland, also included entertaining tips and recipes for soap-making, ingredients for starch, and how to make cologne. “The book is jam-packed with everything a woman in 19th-century America would need to run a household,” says the project’s coordinator, Rebecca Suerdieck.
Randolph’s recipes had a global flare, but with her own spin, she made them uniquely Virginian. Some have fallen out of favor—boiled mutton shoulder or pickled sturgeon, anyone?—others are downright appealing, like curry six different ways, vegetables of all kinds, and the first ice cream recipe published by an American author.
Suerdieck brings her experience as a historic interpreter and colonial foodways expert to the project, partnering with Holt Saulsgiver, Historic Tuckahoe’s gardener and grounds manager. “I look forward to seeing Mary Randolph’s recipes come to life again in the Old Kitchen here at Tuckahoe, as well as in our own kitchens!” Saulsgiver says. HistoricTuckahoe.com
This article originally appeared in the October 2024 issue.
