Primary Source Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Primary Source Study - Essay Example â€Å"The complete housewife or Accomplished Gentlewomen’s companion† is a cookery book written in eighteenth century by the author Eliza Smith. Originally published in 1727. It is not just a cook book from the history but also contains various medicinal prescriptions and home remedies handy in the case of any emergency and works as the first aid. The book was written clearly as its name indicate to provide assistance to the women of that time to improve their efficiency in cooking and making them competent and a complete gentlewomen because cooking was very essential and fundamental skill required by fine ladies of that time. Fixing a meal today is very simple these days but in colonial time’s it was an hours long affair until there was enough light to see in the kitchens and without any refrigeration all meals have to be cooked and seasoned in the same day(Heyes,2009) Eliza tried to show her confidence in cooking and food and every ones attitudes towards it in this book which is considered as the first cook book to be published in America. It contains collection of several hundred receipts of pastries, confectionaries, pickles, preserving meat, cakes, jellies, wines added with hundred of receipts of home remedies for minor ailments including syrups, ointments, elixirs etc. Through the book Eliza conveyed her own lives experience and knowledge to the other women of the society. Women are known to reveal their life’s stories through their receipes of food cleaning or medicinal remedies; it is the way of their communication. cMrs. Smith worked as a cook in upper class household and that is why she knew a lot about cooking and serving. She also criticized the male cook book writers and claimed that they hold their recepies secret from the rest of the public and stressed upon her female audience her past experiences in that regard.d In contrast to other cook book writers her work is much more competent unlike other amateurish writers wh ose work fail to show citations to quoted information (Allen,1999) .As it is considered as the first cook books it