December 1, 2015

Chocolate and Cocoa Recipes by Miss Parloa, And Home Made Candy Recipes By Mrs. Janet McKenzie Hill

Following suit with a review of The True History of Chocolate on the Pastry Sampler blog, I’d thought I’d talk about Chocolate and Cocoa Recipes for Old School Pastry, a little chocolate cookbook published in 1909 by Miss Parloa. It included Home Made Candy Recipes by Mrs. Janet McKenzie Hill.

Chocolate and Cocoa Recipes was more of an advertising manual rather than a cookbook as it was sponsored and created by Walter Baker & Company, a popular chocolate manufacturer back then, and written by a noted foodie of the time, Maria Parloa who was a cooking teacher. Parloa authored ten different cookbooks between the 1870’s to the early 1900’s. All the recipes were formulated to use that chocolate or to incorporate the brand name in the recipe.

Parloa’s chocolate book contains a little essay on chocolate and in it contains a couple of paragraphs of why Baker’s chocolate products are the best. She also adds quotes from Baron von Liebig, Brillat-Savarin, and others. In the Recipes part of the book, there are many recipes from drinks to breads, cakes to confections. There is a section by Miss Elizabeth Kevill Burr, who was also a cooking teacher and cookbook author, and one by Miss M. E. Robinson (which also included many recipes by assorted cooks). The Home Made Candies section was dedicated solely to recipes by Mrs. Janet McKenzie Hill, who founded the Boston Cooking School Magazine, and authored many cookbooks herself.

Chocolate and Cocoa Recipes contains a good cross section of what was prepared back then for both beverages and foods that were savory and sweet. Color images are included for some of the recipes, and advertising for the different chocolate products is sprinkled throughout.

Book Information: