Press release December 2008: Emma Darwin cookbook
Credit crunch lunch for Christmas – courtesy of Mrs Charles Darwin
Recipes used by Charles Darwin’s wife could help those planning a ‘credit crunch Christmas’ find inspiration in traditional Victorian fayre.
‘Mrs Charles Darwin’s Recipe Book’ draws together more than 40 dishes from Emma Darwin’s personal cookery notebook.
Among them is the Darwin household’s recipe for such rare delights as turnip cresselly, broiled mushrooms and the grandly titled Lady Skymaston’s pudding.
Other dishes with a more traditional Christmas flavour include cranberry sauce, baked apple pudding, compote of apples and Italian cream, while party staples such as cheese straws and ginger biscuits are also featured.
The original notebook is housed in Cambridge University Library and is used mainly by researchers and Darwin experts.
The new book owes its existence to the generosity of the University Library, which agreed to release the original recipes from its archives to authors Dusha Bateson and Weslie Janeway.
Apart from being a fascinating primer in Victorian cooking, the book is also helping to fund research into, and publication of, Charles Darwin’s letters.
A percentage of the proceeds will be donated to the University’s Darwin Correspondence Project which, since 1974, has been publishing letters written by and to the great naturalist.
Dr Alison Pearn, assistant director at the Darwin Correspondence Project, explains the importance of the project: “Over the course of his working life, Darwin built up an impressive network of correspondents who provided him with data about plants, animals, and peoples from all over the world, and with whom he discussed his ideas as they were developing.
“The letters are a remarkable window onto his life and mind, and a chance to eavesdrop on conversations between some of the leading thinkers of the 19th century.”
Adam Perkins, curator of scientific manuscripts at Cambridge University Library, said: “The dissemination of Darwin’s actual ideas, rather than opinions of others about his ideas, is essential in the 21st century.
“His theory of evolution by natural selection is one of the most important in the history of science and we are still studying everything he wrote. But it’s an expensive process and requires skilled people, so continued funding of the project is vital.”
ENDS
Mrs Charles Darwin’s Recipe Book by Dusha Bateson and Weslie Janeway is published by Glitterati Incorporated and costs £17.99.
Pictures from the original recipe book, as well as a photo of Emma Darwin, are available on request. Please credit Cambridge University Library.
Members of the press, please email Stuart Roberts, University of Cambridge Communications Officer, for more information: sjr81@admin.cam.ac.uk or call 01223 332300 / 07917 535887.
Interviews with Adam Perkins, curator of scientific manuscripts at Cambridge University Library, may be available on request.
Notes to editors:
- Charles Darwin attended Christ’s College, Cambridge between 1828 and 1831
- Cambridge is home to the vast majority of Darwin’s output, including specimens from his voyage on the Beagle, manuscripts, correspondences, working papers, notebooks and journals
- The University of Cambridge is hosting a year-long programme of events in 2009 to celebrate the bicentenary of Charles Darwin’s birth. This will include the Darwin 2009 Bicentenary Festival, which runs from July 5-10, and Endless Forms, a pioneering exhibition at The Fitzwilliam Museum from June 16 that will explore the influence of Darwin’s discoveries on visual artists
- The University of Cambridge Library will host A Voyage Round the World from July 6. This exhibition will bring together manuscripts and specimens from the Beagle collections in Cambridge University
- Exhibitions, workshops and tours will also take place at a range of other Cambridge venues, including the Botanic Garden, The Sedgwick Museum and The Zoology Museum
- More information about the Darwin Correspondence Project can be found at http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/
- For further information on the 2009 Darwin Bicentenary Festival log on to www.darwin2009.cam.ac.uk