Camp Cookery

"The first thing to parties bent on roughing it is the selection of a tent." Maria Parloa's 1878 book Camp Cookery: How to Live in Camp begins with some general guidelines and "hints for comfort" when supplying a camping trip. She walks the reader through how big one's tent should be, how to set it up, how to select a camp stove, what to wear -- "both ladies and gentlemen should dress in flannel throughout" -- provisions to bring, and how to observe perfect cleanliness. This is all prelude to her main objective: how to cook.

Parloa's handbook makes it clear that being in the great outdoors should not come at the sacrifice of eating well. Her instructions include ambitious projects like a clam bake for "ten to twenty persons," as well as practical instructions for the less accomplished cook, ensuring that her readers know how to prepare basics like coffee and scrambled eggs. Of particular note is the large selection of puddings and baked goods, as well as various gruels for those who find themselves ill while roughing it.

After finding success with her first cookbook in 1872, Maria Parloa (1843-1909) shifted from working as a cook to a long career of teaching others. After the publication of Camp Cookery, she traveled to Europe to study additional cuisines and their accompanying pedagogies. Back home, she led classes, gave popular lectures, and published additional books. She founded her own cooking school and became a sought-after guest at other institutions. She expanded her expertise in other areas of household management and established herself as a trusted authority in the developing field of home economics. Highly successful if no longer well-known, we thought a look at her life and work would be a good way to christen the holiday week.

To look at Camp Cookery, ask for Rare Book TX823 .P25 1878.