Sep 24, 2020 - Sale 2546

Sale 2546 - Lot 265

Price Realized: $ 3,500
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 5,000 - $ 7,500
EARLY 19TH CENTURY MANUSCRIPT COOKBOOK (MEXICAN COOKERY.) Quaderno que manifiesta el modo de hacer varias cosas curiosas de cocina. [133] manuscript pages. 4to, contemporary vellum, minor wear; minimal wear to contents. [Mexico, circa 1810-40?]

Additional Details

Many of the recipes incorporate distinctively Mexican ingredients or preparations, such as ante de mamey (page 1:2), buñuelos de tamales (3:2), caxettas de mamey (6:1), escabeche de Veracruz (7:4), huevos mole (9:1), mole oaxaqueño (10:2), mueganos mexicanos (10:3), tamales (16:4, illustrated), and pollos rellenos en mole (21:3). Venturing further afield is a recipe for "Huayabate a la Havana" (Cuban-style guava paste) and turron de cherimoya (featuring a South American fruit) near the end of the volume. The volume is undated and unsigned. Most is in one consistent hand, with the final 48 pages in 2 other hands. The binding and handwriting are consistent with the early 19th-century, as is the laid paper with an armorial watermark. We have been unable to trace any of these recipes in printed sources, suggesting that it may precede the first printed Mexican cookbooks produced in 1831.