Modern Cookery for Private Families
Title Page of 1860 edition
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| Author | Eliza Acton |
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| Country | England |
| Subject | English cooking |
| Genre | Cookery |
| Publisher | Longmans |
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Publication date
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1845 |
Modern Cookery for Private Families is an English cookery book by Eliza Acton (1799–1859). It was first published by Longmans in 1845, and was a best-seller, running through 13 editions by 1853, though its sales were later eclipsed by Mrs Beeton. On the strength of the book, Delia Smith called Acton "the best writer of recipes in the English language", and in the same vein Elizabeth David called Modern Cookery "the greatest cookery book in our language".
It was one of the first cookery books to provide lists of ingredients, exact quantities, and cooking times, and to include Eastern recipes for chutneys. Its first edition was the first book to refer to Christmas pudding.
Acton's recipes and writing style have been admired by cooks including Elizabeth David, Delia Smith and Jane Grigson; Clarissa Dickson Wright praises her writing but criticises her increasing conformity to Victorian dullness.
The book was the result of several years of research, prompted by Longman, who had published Acton's Poems. Many of the recipes came from her friends. Modern Cookery quickly became a bestselling work, appearing in several editions and remaining a standard cookery book throughout the rest of the century. The book was immensely influential, establishing the format for modern cookery book writing, by listing the exact ingredients required for each recipe, the time needed, and potential problems that might arise. This was a major departure from previous cookbooks, which were less precise.
The book was one of the first to list recipes for Eastern "chatneys", both fresh, like her "Mauritian shrimp chatney" with lemon and oil, and preserved, like her "Bengal chatney" with raisins, crab apples, garlic, and ginger. The first known mention of Christmas pudding, too, is in the first edition of 1845; the dish had earlier been known simply as plum pudding. Her recipe for mincemeat (as in mince pies) still contained meat – she suggests ox tongue or beef sirloin – which she combined with lemons "boiled quite tender and chopped up entirely with the exception of the pips".
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