From My Mother's One Mouth
Katherina Harrington's Book of Recipes (1672) and the Food Culture of Restoration England
Stefaniia Demchuk [+–]
Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv
Stefaniia Demchuk, PhD, was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, and studied history and art history at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, where she works now as an Associate Professor at the Department of Art History. In 2022 – 2024 she was a Research Fellow at Masaryk University in Brno (Czech Republic). Stefaniia authored many papers and two books on medieval cooking and everyday life.
Funded by the Getty Library Research Grant and the Clark Library Bibliographic Fellowship, she now works on a larger project on early modern European cuisine, which focuses on gendered culinary practices and knowledge transmission. Stefaniia also has a long-standing interest in early modern
Netherlandish art and has written extensively about the banqueting scenes and the emergence of still life in the visual culture of early modern Europe.
From My Mother’s One Mouth introduces the world of Restoration-era English cooking through a manuscript written primarily by Katherina Harrington, daughter of politician James Harrington, one of the judges in the trial of James I Stuart. After the restoration of the Stuarts, her family lost their home in London and moved to Norfolk, where Katherina, at just 16 years old, wrote her book of recipes. Her writing draws the reader into a rich web of family ties, recipe exchanges, and shared knowledge and experience.
The book explores the manuscript’s authorship, the various methods used in recipe writing, and how recipes were collected and adapted. More broadly, it examines the food culture of Restoration England, highlighting prevailing gastronomic trends and local peculiarities. Each section of the manuscript is introduced with a contextual chapter, situating the recipes within a broader historical framework. Baked goods, sweetmeats, roasts, fish and game, preserves, and beverages from a large Norfolk household are examined against the backdrop of political and religious conflicts, evolving gastronomic fashions, shifting tastes, and the influx of colonial goods. The book also focuses on household remedies and medicinal food practices, exploring their connection to contemporary medical theories and highlighting their use in a family setting.
The book will appeal to all interested in cultural history, culinary history, and gender studies, offering an overview of trends in Restoration English cuisine, insights into family history, and the practices of women’s cookbook writing.
