Mrs Beeton: cooking, science, and innovations in the Victorian kitchen

The Book of Household Management by Isabella Mayson Beeton (1836-1865) is generally considered one of the most interesting works in the Victorian social and cultural context. The author’s stylistic choices, the sources used, the text structure, and the comparison with similar manuals of the period altogether suggest that Mrs Beeton was able to summarise and clarify the leading concepts of nineteenth-century British cuisine. Indeed, domestic manuals not only describe contemporary culinary habits: they also shape reality, offering the ideal condition to be attained in the kitchen (Gray 2013: 50-52). Therefore, the series named the Book of Household Management published from 1861 onwards is essential to understanding how English homes and food were represented during the long reign of Queen Victoria.