Mrs. Cromwell's Kitchen

The Court and Kitchen of Elizabeth, Commonly Called Joan Cromwell, the Wife of the Late Usurper was published in London in 1665, a few years after the death of Oliver Cromwell. The author is unknown, but was certainly not Mrs. Elizabeth Cromwell. It is a genuine cookery book but in addition there is a great deal of anti-Cromwellian abuse along with the recipes. The recipes themselves are not the expensive and elaborate dishes which might be expected to grace the table of a head of state, but plain solid cooking, such as would be served in the household of a prosperous farmer or merchant. The implication of this, of course, is that the Cromwells did not keep the state appropriate to their position; various anecdotes emphasise her avaricious and penny-pinching attitude.