Cache-Control: public, max-age=1024000 The Epicure's Almanac

The Epicure's Almanac or Diary of Good Living

Note: not to be confused with The Epicure's Almanack published in 1811.

In 1841, Benson Earle Hill (1795-1845), an artillery officer, writer and epicure, published The Epicure's Almanac. The Almanac consists of a daily recipe or culinary hint for each day of the year. The entries are very variable and range from a brusque entry on Cucumbers (July 12th) to a loving description of the preparation of Turtles (August 1st).

After the culinary horrors of Woolwich, he was posted to the artillery unit in Dover under the auspices of one General Ford, about whose table Hill waxes lyrical. Alas, he was then sent out on a tour of duty with a soldier-servant whose idea of a meal was "a rasher of bacon with bread, cheese, and onions". In self-defence, Hill was obliged to make his own culinary journey.

The Epicure's Almanac is the result of these researches. Some are perhaps not to modern taste (Cod Sounds a la Tripe (May 22nd) springs to mind) but all have their points of interest.

While the book was published just outside our Georgian period, the insights would have been spread across the earlier decades and are valuable as such.

The Complete Index shows all the entry titles on one page with links to individual pages. The monthly format lets you choose Month/Day and is all displayed on the same page. I hope they prove useful.