Early examples The earliest known written recipes date to 1730 BC and were recorded on
cuneiform tablets found in Mesopotamia. Other early written recipes date from approximately 1600 BC and come from an
Akkadian tablet from southern
Babylonia. There are also works in
ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs depicting the preparation of food. Many ancient Greek recipes are known.
Mithaecus's cookbook was an early one, but most of it has been lost;
Athenaeus quotes one short recipe in his
Deipnosophistae.
Athenaeus mentions many other cookbooks, all of them lost. Roman recipes are known starting in the 2nd century BCE with
Cato the Elder's
De Agri Cultura. Many authors of this period described eastern Mediterranean cooking in Greek and in Latin. Each recipe begins with the Latin command "Take...," "Recipe...." Arabic recipes are documented starting in the 10th century; see
al-Warraq and
al-Baghdadi. The earliest recipe in
Persian dates from the 14th century. Several recipes have survived from the time of
Safavids, including
Karnameh (1521) by Mohammad Ali Bavarchi, which includes the cooking instruction of more than 130 different dishes and pastries, and
Madat-ol-Hayat (1597) by Nurollah Ashpaz. Recipe books from the
Qajar era are numerous, the most notable being
Khorak-ha-ye Irani by prince Nader Mirza. King Richard II of England commissioned a recipe book called
Forme of Cury in 1390, and around the same time, another book was published entitled
Curye on Inglish, "cury" meaning cooking. Both books give an impression of how food for the noble classes was prepared and served
in England at that time. The luxurious taste of the
aristocracy in the
Early Modern Period brought with it the start of what can be called the modern recipe book. By the 15th century, numerous manuscripts were appearing detailing the recipes of the day. Many of these manuscripts give very good information and record the re-discovery of many herbs and spices including
coriander, parsley, basil and
rosemary, many of which had been brought back from the
Crusades. File:Nimmatnama-i_Nasiruddin-Shahi_283.jpg|A page from the
Nimatnama-i-Nasiruddin-Shahi, book of delicacies and recipes. It documents the fine art of making
kheer. File:Sweets_1.jpg|
Medieval Indian Manuscript ( 16th century) showing
samosas being served
Medieval and early modern medical recipes In older English works, a recipe was called a "receipt". Both words "receipt" and "recipe" were originally used to mean instructions on how to administer medicine. Medical recipes were an important part of literature in medieval Europe, as they were the primary means for sharing medical knowledge. Key medieval examples include ''
Bald's Leechbook and the Tabula Medicine
which both functioned as encyclopedias of medical information. These recipe books were often organized alphabetically by ailment or follwed an a capite ad calcem
("from head to foot") structure, that listed cured for each part of the body. A defining linguistic feature of these medical recipes was the use of efficacy phrases like probatum est'' ("it is proved"). This language was meant to signal to the reader that a remedy had been personally tested and verified, establishing a sense of medical authority. There were different types of "paper tools" that were used to aid in the process writing down medical texted.
Vade Mecums were small, portable handbooks that were used to jot down quick instructions when first encountered during travel or a social visit. Intermediary books were volumes that organized recipes and held them in a
liminal stage while they waited to be tested. Lastly, neat or gift books were volumes that were carefully put together to record treasured knowledge that had been personal verified and was intended to pass down to children as a family heirloom. Many examples of handwritten medical recipe books come from common people's personal collections. Lady Johanna St. John recorded her final wishes in her will before her death in 1704, which included two handwritten recipe books among her other treasured items. The first was a volume of recipes for cookery while the second was her "Great Receit Book" which was filled with hundreds of remedies for various illnesses organized in alphabetical order. Recipe books were treated as treasured heirlooms and vital "paperwork of kinship." They were essential records of a family's history and social status.
Connection between culinary and medical recipes In medieval and early modern periods, medical and culinary recipes were fundamentally connected through their material format, shared domestic origins, and underlying scientific theory. During this era, the majority of healthcare was home-based, so most medicines and remedies were produced within the same household kitchens and
stillrooms used for food preparation. This resulted in tools such as pots, skillets, mortars and pestles, and jelly bags for straining to be used both for cooking meals and compounding medical remedies. Even more specialized equipment, such as
alembics (limbecks) and
cold stills, that were common in upper class estate kitchens were used for both medical and culinary purposes. The integration was rooted in the
Galenic framework of
humoral physiology, which did not conceptually separate food and drugs. and England competition grew between the noble families as to who could prepare the most lavish banquet. By the 1660s, cookery had progressed to an art form, and good cooks were in demand. Many of them published their own books, detailing their recipes in competition with their rivals. Many of these books have been translated and are available online. By the 19th century, the Victorian preoccupation for domestic respectability brought about the emergence of cookery writing in its modern form. Although eclipsed in fame and regard by
Isabella Beeton, the first modern cookery writer and compiler of recipes for the home was
Eliza Acton. Her pioneering cookbook,
Modern Cookery for Private Families published in 1845, was aimed at the domestic reader rather than the professional cook or chef. This was immensely influential, establishing the format for modern writing about cookery. It introduced the now-universal practice of listing the ingredients and suggested cooking times with each recipe. It included the first recipe for
Brussels sprouts. Contemporary chef
Delia Smith called Acton "the best writer of recipes in the English language."
Modern Cookery long survived Acton, remaining in print until 1914 and available more recently in facsimile. 's original recipe from 1850s for "
Runebergsbakelse" Acton's work was an important influence on Isabella Beeton, who published ''
Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management'' in 24 monthly parts between 1857 and 1861. This was a guide to running a
Victorian household, with advice on fashion,
child care,
animal husbandry,
poisons, the management of
servants, science, religion, and industrialism. Of the 1,112 pages, over 900 contained recipes. Most were illustrated with coloured engravings. It is said that many of the recipes were plagiarised from earlier writers such as Acton, but the Beetons never claimed that the book's contents were original. It was intended as a reliable guide for the aspirant middle classes. The American cook
Fannie Farmer (1857–1915) published in 1896 her famous work
The Boston Cooking School Cookbook which contained some 1,849 recipes. ==Components==