{HISTORY}

Amongst the first wave of international cookbooks published in the 1930s, Recipes of All Nations found its way into the kitchens of home cooks across the U.S. in 1936 who were looking to broaden their culinary horizons and combat the daily boredom of serving the same style of meals over and over again. 

Compiled by Countess Morphy, the pen name of Marcelle Azra Hincks (1883-1938), this big book (over 800 pages) of around-the-world-cuisine features an exotic array of countries and recipes. All the big food cultures are here.... France, Italy, Germany, of course but so are much smaller and more diverse areas including Corsica, Belgium, Denmark, Sardinia, Morocco. Persia, and even a section on Creole cooking in America.

Fascinating on all fronts, recipes run the gamut from the traditional to the economical to the exotic, but the Countess' motive in preparing this book was always focused on the thrifty diversity of budgeted cooking that unites women around the world. She felt that the best way to create a more peaceful world was via food and the cultural understandings it offers. 

The Countess, was not an of-the-day actual Countess but some distant relation to titled British ancestry further back in her family tree. Born in Louisiana in 1883, and living in England for a majority of her life, she began a writing career as a dance critic before embracing cookbooks, of which she published over a dozen on various food fare topics.  Despite her prolific food writing career, it's this book that she remains most well known for. An early death, at the age of 54 cut short any further work, but Recipes For All Nations is still considered one of the best multi-cultural recipe compendiums highlighting provincial foods from around the world.

Interesting recipes include Marinated Trout (France), Beef Stew with Cloves (Italy), Fried Chicken a l'Extremadure (Spain), Bread Soup (Austria), Dumplings with Plums (Germany), Stuffed Mushrooms (Poland), Waffles (Norway), Rye and Molasses Bread (Sweden), Eggs Meulemeester (Belgium), Devonshire Junket (England), Crab Gumbo (New Orleans), Chicken Kofta Curry (India), Stewed Mushrooms (China), Pork and Vegetables (Japan), Beurrek Cheese Pastries (Turkey and the Balkans), Shortbread (Greece), Coconut Cakes (Morocco) and Gateau de Patates Au Coco (French West Indies). 

Adventurous cooks will find game recipes and exotic dishes for almost every country featuring a wide array of ingredients including shark, venison, rabbit, duck, pigeon, eel, mutton, partridge, goose, and various organ meats etc. Also included is an introduction to the culinary landscape of each country along with additional histories of specific recipes and the names of each recipe in their original language as well as the American translation. 

Originally published for Selfridge's Department store in the U.K., this is the 1936 edition published by William H. Wise & Company in New York. Reprinted several times throughout the 1930s,1940s and 1950s, this is the hard to find edition featuring a portrait of a chef against blue coverboards.

1924 Portrait of Marcelle Azra Hincks by British portrait painter, George Spencer Watson (1869-1934) courtesy of Artvee. 

{SPECIAL FEATURES}

• Published by Wm H,. Wise New York 1936
• 821 pages 
• Detailed indexes follows each country's section of recipes as well as a comprehensive index at the back of the book 
• Blank pages were included throughout for note taking 
• Thumb tabs are included along the foredge for easy reference
• Decorated front and back endpapers include a chocolate brown map of the world with various illustrations of chefs and ships

{CONDITION}

In lovely vintage condition, this book contains a gift inscription written in pencil on the title page. Various light cooking spots and splatters are visible on random pages throughout, but none interfere with the reading the recipes. The spine is tight and all pages are intact. Please see photos.

{SIZE}

Measures 8.75" inches (length) x 5.75" inches (width) x 2.75" inches (thickness) and weighs 2.9 lbs.