No pains were spared in making this book essentially West Indian and practical, and much valuable advice was received from local medical officers, dieticians, and teachers as well as from educationists and others in the various West Indian colonies. R. Patrick, Director of Education Trinidad and Tobago 

{HISTORY}

This is our first vintage West Indian cookbook in the shop and we couldn't be more excited for the stories it tells.

First published in Scotland by Thomas Nelson & Son in 1945, West Indian Cookery was compiled by E. Phyllis Clark expressly for the Government of Trinidad and Tobago. Phyllis worked for the Department of Education in Uganda and also was a lecturer in domestic science for the Government Training College for Teachers in Trinidad and Tobago.

This cookbook was written for the West Indian community as a food and nutrition resource and safeguard against malnutrition among the Caribbean colonies. A popular cookbook, it was reprinted through the 1970s in both hardcover and paperback forms and includes over 350 recipes highlighting traditional Caribbean fare.

This particular volume is a now a hard-to-find reprint published in 1955. It contains both the original dustjacket and a handwritten family note about its previous owner, Elaine Brazier Thomas who passed away in New England in 1956, just one year after this edition was printed. Elaine was born in St. Kitts/Nevis in 1912 and became a naturalized United States citizen in the 1940s. Her parents were also islanders, as they were both born in St. Kitts/Nevis in the late 1800s and immigrated to the U.S. via Ellis Island in the early 1900s. 

The cookbook was passed down through the family of one of Elaine's sisters making this a true heritage heirloom and a cultural touchpoint for one particular West Indian-American family. Apart from the ancestral link, there is only one other hand-touched component to this cookbook - a checkmark and date notation - December 1984 -  next to the recipe for Molasses Cookies on page 170.  Perhaps that note was marked by the relative who recorded the family connection on the front endpaper. 

Containing local recipes that have roots in Caribbean, African, British, Chinese, and Indian cuisine, there is an array of interesting recipes to explore here. Some more exotic than others, this book also contains notes on practical cooking information using traditional Caribbean methods (fireplaces, mud ovens, hot coals, etc)as well as how to cook, store and preserve specific types of food and nutrition guidelines for babies, sick people, and vegetarians. 

This cookbook offers such an interesting look at island recipes and ways in which to cook them. Foods boiled in banana leaves (Pastelles), Pepper Pot recipes that are added to and reheated every day to avoid spoilage, cakes baked in portable box ovens... each offer unique preparation and cooking techniques. This collection of recipes also introduces non-islanders to local foods and flavors of the West Indies that have been enjoyed for centuries, many of which were defined by the British occupation, the local flora and fauna, and heritage foods that originated in Africa. 

{SPECIAL FEATURES}

• Rare, hard-to-find 1955 hardcover edition published by Thomas Nelson and Sons

• 302 pages not including several blank pages for additional recipes/notes 

• Includes 363 recipes

• As far as recipes go, interesting ones abound here... Avocado Pear Soup, Eddoes in Sauce, Cassava Dumplings, Jug Jug, Breadfruit Coo-Coo, Conkies, Curried Rice, Stewed Turtle, Pelau, Cow-Heel Soup, Shepherd's Pie, Steamed Custard, Pumpkin Pancakes, Eggs in Ambush,  Banana Fritters, Pawpaw au Gratin, Salt Fish Pie, Brown Bread, Orange Buns, Coconut Pie, Guava Tart, Butterscotch Pie, Scones, Brown Sugar Biscuits, Christmas Cake, Australian Jack, Mango Fool, Guava Cream, Sweet Potato Pudding, Mago Ice-Cream, Vanilla Caramels, Lime Toffee, Ginger Beer, Soursop Punch, Chocolate Fudge, Homemade Marshmallows, and Coconut Sugar Cake

{CONDITION}

In lovely vintage condition, this cookbook is clean and bright throughout with no cooking spots or stains. The dust jacket contains some pen scribbles on the front (inside the word cookery) and the jacket has been reinforced with vintage paper to prevent further chipping along the top and bottom edges. Family lineage information (see note above) is written in pen on the inside front endpaper and one notation has been marked in pen next to the recipe for Molasses Cookies. There is foxing on the back of the dust jacket as well as the interior dustjacket flaps. The spine is tight and all pages are intact. 

{SIZE}

Measures 7.25" inches (length) x 5" inches (width) x .75" inches (thickness) and weighs 15 oz.