The Experienced English Housekeeper: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

The Experienced English Housekeeper, credited to Elizabeth Raffald, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of The Experienced English Housekeeper, by Elizabeth Raffald (1733–1781) Read by Phil Benson. 'Cut a large old hare in small pieces, and put it in a mug with three blades of mace, a little salt, two large onions, one red herring, six morels, half a pint of red wine, three quarts of water, bake it in a quick oven three hours...'. English cooking at its best from eighteenth-century celebrity chef, Elizabeth Raffald. Born in Doncaster, Raffald worked for 15 years as housekeeper in great houses, including that of Lady Elisabeth Warburton at Arley Hall, Cheshire, before setting up as a confectioner and innkeeper in Manchester. The Experienced English Housekeeper was published in 1769 and ran to 13 editions. This reading is from the 10th edition (1786) and includes 900 recipes (or as listeners will discover, receipts). Vegetarians take note, some sections of this book contain large quantities of meat! (Summary by Phil Benson)

Recording facts

• Recording title: The Experienced English Housekeeper
• Author credits: Elizabeth Raffald
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 23
• Listed recording duration: 9:46:01

Catalogue topics

• food
• recipes
• housekeeping
• cookery
• history
• Lancashire

Track guide

1. 00 - Dedication and preface — 8:19
2. 01 - Observations on soups — 24:36
3. 02a - Observations on dressing fish - Part 1 — 34:39
4. 02b - Observations on fish - Part 2 — 30:34
5. 03 - Observations on roasting and boiling — 44:23
6. 04a - Observations on made dishes - Part 1 — 44:23
7. 04b - Observations on made dishes - Part 2 — 44:51
8. 05 - Observations on pies — 30:41
9. 06 - Observations on puddings — 26:27
10. 07 - Observations on decorating for a table — 36:20
11. 08 - Observations on preserving — 45:30
12. 09 - Observations on drying and candying — 16:07
13. 10 - Observations on creams, custards and cheesecakes — 23:13
14. 11 - Observations on cakes — 20:34
15. 12 - Little savory dishes — 19:18
16. 13 - Observations on potting and collaring — 25:27
17. 14 - Observations on possets, gruel, &c — 13:29
18. 15 - Observations on Wines, Catchup, and Vinegar — 39:28
19. 16 - Observations on pickling — 24:59
20. 17 - Observations on keeping garden-stuff and fruit — 7:41
21. 18 - Observations on distilling — 6:19
22. 19 - A correct list of every thing in season in every month of the year — 15:39
23. 20 - Directions for a grand table — 3:14

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Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.