The Accomplisht Cook

The Accomplisht Cook, Or the Art and Mystery of Cookery
Frontispiece of 1671 edition
AuthorRobert May
SubjectCookery
PublisherNathaniel Brooke
Publication date
1660
Publication placeEngland

The Accomplisht Cook is an English cookery book published by the professional cook Robert May in 1660, and the first to group recipes logically into 24 sections. It was much the largest cookery book in England up to that time, providing numerous recipes for boiling, roasting, and frying meat, and others for salads, puddings, sauces, and baking. Eight of the sections are devoted to fish, with separate sections for carp, pike, salmon, sturgeon, and shellfish. Another section covers only eggs; and the next only artichokes.

The book was one of the few cookery books published during the Commonwealth of Oliver Cromwell, and free of the plagiarism common at its time. It made early use of two ingredients brought to Europe from the Americas, the potato and the turkey.