Fannie Farmer- the Mother of Level Measurements

 

 

Fannie Farmer

Did you know cookbooks weren't always as precise as they are today? For centuries, women learned to cook by trial and error, watching their mothers and learning to sense the right amounts and correct temperatures. And as in anything, some people aren't intuitive when it comes to cooking. In that case, your family ate your overcooked fare, because throwing it out wasn't an option.

Enter Fannie Merrit Farmer, and the world of cooking changed. Fannie was born on March 23,1857 in Boston. She came from the middle-class, was well-educated, and very bright. An illness that left her unable to walk for a few years stole her dreams of attending college. While she recovered her health, she learned to cook and so managed the household tasks for her family. Once she was well enough, she worked as a cook and domestic in several households. Her exceptional organizational skills in the kitchen made her a desirable employee.

In 1889, she entered the Boston Cooking School. In her early thirties, she was their oldest student. She chose this school for its scientific approach to cooking and nutrition, which was becoming a popular approach to cooking in the late nineteenth century. Rather than intuitive cooking, it strove to experiment with various dishes. They used measuring cups and spoons to ensure consistency. Their experiments were systematic, for example increase the salt, or add one new ingredient, then record the result and repeat with different measurements. Seeking to find the perfect combination. Using the scientific method provided more nutritional meals. The school focused on household management, especially in middle-class homes.

It wasn't long before Fannie was teaching there and then became its principal. Fannie had a heart to create a cookbook that would teach proper cooking techniques to anyone. The ones available had instructions such as "a large handful of flour, a glob of lard, butter the size of an egg, a pinch of a spice. The problem with them is hands and eggs came in various sizes. Teacups also came in a variety of sizes, and the recipes rarely specified the size. Fannie observed the wealthy had four ounce teacups. For other classes, their cups might be as large as twelve ounces. Therefore, one cook's bread failed while another's was light and fluffy. Not everyone used measuring cups or spoons, even though they were available. Even with proper equipment, recipes weren't specific enough.

She used the scientific method to create wholesome recipes and set about writing a cookbook with exact instructions. She explained each step in food preparation and how to do it. She is the one who insisted you use a knife to level a cup of dry ingredients evenly in a measuring cup.  

 

         When she approached a publisher with her cookbook, they were skeptical. So much so that they would only print 3,000 copies if she paid for it. She raised the money. The Boston Cooking School Cookbook sold out in a few weeks. The publisher had to hurry to print more copies for a second and third printing. It became the gift for new brides and a standard for every household. It changed American cooking forever. Her recipes used exact measurements, specified level cups and measuring spoons, precise cooking times, and explained techniques clearly, even including scientific information about food preparation. Fannie Farmer's desire was to see inexperienced cooks succeed consistently.

Fannie believed cooking was not only a practical household skill but a science that could improve health. She emphasized: cleanliness, nutrition, accuracy and efficiency. She also believed women deserved proper education in domestic management rather than being expected to learn everything informally.

In 1902 Fannie left the Boston Cooking School and opened Miss Farmer's School of Cookery. Not only did she offer housewife courses, but added nursing and dietitian training.

Perhaps her own poor health caused her to expand her interests to cooking for invalids and hospital patients. She added books on convalescent cooking to her publishing credits.

Fannie Farmer never married nor had a family of her own, yet she cared about families being healthy. Her life centered around teaching, writing and lecturing, sharing her passion not only for proper cooking techniques but also healthy living.

She died in Boston in 1915 at the age of 58 leaving a legacy as the mother of level measurements. Her cookbook continued to be sold for generations. The next time you use a recipe that insists you use a level measurement, you can thank Fannie Farmer.

What is your favorite go-to recipe book, and does it give specific instructions like Fannie?

I love Better Homes and Garden Cookbooks, I have two from different years.

 

Cindy Ervin Huff is a multi-published, award-winning author in Historical and Contemporary Romance. She’s a 2018 Selah Finalist. Cindy has a passion to encourage other writers on their journey. When she isn’t writing, she feeds her addiction to reading and enjoys her retirement with her husband of 50 plus years, Charles. Visit her at www.cindyervinhuff.com.

 My book Rescuing Her Heart is available in e-book for $1.99. Today is the last day for the sale. Delilah's mother was a cook in a grand house. Her mother taught her well, and those skills came in handy as she rebuilds her life after the trauma of an abusive husband. Click here to purchase.

 

The Extraordinary Fannie Farmer

Hi Winnie Griggs here.

I’m sure most of you have at least heard the name Fannie Farmer and are aware that there is a famous cookbook that bears her name.  But how much do you know about the woman herself?  Fannie Farmer was a woman of keen intelligence, unusual motivation, avid curiosity and deep personal courage.

Fannie, born in 1857 in Medford, MA, to Mary Watson Merritt and John Franklin Farmer, was the oldest of four daughters.  Her father was an editor and printer and both parents placed a high value on education - it was expected that Fannie would go to college.  However, when Fannie was 16 she suffered a paralytic stroke and could not continue her education.  For a number of years after her stroke she was unable to walk and remained in her parents’ care.  It was during this time that Fannie developed an interest in cooking. 

At the age of 30, Fannie, who now walked (though she would have a pronounced limp for the remainder of her years), enrolled in the Boston Cooking School. This was at the height of the domestic science movement and the school utilized a scientific approach to cooking and food preparation.  It also trained women to become cooking teachers at a time when their opportunities for employment were limited.  Fannie attended the school for two years, learning what was considered the most crucial elements of the science - nutrition and diet for the healthy person, cooking for convalescents, methods of cleaning and sanitation, techniques of baking and cooking, and general household management.  During her time as a student, Fannie studied under Mary J. Lincoln, who published the Boston Cooking-School Cook Book.  This cookbook was used in a number of cooking schools, most of which were established for the training professional cooks.

Fannie proved herself to be one of the school’s outstanding students and was kept on after she graduated as assistant to the director.  During this time, Fannie started exploring the association between eating and health.  She went so far as to take a summer course at Harvard Medical School to aid in her understanding of this connection.  Eventually she was appointed school principal and then, in 1894, director.  It was just two years later, in 1896, that Fannie revised and reissued The Boston Cooking School Cookbook.  The publication of Fannie’s book was a highly significant event in cooking history.  Before this publication, ingredient measurements were imprecise using terms such as ‘the size of an egg’ or ‘a teacup full’.  Fannie’s cookbook introduced the idea of using standardized measuring utensils with an emphasis on taking care to use level measurements..  In addition to the more than 1800 recipes, the book included scientific explanations of the chemical processes that occur during cooking as well as essays on housekeeping, the importance of cleanliness in the kitchen, canning and drying produce and nutritional information.

Little, Brown & Company, who produced the book, didn’t think the book would do well and so only produced 3000 copies, which were published at the author’s expense.  However, the book proved so popular that Fannie saw twenty-one editions printed during her lifetime.  It has remained a standard work and it is still available in print today, over 100 years later.

Fannie continued to serve as director of the Boston Cooking School for eleven years, then resigned and went on to establish her own school.  Miss Farmer’s School of Cookery, as it was known,  emphasized the practice of cookery rather than just theory.  Its target student were housewives rather than future academics.  Fannie’s school also focused on developing cooking equipment for the sick and disabled.  She became a highly respected authority in this field and was invited to deliver lectures to nurses, women’s clubs and even the Harvard Medical School.  Her lectures were printed by newspapers nationwide making her influence widespread and her name a household word.  She also wrote a popular cooking column for the national magazine, the Woman’s Home Companion, that ran for ten years.

In addition to the 1896 Boston Cooking-School Cookbook (Later know simply as the Fannie Farmer Cookbook, Fannie published five other books.  They are

Chafing Dish Possibilities, Fannie Merritt Farmer, 1898.

Food and Cookery for the Sick and Convalescent, Fannie Merritt Farmer, 1904.

What to Have for Dinner, Fannie Merritt Farmer, 1905.

Catering for Special Occasions, with Menus and Recipes, Fannie Merritt Farmer, 1911.

A New Book of Cookery, Fannie Merritt Farmer, 1912.

Later in life, Fannie suffered another paralytic stroke that confined her to a wheelchair for the last seven years of her life.  However, that did not prevent her from carrying on her responsibilities.  She continued to lecture, write, invent recipes and travel.   In fact, just ten days before her death, she delivered a lecture from her wheelchair.  Fannie died in 1915 at the age of 57.

For those of you interested in taking a look at the original Boston Cooking-School Cookbook here is a link to the online version  http://www.bartleby.com/87/