Anyone else collect these?
We seem to have about 100 ... Some rarely get opened and others I read as if they were novels.
My favourite is "Baron Brisse" written in the 1800s by Leon Brisse it contains 366 menus and 1200 recipes.
Each page gives the "Bill of fare" for the day and the necessary cooking instructions. Each page gives the date on which the meal should be served thus making it a completely "seasonal" cookbook.
The original was in French and the first English translation was published in 1905. Unfortunately my copy is a facsimile published in 1979.
Today it suggests:
Pea Soup with Toast
Broiled Barbel
Braised Ribs of Beef with carrots
Roast Sucking-pig
Salad of mixed vegetables
Coffee Fingers glazed with coffee
Some Dinner eh?
