The 200-year-old cookbook every modern food lover needs Originally published in 1824, Mary Randolph's The Virginia House-wife has come to be regarded as the most influential American cookbook of the nineteenth century. This unique edition includes a complete facsimile of the original book—with recipes for delicacies such as lobster sauce and pumpkin pudding, and household tips on such things as curing bacon and making lavender water—plus additional recipes from the 1825 and 1828 editions. Historical notes by culinary historian Karen Hess explain Randolph's influence on American culinary history, and a new foreword by Debra Freeman emphasizes contributions of free and enslaved African American cooks to American cuisine.