This book is very special to me, given as a thoughtful gift by a dear friend on our five-year anniversary at Cafe. It is a wonderful book, and again from the 1930s, when a cookbook consisted of so much more than just dishes with recipes. It was about how to run a house, how to be frugal, thrifty, sensible, and how not to waste food. Keeping a tight ship is always a good idea, and 'The Edinburgh Book of Plain Cookery Recipes' is so good—it is fabulous reading, prepared, as it says in the front pages, for The Edinburgh College of Domestic Science.

This really appeals to me, as my great-grandmother went to a cookery school in Edinburgh in the later part of the 19th century. I do not know which school it was, but flicking through this book makes me wonder if she would have known this place. She worked as a cook at The Royal Hotel in Coupar Angus and met her future husband, my great-grandfather, there. He was an ostler—someone who looks after horses and carts—and the rest is history.

There are some incredible dishes here, with my favourite being ‘Poor Man’s Goose’, which contains no goose at all, but sheep’s liver and heart, bacon and onions, layered up with sliced potatoes, sage and onion—it actually sounds quite nice. And still with a French influence, as there always will be, with croquettes and a good recipe for Maître d’hôtel butter to go with grilled steaks.

With a section on invalid cookery and how to make sandwiches, there is something for everyone here. If you can find a copy of this book, I would buy it—it is quite rare.