Cookery Schools

Many well known chefs who taught students in their homes or at cookery schools wrote cookbooks containing their recipes: Hannah Wooley (c1622-1675), Edward Kidder (c1665-1739) and John Thacker (1758 book) to...


Mrs. Goodfellow [Elizabeth Baker Pierson Coane Goodfellow, 1767–1851, Philadelphia], Lida Ames Willis [Baltimore], Juliet Corson [NYC], Maria Parloa, Mary J. Lincoln, Fannie Farmer [Boston Cooking School], Sarah Tyson Rorer [Philadelphia Cooking School] and more.

COURSE OF INSTRUCTION AS GIVEN AT THE BOSTON COOKING SCHOOL - 1896, 174 TREMONT ST

PRACTICE LESSONS.
ONE lesson a week, [12 lessons per course] from 9 to 12.30. Eight Pupils constitute a full class. Pupils may enter one or more classes. After the lesson the food prepared is served to the pupils. Applications to enter classes may be made from October to February. Classes for cooks in Second and Third Courses on Thursday and Friday at 2 P.M.
No extra charge for materials in Cooks' Classes.

FIRST COURSE.--PLAIN COOKING.
Twelve Lessons for $12.00. Materials, $3.00.
SECOND COURSE.--RICHER COOKING.
Twelve Lessons for $15.00. Materials, $3.00.
DINNER COURSE.
Twelve Lessons for $18.00. Materials, $6.00

SPECIAL LESSONS IN COOKING, by previous appointment, price, $2.00 each. Materials extra.

SPECIAL LESSONS IN LAUNDRY WORK, by previous appointment, price, $2.00 each. Attention given to the doing up of shirts, silk and woollen underwear, colored clothes, table linen, laces, and chiffons.

Afternoon lessons given to Classes in Sick-room Cookery from 2 to 4.30 o'clock. Six lessons for $5.00. Materials, $1.00.

THE NORMAL COURSE extends from January to July. Tuition, $125: For circular and information, apply to the Principal.

DEMONSTRATION LECTURES given during the winter every Wednesday at 10 o'clock A.M. Tickets for course of 12 lectures, with reserved seat, $5.00. Single admission, 50 cents.

DEMONSTRATION LECTURES for Cooks, Wednesday and Friday evening at 7.45 o'clock. Admission, 25 cents.

ROOMS OPEN DAILY, from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M.

Farmer, Fannie. The Boston Cooking-School Cookbook. Boston: Little, Brown And Company, 1896.


Philadelphia Cooking School - 1887, 1525 Chestnut Street

The according of graded diplomas will, we believe, in a few years effect a change of great importance to housekeepers and household help.
Terms, $10 per quarter of twelve lessons. Materials extra. Private lessons $2 per hour.
Gratuitous lessons will be given to working women, who sign the papers for a three months’ course. By this offer we hope to prove that cooking can be made profitable as a trade.
Class Book sample questions: What is the difference between a range and a stove? Why must we use wood to kindle coal? What is the difference between isinglass and gelatin? How do you make French salad dressing?
Courses of Study: Plain, Advanced, Fancy and Pastry Course.

Rorer, Sarah Tyson. Question & class book of the Philadelphia Cooking School. Philadelphia: Buchanan, 1887

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“The justly-celebrated Mrs. Goodfellow, of Philadelphia, always taught her pupils to beat the whites and yolks together, even for sponge-cake; and lighter than hers no sponge-cake could possibly be”. Leslie, Eliza.  The Lady's Receipt-Book... Philadelphia: Carey And Hart, 1847. [Leslie was a student at Mrs. Goodfellow’s school in the 1820s.]


Image: "The School of Cookery at the International Exhibition." London: TheGraphic, April 26, 1873

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