Madens historie er på vej ind i varmen. For en generation siden blev emnet betragtet som kuriøst; det gør det ikke længere. I 2005 udsendte Forskningsrådet for Kultur og Kommunikation rapporten Kost og kultur – humanistisk fødevareforskning. I kølvandet på den er der kommet flere publikationer, og bemærkelsesværdigt er, at også kogebøgerne som kilde er blevet inddraget. Caroline Nyvang har i en stor og grundig studie placeret 1800-tallets kogebøger i medie- og samfundsbilledet, mens Carol Gold ser på dem mentalitetshistorisk. Min vinkel på kogebøgerne er den, der i international forskning benævnes culinary history; det vil sige, hvordan tilberedes retterne, hvordan er smag og duft, hvordan skifter det efter mode og vilkår. For ti år siden bragte Bol & By, Landbohistorisk Tidsskrift 2:2002 min artikel om kogekunst og kogebøger med eksempler fra 1581 til 1793, og den foreliggende tekst er en fortsættelse heraf.SummaryThe art of cooking can only be practised if one has access to a great variety of fresh food, spices and flavours, and the skill and will to create dishes. For many centuries, therefore, this art was a matter only for the elite. The majority of people lived in a storehouse economy where the main task was to provide stores of food between harvests to avoid starvation. During the nineteenth century, major social changes took place; a middle class asserted itself and increased prosperity along with a healthy market economy gave access to fresh food. A bourgeois cuisine emerged side by side with the haute cuisine of the elite. The culinary style of the elite was French, an elegant and expensive cuisine based on “jus” (gravy), coulis and complicated ragouts. In middleclass cookery this luxury disappeared time after time, first by substitute preparations, and later the jus and cullis was abandoned totally. The French style weakened and influence from Germany and England took over. German cookery books were translated into Danish, and at the beginning of the nine