When Fannie Farmer approached Little, Brown & Co., to publish her cookbook in 1896, the company made her pay for printing the first 3,000 copies. They didn’t think the cookbook would sell.
Little, Brown’s skepticism about the enormously popular Boston Cooking-School Cookbook made Fannie Farmer rich, because she kept the copyright.
The Boston Cooking-School Cookbook succeeded because its recipes were easy to follow with standard, precise measurements – ‘half cups’ and ‘teaspoons’ instead of ‘handfuls’ and ‘pinches.’ It also covered a lot of ground with more than 1,200 clearly written, dependable recipes. Good old Yankee favorites like Boston Brown Bread and Fish Chowder were included, along with exotic-sounding continental dishes like Turkish Pilaf and Halibut a la Poulette.
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