Browse our …
You've viewed …
You haven't yet viewed any products on our store. If you've been here before, you may need to sign in.
On Twitter …
The Waverley Gazette
The only cookbook you'll ever need - The Glasgow Cookery Book - with free postage (UK only)
100 years old, The Glasgow Cookery Book has been a stalwart through many hard times.
We are now offering the book with free postage in the UK. Use this code: cookery
Not many cookbooks can claim to contain 'the most tried and tested recipes', but many say it is indeed the only cookbook you'll ever need.
From the days as a school textbook
The Glasgow Cookery Book started its life in 1910 as the textbook of The Glasgow and West of Scotland College of Domestic Science - fondly dubbed the Do. (or Dough) School by Glasgow citizens - and was put together by the school's staff to document the recipes they taught in class. Miss Ella Glaister, the school's first Principal, was responsible for overseeing the publication of the cookery book. She wanted to produce something that the students could refer to, instead of painstakingly having to copy the recipes down by hand.
Kitchen staple
Since then, the simple textbook has become a staple in kitchens around the world. Over the years, it has been revised many times to reflect the changes in how we eat and cook. The current edition is based on the 1975 first metric edition, the centenary year of the founding of the Glasgow School of Cookery. The 2009 edition, which was published by The Glasgow Caledonian University and Waverley Books, was updated with the assistance of Queen's College Volunteers. Special care was taken to preserve traditional favourites such as haggis, pot roast, cheese scones and shortbread while including updates for the modern cook. The book includes recipes from around the world, including French sauces and classics.
The book that changed lives
Much of the love for The Glasgow Cookery Book comes from the fact that it touched so many lives. Stories of how the Dough School changed lives include one such of Mary Mackintosh, who shared some memories at the centenary edition's launch back in 2009. Mary was part of the Dough School group who travelled to London during WWII to cook for men who were re-building London.
The reputation for dependable and economical recipes ensured that its influence spread far beyond the walls of the Glasgow college. Its practical and reliable cookery advice became famous worldwide.
Cooking on a budget
Scottish mothers bought it for daughters and daughters-in-law, and it became an essential purchase for young brides and brides-to-be. Its practical approach to cooking on a budget is as relevant now as it ever was. Many men also attended courses to learn how to cook.
Alex Gray
In addition in the current edition there's a fascinating preface by Glasgow crime writer Alex Gray.
Alex's Aunt Ella was a student at the college in 1909. Ella Cowan's own handwritten college jotters survive, are dated 1909, and according to GCU archivist Carole McCallum, are the first definitive proof available that the 1910 book was based on the notes taught in class. The introduction includes archive photographs and samples from Ella Cowan's meticulously written books.
Carole also contributes an enlightening social history of the college, in an accessible and highly readable introduction to what was known affectionately to students as "The Purple Book".
This book was updated with the enthusiastic assistance of ex-students and staff of The Queen's College Glasgow (formerly known as the Glasgow and West of Scotland Scotland College of Domestic Science). Eleanor Abraham was general editor of this edition.
UK Postage free: Special offer:
This offer is available from Waverley Books website for the period of 3/5/20 - 17/3/20 while stocks last.
Books will be despatched by Royal Mail from BookSource. Most orders will be despatched within 5 days and sent by second class post. BookSource are working with a skeleton crew, socially distanced. For any queries, please contact us through our website. Please allow us time to reply. We are working but in a reduced capacity. Many thanks.
(Waverley Books; Waverley Scotland)
31, Six Harmony Row
Glasgow G51 3BA
RSS