THE NORTH RIDING PROJECT

The Fryup Cookbook was first published in 1861 and expanded steadily in length until by 1907 it reached 74 chapters and over 2,000 pages.  Its author, Dolores Sprule, was 21 years old when she started working on the book.  It is still regarded as one of the seminal British cookbooks, and remains in print.  It lists more than two dozen recipes for pike alone.  Other recipes include whole roast songbird, fricassee of rook, and stoat in aspic (“weasel is tastier, if less generous”). It also includes the first known recipe for the infamous Fryoese dish Vanadis Pudding, a dessert made from sheep’s blood and guano.