“Croûtes d’écrivisses à la cardinal” (Prawn croutes cardinal style) from The Ideal Cookery Book by M. A. Fairclough (New York, E. P. Dutton & Co., 1911), with 48 colored plates by A. H. Sands. It was a high-end cookbook in its day, retailing for $8, the equivalent of more than $260 today.
Margaret Alice Fairclough served as Lady Principal of the Gloucester Road School of Cookery in London. In the preface, she noted that all 3,156 recipes in the massive 945 page book had been tested in her school. Of the illustrations, she stated, “Numerous coloured plates will be found throughout the book, and as these were drawn from actual dishes made in the Editor’s School, they are absolutely correct in every detail.” A review in New York’s The Sun suggested that the book was so beautifully prepared that it was better placed in the library or drawing room than the kitchen, and “will be a valuable addition to the library of such as take the science of gastronomy seriously.”
Each prawn croute was constructed of a toasted dinner roll base filled with chopped prawn mixed with tartar sauce, a thin layer of aspic jelly, and a prawn’s head, with parsley and piped butter added for decoration. “Cardinal style” refers to the inclusion of vibrant red lobster coral (eggs) in the butter.