Slen­der as it is, there's no short­age of meaty mate­r­i­al: Mod­ern chefs may find some of the first Amer­i­can cook­book's meth­ods and mea­sure­ments take some get­ting used to. We like to cook, but we're not sure we pos­sess the where­with­al to tack­le a Crook­neck or Win­ter Squash Pud­ding. We've nev­er been called upon to "per­fume" our "whipt cream" with "musk or amber gum tied in a rag." And we wouldn't know a whortle­ber­ry if it bit us in the whit­pot.