author
John Mollard
A British food writer and professional cook, he is best known for The Art of Cookery Made Easy and Refined, an early 19th-century cookbook that gathered practical recipes for a wide range of tables. His work is still remembered today for preserving historic dishes and techniques from Georgian-era cooking.
1 Audiobook
The Art of Cookery Made Easy and Refined
by John Mollard
About the author
John Mollard was a British cook and food writer active in the early 1800s. The title page of The Art of Cookery Made Easy and Refined identifies him as a cook and notes that he had been one of the proprietors of Freemasons' Tavern in Great Queen Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London.
First published in 1802, The Art of Cookery Made Easy and Refined was designed as a practical guide, with directions for preparing dishes suitable for "the nobleman, gentleman, and tradesman." That broad aim helps explain why the book has lasted: it is both a working cookbook and a snapshot of how ambitious British kitchens cooked and served food at the time.
Modern readers often encounter Mollard through the book's long afterlife. Historians, libraries, and digital archives continue to preserve and reprint it, and it is sometimes cited for early recipes that later became better known in other forms. Even with only a few confirmed biographical details surviving, his cookbook remains a valuable window into early 19th-century culinary culture.