Mary Randolph

The Virginia housewife Mary Randolph

Mary Randolph (1762-1828) was an American author, known for writing The Virginia House-Wife; Or, Methodical Cook (1824), one of the most influential housekeeping and cook books of the nineteenth century. Randolph's influential housekeeping book The Virginia House-Wife (1824) went through many editions until the 1860s. Randolph tried to improve women's lives by limiting the time and money they had to spend in their kitchens. The Virginia House-Wife included many inexpensive ingredients that anyone could purchase to make impressive meals. Besides popularizing the use of more than 40 vegetables, Randolph's book also introduced to the Southern public dishes from abroad, such as gazpacho, boldly calling for "poisonous" tomatoes in her Spanish-based recipe