My research examines how 19th century Danish cookbooks written by women can be seen as proto-ecological narratives interweaving household economics and the ecology of plant life. I wish to explore the “everyday ecology” conveyed through the authors’ instructions on how to achieve the best results in the kitchen by taking nature into consideration and living in accordance with seasonal rhythms. I will be analysing cookbooks by authors such as Anne Marie Mangor, Louise Nimb, Christiane Rosen, and Sørine Thaarup, focusing on their use of narrative tools to encourage readers to follow the ecological practices described in the cookbooks.

The project’s primary objective is to enrich Danish literary and scientific history by demonstrating how 19th-century cookbooks formulated a domestic counterpart to the male-dominated nascent science of biology and a practical counterpart to the equally male-dominated romantic nature writing of the period. In addition, the project will tentatively explore how the everyday ecology in 19th-century cookbooks could inspire changes in present-day Danish food culture, encouraging more sustainable food production and consumption in the face of the climate crisis.

At Aarhus University I am part of the Centre for the Rise of Science and Fiction, Centre for Food Culture Studies, and Centre for Environmental Humanities.

I am also a member of the society Danske Madpublicister (Danish Food Publicists): https://danskemadpublicister.dk/medlemsprofiler/mau-lindow-tarbensen/