Mock Turtle Soup was famously mentioned in Lewis Carroll's classic tale 'Alice in Wonderland', but due to the fact that Carroll invented a creature called a Mock Turtle, many people today believe the dish is purely fictitious Certainly there is no such creature, but the real soup recipe can be found in Mrs. Beeton's renowned 19th century cookery book, and now within the pages of this recent collection - along with better-known taste-tempters such as mock cream and mock chicken. Poverty and frugality were the mothers of many 'mock' dishes, as were crop failures and war. During wartime, governments introduced rationing to cope with food shortages. People experimented, using cheap ingredients to produce expensive flavours. Most of the old recipes have been reproduced here exactly as they originally appeared. Now you, too, can save money and astonish your dinner guests

Over the years, recipes evolve for one reason or another, and sometimes these reasons give their names to a particular dish, such as 'Half-pay Pudding' - created by a thrifty cook during hard times. On the other hand, some old-fashioned favourites, like 'Zeppelins in a Cloud' derive their titles from the way they look. The origins of many names are now lost to us, but the names themselves persist in vintage recipe collections handed down to us from past generations. These authentic recipes are presented here almost exactly as they first appeared. Toad-in-the Hole, Pigs in Blankets, Gooseberry Fool, Moonshine Pudding, Cock a Leekie Soup, Meat in Ambush, Tuesday Soup, Angels on Horseback, Hedgehog, Black Bottom Pudding... these wacky names are a lot of fun and could provide a talking point at your next dinner-party