The “Next Meal” Cookery Book

Mrs Kinsey was a British ex-patriate who lived in Seremban Malaya with her husband, a businessman, mines inspector, and forestry officer.  In 1920 she wrote a bestselling cookbook The Mem’s Won Cookery Book published in Singapore by Kelly & Welsh for European women keeping house in Malaya claiming “five years of practical experience”.  The 420 recipes were practical, often using local measures or prices and ingredients, written not for the archetypical Colonial housewife who relied wholly on servants, but  “to help those mems’ who are keen on taking advantage of the possibilities of catering in this country”. The recipes were also written longhand, and not in the formal economical method common to British cookbooks post Beeton.  Notwithstanding this difference, Mrs Kensey has been described as “Mrs Beeton of Malaya” due to the success and influence of her books.

The Next Meal Cookery Book is the scarce companion to The Mem’s Own Cookery Book, published seven years later with all new recipes, cross referenced to the third edition of The Mem’s Own Cookery Book and written in the same way.  Here the recipes are not segregated by origin.