Kristine Marie Jensen

Kristine Marie Jensen, better known in Denmark as Frøken Jensen, (1858–1923) was a Danish housekeeper and cookbook writer. She is remembered in particular as the author of the early Danish cookbook Frøken Jensens Kogebog ("Miss Jensen's Cookbook"), which has been popular for its traditional recipes since its publication in 1901.

Background The popularity of Jensen's cookbooks is in part a result of the interest in gastronomy in 19th-century Denmark at a time when wholesome ingredients had not yet given way to the effects of industrialization. Jensen was by no means the first Dane to author a cookbook. Inspired by French and international dishes, the Copenhagen restaurateur, Louise Nimb (1842–1903), wrote the highly successful Fru Nimbs Kogbog in 1888. At the beginning of the 1890s, writing under the pseudonym of Fru Constantin, Mathilde Muus (1852–1935) was also beginning to publish her recipes in housekeeping journals.

Biography

Born on 17 July 1858 in Randers, Jensen was the daughter of Christian Jensen, a hauler, and Petrine Sørensen. Orphaned at the age of seven, she grew up in the care of her grandmother. On leaving school, she went to Copenhagen where she took a course at N. Zahle's School before spending a year in England. The cookbook, which was reprinted 27 times during Jensen's lifetime, is to be found in almost every Danish kitchen to this day. In Denmark, the only Danish author to have outsold her is Hans Christian Andersen. Over a million copies of the work have now been sold.

Kristine Marie Jensen died on 7 February 1923 in Copenhagen. She is buried in Holmens Cemetery.