When most people think of African-American contributions to cooking, they think of greens, fried fish and black-eyed peas, in short “soul food.” But a newly-discovered cookbook may begin to change that image.
Library and culinary historian Jan Longone discovered Malinda Russell’s “Domestic Cook Book: Containing a Careful Selection of Useful Receipts for the Kitchen” and discovered “the small, seldom-discussed society of free blacks in the 19th century — coming to life before her eyes,” according to a recent piece in the New York Times.
Mrs. Longone, long considered the top expert on old American cookbooks, knew immediately that she was holding the earliest cookbook by an African-American woman that had ever come to light. Turning the 39 fragile pages of the 1866 pamphlet, she realized, too, that it could challenge ingrained views about the cuisine of African-Americans.
The evidence of a single cookbook is not enough to rewrite culinary history. Still, Mrs. Russell’s book suggested that a more nuanced view might be in order. Instead of rustic Southern “soul food,” it served up complex, cosmopolitan food inspired by European cuisine.
Mrs. Russell, who had operated a pastry shop in Tennessee, provided mostly dessert recipes, but they were for puff pastry and delicate rose cake, not sweet potato pie. Her savory recipes included dishes like an elegant catfish fricassee and sweet onion custard — not a mention of lard-fried chicken legs, beaten biscuits or slow-cooked greens. Here was a black cook who was already two generations removed from the plantation kitchen by the time Lincoln died.
A facsimile copy of the manuscript is available for $25 plus postage from the Clements Library.
Tags: African American, cooking, culinary history
dohfiddle wrote,
great article and definitely provides “food for thought”
Link | June 29th, 2008 at 1:44 pm