A Domestic Cookbook by Malinda Russell

[klflowers]

I ran across this a few weeks ago and had to have it. It is the oldest known cookbook penned by a black woman in the US. It was originally published in 1866. The original is housed at one of the University of Michigan's libraries (lets go blue). It includes an autobiographical forward by the author. A lot of the recipes are for breads, cakes, pies and puddings. A couple that caught my eye are ripe tomato pickles, mince pies, onion custard, mutton chop pie, pickled roast pig and beef suet pudding. And the classic calf head soup lol.

There are a couple surprising recipes like chicken salad with what looks like a vinegar and hard boiled egg yolk (yelk in the book) paste, A La Mode Beef with salt pork, turkey pot pie and puff paste which looks like modern puff pastry.

As you would expect, there are no instructions like bake in a 350 oven for 45 minutes. A few say something like bake 15 minutes. The recipe for graham cake says this: Remarks. - As a great many ladies have wished to know how i have such good success in making my cakes so light, I will say I first heat the oven hot enough for cooking, set in my cake and open the door; and for a common sized cake leave the door open for about 15 minutes and for a large one about 20 minutes. When the cake begins to rise, close the door.

At the end of the book there are home remedies, some including chloroform and laudanum. While I plan on trying some of the recipes, probably not the remedies

Long post i know, but this has me pretty excited.

[Kascon11]

Thank you for sharing, this is a history that should not be lost. (and as for the remedies, not repeated.)

[Mike981]

Hey, this is really cool!

Thank you for sharing.

[jayjordan]

Interesting book. If you can figure out the modern baking times/temps probably makes great food. Or a heckuva coffee table book.

[gcdmd]

https://malindarussell.com/

[klflowers]

gcdmd thanks. I didn't even think about looking for the recipes online. But I see they don't have calfs head soup yet lol

[58limited]

Looks like a great book!

[Carolyn]

I love stuff like that. Especially, when it has remedies and old products that are no longer made. I had to chuck out an old ledger book from my grandfather's store that got water damaged. It had old newspaper cut-outs glued into it that had remedies and stuff like that. I couldn't keep the book, it was moldy and the pages were disintegrating.

[RichieB]

Thanks for sharing. Let's see some cooks you do. I assume no microwave recipes. 😉

[Mosca]

Fascinating.

I had to look up what “do.” meant. It’s short for “ditto”. So if a recipe reads, “four tablespoons cloves, one do. mace”, the do. means tablespoon.

[klflowers]

I hadn't had a chance to look that up. It is mentioned several times though. Thanks!

[Michael_in_TX]

These recipes from this time in history in which thermometers really weren't a common thing does make those of us (like me) who obsessively chased temperatures look a bit silly.

[klflowers]

Exactly.

[captainlee]

Looking forward to you getting back on one of your cooks. Hey, maybe find one for a Team Cook, that would be a blast.

[klflowers]

I'll have to look into that, make 1 or 2 and see how it goes. Great idea!

[Draznnl]

Thanks for sharing this important piece of history. I look forward to your making some meals from it.

[CaptainMike]

I'm guessing there was no way to gauge temps on those old wood stoves, and the cook went by feel. My grandmother could and did cook like that. Mom could, too, but not as good as g'ma. G'ma could bake bread and cakes and such perfectly in a wood stove.

Once I settle into my forever home I'm going to install a wood fired stove/oven as a doomsday hedge. Hopefully I have enough of g'ma's mojo to make it work.

[klflowers]

Ditto my grandmother.

[Oak Smoke]

I presume that’ll be in Texas!

[RonB]

That looks like fun. I am lookin; forward to your photos of calf's head soup, (or not).

[Oak Smoke]

My wife would love that book. She shows me recipes from her great grandmother that talk about putting a cake in a “quick” oven. Which we were told meant a very hot oven. Several other terms that aren’t used today. I’d like to have a wood stove in my outdoor cooking area.

[SheilaAnn]

As a culinary historian (ok, it’s a club I belong to) I want to read all of this! I wonder if my bookstore has a copy? Or our library…

[klflowers]

After I ordered it I saw that the Kindle edition is free for amazon prime members. I would have bought it anyway because I wanted a hand copy.