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The award-winning first volume in the American Food in History book series
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Winner of Gourmand International's Award for Best Series Cookbook published in the United States in 2014
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Finalist for the 2015 award in food history from the International Association of Culinary Professionals
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In this book, excerpts from five Civil War–era cookbooks present a compelling portrait of cooking and eating in the urban north of the 1860s United States. Cookbooks offer a unique and valuable way to examine American life, but their lessons aren't always obvious. Direct references to the American Civil War were rare in northern cookbooks, even in those published right in the middle of it. In part, this is a reminder that lives went on and that dinner still appeared on most tables most nights, no matter how much the world was changing outside. But people accustomed to thinking of cookbooks as a source for recipes, and not much else, may be surprised by how much information they can reveal about the daily lives and ways of thinking of the people who wrote and used them.
"A key moment in American culinary history is brought to life by readable, authoritative essays and excerpts from contemporary cookbooks. Fascinating."
--Rachel Laudan, author of Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
--Rachel Laudan, author of Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
"Delightful... A well-rounded and rich understanding of not just food in the Civil War, but also 'the nation’s changing material, economic, and cultural landscapes.'” —Marsha L. Richmond, Associate Professor, History of Science, Department of History, Wayne State University
"This book provides a fascinating selection of cookbooks from the 1860s, giving readers a taste of this crucial—if quotidian—aspect of American life. The introductory essays thoroughly ground readers in the historical context of the Civil War, explaining not only the role that food played in that conflict but also how the war reshaped American diets for decades to come. I recommend this volume for undergraduate food history courses and readers interested in historical cookery." —April Merleaux, Assistant Professor of History, Florida International University
"This book provides us with a glimpse at both food habits and the evolution of the genre of cookery books during the American Civil War period, and hence should be of interest to both food historians as well as American studies scholars... These cookbooks not only provide a window to what people were likely cooking and eating, but also capture their authors’ reflections on the changing roles of women and servants or slaves and the baseline skills and practices assumed in the kitchen in this critical period of transition in the United States." —Rachel A. Ankeny, Program Coordinator for the Graduate Program in Food Studies, Associate Professor, School of History and Politics, Associate Dean/Research for the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, the University of Adelaide, Australia
"This book provides a fascinating selection of cookbooks from the 1860s, giving readers a taste of this crucial—if quotidian—aspect of American life. The introductory essays thoroughly ground readers in the historical context of the Civil War, explaining not only the role that food played in that conflict but also how the war reshaped American diets for decades to come. I recommend this volume for undergraduate food history courses and readers interested in historical cookery." —April Merleaux, Assistant Professor of History, Florida International University
"This book provides us with a glimpse at both food habits and the evolution of the genre of cookery books during the American Civil War period, and hence should be of interest to both food historians as well as American studies scholars... These cookbooks not only provide a window to what people were likely cooking and eating, but also capture their authors’ reflections on the changing roles of women and servants or slaves and the baseline skills and practices assumed in the kitchen in this critical period of transition in the United States." —Rachel A. Ankeny, Program Coordinator for the Graduate Program in Food Studies, Associate Professor, School of History and Politics, Associate Dean/Research for the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, the University of Adelaide, Australia
Listen to a public radio interview about the book here.
Learn more about the companion volume, Food in Civil War Era: The South.
