How Cookbooks Have Conveyed Culture in the United States
Compiled Cookbooks
•Originated during the Civil War
•Were used as fund raisers
•Still widely produced and sold
•Can be also used to commemorate historical events
•They make a statement about the food habits of the groups that produce them
•Can reflect what is eaten at home; as such is a kind of cultural autobiography
•Create a composite picture of what a group allegedly eats
Compiled Cookbooks as Foodways Autobiography
•How complete an autobiography? How accurate an autobiography?
Compiled Cookbook – Clues to Foodways Puzzle – How Complete?
•Insights into food preferences
–Example: Great Plains Cookbooks: favorites - beef first, chicken and pork second, fish
rare (mostly as canned tuna & salmon), casserole dishes with cream of _____ soup, salad
is gelatin based, sweets make up one-half of recipes; disliked – variety (organ) meats, no
alcohol
•Commonly consumed & currently popular dishes have repeated appearances
•Economical and easily accessible ingredients and uncomplicated preparation techniques
are featured
•Festival, holiday and special occasion foods: have historical, significance, use and ethnic
origin with more expensive, richer and more difficult to obtain ingredients
•Ethnic settlement and assimilation can be ascertained in part from compilations: where
particular culture is featured, or just listed as foreign, or contains mixture of ethnic and
mainstream recipes
Compiled Cookbook – Clues to Foodways Puzzle – How Accurate?
•Look at compilations title – those that reflect the best loved recipes of a local group are a
more accurate reflection of what they are actually eating
•Nature of the recipe collection – the specialty collection does not reflect the whole diet
ie full range of food habits
•Group demographics can aid in determining accuracy – have to check this out
•The contributors themselves – whether recipe is favorite frequently consumed or special
occasion
What does the compiled cookbook tell us?
•It is a “popular” culture medium
•It is at least partially based on tradition
•A standard format seems to prevail - general categories: appetizers, salads, vegetables,
entrees, casseroles, desserts with aphorisms as fillers
•Special recipes include: for successful marriage, happy families, ideal homemaker, the
American way, “Scripture Cake”
•Conservative adherence to traditional food habits
How compiled cookbooks changed during the 20th Century
•From 1930’s to 1960’s
–Most recipes were “American”
–Strange new concoctions of convenience foods
•In the 1970’s
–Urban 1960’s, upper middle class dishes start to show up in collections along side the
other recipes
–Exotic ingredients called for that were not formerly available
What about other kinds of cookbooks?
•In the 1920’s prohibition resulted in cookbooks with no alcohol used (no wine in
recipes)
•In the 1930’s, a lot of interest in cooking at home with many cookbooks being sold
•In the 1990’s, economics and family obligations made basic cookbooks with many
visuals, spicier recipes with consideration for health very popular