Kentucky's Cookbook Heritage

Two Hundred Years of Southern Cuisine and Culture

John van Willigen

• Publisher: The University Press of Kentucky
• Year: 2014
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9780813146904
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

A Southern historian combs through Kentucky cookbooks from the mid-nineteenth century through the twentieth to reveal a fascinating cultural narrative.
In Kentucky's Cookbook Heritage, John van Willigen explores the Bluegrass State's cultural and culinary history, through the rich material found in regional cookbooks. He begins in 1839, with Lettice Bryan's The Kentucky Housewife, which includes pre-Civil War recipes intended for use by a household staff instead of an individual cook, along with instructions for serving the family. Van Willigen also shares the story of the original Aunt Jemima—the advertising persona of Nancy Green, born in Montgomery County, Kentucky—who was one of many African American voices in Kentucky culinary history.
Kentucky's Cookbook Heritage is a journey through the history of the commonwealth, showcasing the shifting attitudes and innovations of the times. Analyzing the historical importance of a wide range of publications, from the nonprofit and charity cookbooks that flourished at the end of the twentieth century to the contemporary cookbook that emphasizes local ingredients, van Willigen provides a valuable perspective on the state's social history.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction: Cookbooks as the Key to Kentucky Foodways and Culinary History
• 1. The First Kentucky Cookbook: Antebellum Hearth Cooking
• 2. The Needs of the “New Regime”: Post-Civil War Cookbooks
• 3. A Turning Point: The Early Twentieth Century
• 4. Hard Times: The Great Depression and the New Deal
• 5. New Foods and New Roles: World War II
• 6. Convenience and Innovation: The Mid-Twentieth Century
• 7. Iconic Recipes and Kentucky Foodways: The Bicentennials and Beyond
• 8. Eating Locally and Sustainably: Contemporary Kentucky Cookbooks
• Acknowledgments
• Notes
• References
• Annotated Bibliography of Kentucky Cookbooks
• Index