![]() ![]() ![]() The book opens with “A Short History of the Author.” There, she gives an overview of her trajectory: After a thwarted plan to emigrate to Liberia, she wound up as a cook and lady’s companion in Lynchburg, Virginia. More than its recipes, though, which showcase deep knowledge of technique and a range of culinary influences, A Domestic Cookbook is notable for the way in which Russell presents her knowledge. As Toni Tipton-Martin describes in her 2015 book The Jemima Code, the book concentrates on baking, with recipes like gingerbread and cream cake (“one and a half cup sugar, two cups sour cream, two cups flour, one or two eggs, one teaspoon soda flavor with lemon”), but there are also instructions for savory dishes like chicken soup and onion custard as well as methods for preparing household items like cologne and shampoo. Russell published it as a free woman living in Paw Paw, Michigan, as a fundraising effort to return to Tennessee, where she was born and raised. But it’s remarkable for other reasons, too. The book holds the distinction of being the first known, cookbook published by an African American, and the first book to offer culinary advice by an African-American woman ( The House Servant’s Directory by Robert Roberts and Never Let People Be Kept Waiting, a hotel management textbook by Tunis G. In 1866, Malinda Russell self-published A Domestic Cookbook: Containing a Careful Selection of Useful Receipts for the Kitchen. ![]()
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