What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking
By Abby Fisher
San Francisco: Women's Co-op Printing Office, 1881.

This volume is the third of the five major works by African Americans we have chosen to represent their contributions to American cookery.

See also:

• Roberts, The House Servant's Directory (1827)
• Campbell, Hotel Keepers, Head Waiters, and Housekeepers' Guide (1848)
• Estes, Good Things to Eat (1911)
• Bullock, The Ideal Bartender (1917)

That this book was written at all and that it has survived is a marvel. Mrs. Fisher, born a slave, somehow found her way to San Francisco soon after the Civil War and, by dint of talent and hard work, created a life and business there. She and her husband created a business manufacturing and selling "pickles, preserves, brandies, fruits, etc." She was proud of a Diploma awarded at the Sacramento State Fair in 1879 and two medals awarded at the San Francisco Mechanics' Institute Fair, 1880, for best Pickles and Sauces and best assortment of Jellies and Preserves.

Mrs. Fisher seems to have been supported by many of the leading business and professional figures in the San Francisco and Oakland areas. Perhaps it was these citizens who helped her to write and publish her book as both she and her husband were illiterate. We are grateful to whomever it was that helped her to publish these splendid recipes. She hints that they were written "at my dictation." This may account for a few interesting variant spellings and names of dishes.

For example, her Jumberlie (#119, p.57) is obviously Jambalaya; her Circuit Hash (#152, p.69) was probably Succotash; the Carolas (#67, p.31), Crullers; and the Milanaise Sauce used in her recipe for Chicken Salad (#129, p.58) is certainly mayonnaise.

This is truly a Southern cookbook: Beat Biscuits, Plantation Corn Bread, Creole Chow Chow, Sweet Potato Pie, Oyster Gumbo Soup, Ochra Gumbo, Chicken Gumbo, Boiled Turkey, and Jumberlie - A Creole Dish.