The introductory texts reproduced here were written by the original Feeding America team to contextualize the books that were selected for inclusion as part of the 2001 digitization project.
The Great Western Cook Book, or Table Receipts, Adapted to Western Housewifery.
New York: A.S. Barnes & Company, 1857. c1851
Out of the Utopian colony of New Harmony, Indiana came this first cookbook devoted specifically to "Western Housewifery." This is the first Indiana cookbook, published as Mrs. Collins' Table Receipts; Adapted to Western Housewifery in 1851 and then, this second printing, now called The Great Western Cook Book in New York in 1857. There is an additional New York edition which is unrecorded and undated titled The Great American Cook Book. All copies are identical in content (with the exception of the title page, cover and preface) and are rare. This will be the first opportunity many researchers will have to see this book.
In this edition, the author specifically mentions in her preface that the book is offered to the "Ladies of the West." And there do seem to be a few recipes addressed to this pioneer area, the West of its time: Sausage-Hoosier Fashion and Veal-Western Fashion.
She also informs the reader that "In my own household many of these receipts are in regular and constant use, while most of them have been thoroughly tested during an experience of twenty years." Thus she offers her own Mrs. Collins' Batter Cakes, A Dish for My Friend (Partridge, Sherry, Mushrooms), Apple Dumplings-My Way, and My Grandmother's Pudding, accompanied by Sauce for My Grandmother's Pudding.
By and large, though, the recipes are similar to those found in other books of the period. The recipes are not very detailed, but a good number sound simple, straightforward and delicious: Pounded Cheese (excellent for dyspeptics), Brandy Peaches, Chestnut Pudding, Quince Pudding, Almond Cakes and Filbert Ice Cream.
