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.
Jennie June's American Cookery Book.
New York: The American News Co., 1870.
This is a most interesting volume. It is a pity that its rarity has made it so little known. In addition to its general cookery category, it is cross-referenced to many different topics.
There is, for example, a chapter of Jewish Receipts, which the author informs us are "all original and reliable, - the contribution of a superior Jewish housekeeper in New York." The recipes in this chapter are a bit different from those in other early Jewish cookbooks. The White Stewed Fish, Purim Fritters, Codfish Fritters, and Pickled Cucumbers are of particular interest.
There is also a chapter entitled Favorite Dishes of Distinguished Persons. This includes Henry Ward Beecher's Favorite-Turtle Bean Soup, Herodotus' Pudding ("A Genuine Classical Receipt"), and Susan B. Anthony's Apple Tapioca Pudding.
There is a chapter, Sorosis Receipts, containing twenty recipes of "the best cooks and house-keepers in the country, and the Chairwoman also of the Executive Committee of Sorosis." This last chapter should come as no surprise as Mrs. Croly was active in the founding of Sorosis and was its Honorary President.
She was also most active in the founding of the General Federation of Women's Clubs and wrote one of the earliest, and still among the most useful, histories of Women's Clubs in America. It was the Sorosis Club that issued the invitation to all women's organization to form a General Federation. This was an historic milestone in women's history and in the history of the United States.
There are recipes from Delmonico's Restaurant.
The chapter entitled Genuine Receipts from the Oneida Community was contributed by a member of that Utopian group. Most of the recipes, quite detailed, are for canning and preserving.
Another chapter includes recipes from the Fuller House, in the spa town of Richfield Springs, New York. In strawberry season, one might want to try the Strawberries Whole - A Fine Receipt.
The last of the special chapters is entitled A Strong-Minded Woman's Receipts.
All of this is in addition to more than 1000 well-written and instructive recipes. Some are perhaps not to today's taste, such as the Fried Cow Heel or Calf's Head Hash. However, many could be attempted today, such as the Saratoga Apple Sauce or the Sorrel Soup without Meat.
This is a sophisticated and thorough book, well representing American cookery at this period of our history. In addition to the cookery recipes, there is much on household management, economy, the use of fuel, bills of fare, washing day, the dairy, ladies' lunches, food for infants and children, and "New Year's Table, Evening Refreshments, Parties, Etc."
Those interesting in the feeding of children should be advised that sometime after the first printing of 1866, Mrs. Croly revised the book to reflect the newest theories regarding substituting diluted cow's milk for mother's milk. This was a major bone of contention in the last half of the 19th century and early in the 20th.
This book was quite popular with at least six printings.
