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.
Fullständigaste Svensk-Amerikansk Kokbok = Swedish English Cookbook.
Chicago: Engberg-Holmberg; 1897.
This is another in our selection of Ethnic-American cookbooks. Beginning in the last quarter of the 19th century through the first quarter of the 20th, there were numerous books published in America appealing to immigrants from the Scandinavian countries - Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. Sometimes these books were in their original, European language; other times solely in English and then, a small number which were bi-lingual such as this one. Sometimes the books contained mostly European recipes, sometimes, mostly American recipes, but most often they contained a mixture of the two.
This book well represents this genre of American culinary history. The recipes are written side by side in Swedish and English - and they cover both cultures. From America we have, among others, Boston Brown Bread, Johnny Cakes, Rye and Indian Bread, California Cake, To Smoke Ham in the American Way, Boston Baked Beans, Potatoes Kentucky Style, and several different recipes for Corn Bread. From Sweden we find Pork Chops-Swedish Way, Goose with Horse Radish, Herring Pudding, Swedish Caviar, Pickled Salmon (Graflax), and two Cherry Soups, one made with fresh cherries and one with dried.
Then there are interesting hybrids. For example, the English language Preserved Cranberry recipe (Swedish title: Syltade Lingon Eller "Cranberries") calls for the Scandinavian Lingon berries.
There is a section entitled Potatoes for Every Day in the Week. The book also contains both English and Swedish indexes, household hints and menu suggestions, paired with wine selections.
