What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking
The 160-recipe book was written in 1881 by former slave Abby Fisher. She was born enslaved and later freed and was not able to read or write at the time the book was published. She had arrived in San Francisco a generation after the Gold Rush to make some cash for herself. She would later earn kudos and prizes for her pickles, jellies and preserves, set up her own pickling business and make influential friends who helped her in producing the cookbook, a Chicago Tribune article said. Her book includes recipes for Flannel Cakes, Sweet Watermelon Rind Pickle and Blackberry Rolls, among others, according to Smithsonian. Her book was held up for years as the quintessential “mirror of the African-American kitchen.”
