What’s on the plate?
Tomato aspic, biscuits, quiche, and Vicksburg tomato sandwiches
“During the post-Civil War [era], African American cooks were employed in white homes, and as a result, the recipes were developed by Black and white cooks working together. There was this intermingling of recipes where you can trace an ingredient here or a recipe there, but for the most part, what you’re actually seeing is a cooperative effort.” — Dr. Andrew Haley
Make your own!
Junior Auxiliary of Vicksburg was started in 1936 to provide service to the community. Part of their fundraising was the creation of several cookbooks, in particular Vintage Vicksburg (published in 1985) and Ambrosia (published in 1997). Both cookbooks compiled local recipes and present them with history and culture of (white) Vicksburg.
“Once you get past the fact that there are a few recipes that are kind of signaling membership in the social elite, the recipes aren’t all that distinct. There’s a lot of overlap between the Junior Auxiliary cookbook [Vintage Vicksburg] and the Esquirette’s cookbook [Home Town Recipes]. Dr. Andrew Haley
Read more about southern cooking traditions:
USM Professor Haley to Discuss the Roots of Southern Cooking
Dr. Andrew Haley, who has studied more than 200 cookbooks published between the 1890s and the 1970s, will dig into the roots of Southern cooking in a presentation titled “Home Town Recipes” as part of Catfish Row Museum’s Food For Thought series on April 23.
