the sociology of cookbooks

I started a new project with a family member.

We're both interested in cookbooks. Me from the sociology aspect (well, and of course eating), her from the recipe-testing, technical aspect. We ordered a batch of six community cookbooks from Kansas in the 1970s, 1980s and one from the '90s. The community cookbooks interested us because they are created by home cooks in a particular area. 

There's so much to explore. The way the writers talk about food--baking soda is sometimes just called soda, which can be confusing when a surprise ingredient is Coca Cola or soda. Mexican food is mislabeled as Native American cuisine in one. There's the submission names: in one 1970's cookbook, the women are identified by their husband's names. So it might be Dorothy submitting, but she's identified as Mrs. Wizard Oz. This means we will never know for sure who submitted the Tomato Soup Cake recipe!

Our first project: attempt a coffee cake recipe from the same region (western Kansas) and the same decade (1970's) but different cookbooks. More to come.