A Selection of Modernized Recipes from Food in the Civil War
The North
As companions to the first and second volumes in the American Food in History series we offer selections of recipes, updated and tested by food editor Jennifer Billock, using measurements and techniques that modern readers can use in their own kitchen. Arranged by main meal occasions (breakfast, picnic or lunch, dinner, dessert) these recipes—some familiar, some curious, all intriguing—will allow family and friends to get a “taste of the times” with their own “Civil War era” meals. The original versions of these recipes (and many more) can be found in Food in the Civil War Era: The North and Food in the Civil War Era: The South, edited by Helen Zoe Veit, along with fascinating essays about the history and the times.
Bios
Jennifer Billock, a freelance food editor based in Chicago, Illinois, is managing editor at World Travel Buzz, and former magazine editor at Reader’s Digest.
Helen Zoe Veit is Associate Professor of History at Michigan State University. She specializes in American history in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, focusing on the history of food and nutrition. She is the author of Modern Food, Moral Food: Self-Control, Science, and the Rise of Modern American Eating in the Early Twentieth Century, and general editor of the American Food in History Series.
Media Links
VIDEO: Helen Zoe Veit discusses the Civil War realities of preserving food when salt was short and on the pervasive impact of institutional slavery on food production and preparation in the south. Helen Zoe Veit, MSU Department of History, discusses her two books on Civil War food - in the north and in the south; insights and analysis at the Michigan Historical Museum. 42 minutes.
Feeding the Yanks: MSU Historian Explores Civil War Era Cookbooks: Listen to the Interview - WKAR Radio at MSU, East Lansing:
WKAR Current State’s Melissa Benmark speaks with Helen Zoe Veit, regarding her new cookbook Food in the Civil War Era: The North. Veit specializes in American history in the 19th and 20th centuries, focusing on the history of food and nutrition. Historian Veit says there are all sorts of surprises in the cookbooks, including how English the recipes seemed, including puddings and custards. She also mentions that it is rare to see cheese, ground beef, or chocolate.
WKAR Current State’s Melissa Benmark speaks with Helen Zoe Veit, regarding her new cookbook Food in the Civil War Era: The North. Veit specializes in American history in the 19th and 20th centuries, focusing on the history of food and nutrition. Historian Veit says there are all sorts of surprises in the cookbooks, including how English the recipes seemed, including puddings and custards. She also mentions that it is rare to see cheese, ground beef, or chocolate.
