Georgia’s Historical Recipes
Georgia’s Historical Recipes is an exploration of our state’s oldest recipes from the antebellum period through World War II, as painstakingly researched by Georgia archivist Valerie J. Frey. This volume begins with a discussion of old recipes as primary sources and what they can tell us about the history and culture of their era and how to bring them to life in modern kitchens. Frey then moves into fifty sections that can be read alone yet allow readers to build an understanding of how foodways evolved over time.
Some sections highlight a single recipe, illustrating how changes in technology, agriculture, transportation, communication, and social patterns led to changes in Georgia kitchens. Most of the recipes are previously unpublished, waiting in archives to be rediscovered. Other sections explore our oldest cookbooks, offering biographical and cultural background information that makes them more meaningful. For the first time, Georgians have a list of the state’s early cookbooks and its cooking experts. Readers will learn where to find Georgia’s oldest recipes and discover many examples to whet their appetites literally and figuratively for a taste of Georgia’s past.
VALERIE J. FREY is a writer and archivist from Athens, Georgia, with projects focusing on genealogy, social history, and foodways. Her archives career began with a Junior Fellowship in the Manuscripts Division at the Library of Congress, and she went on to serve as manuscripts archivist at the Georgia Historical Society. She later became the education coordinator of the Georgia Archives, where she developed public service programs as well as created resources for educators and their students. She now writes and conducts research full time. Her previous foodways book, Preserving Family Recipes: How to Save and Celebrate Your Food Traditions, was published by the University of Georgia Press in 2015.