Be the first to Mrs. Abby Fisher was the first Black American woman to record her own recipes. A former slave from Mobile, AL, Abby Fisher lived and worked in San Francisco as a cook and caterer in the late 1870s. Mrs. Fisher's cookbook, published in 1881 by the Women's Co-operative Printing Office of San Francisco, notes awards and support from the local community, and her thoughtful preface explains the difficulty she had bringing her receipts to print.
About the Cookbook
Credit for bringing the cookbook back into print belongs to Applewood Books and noted culinary historian Karen Hess, who began researching Mrs. Fisher in 1984 after seeing the cookbook at an auction for the first time. According to "Mrs. Fisher's recipes: A first in black history," an article by Candy Sagon, Karen Hess went through library records and old directories to prove that Mrs. Fisher was indeed a former slave from Alabama.According to an excerpt from "Dallas Morning News" article, "The New South," by Kim Pierce, "...no group has had a greater hand in Southern cuisine than Africans, who brought with them foods, techniques and spices and used them liberally."
The slim paperback is a reproduction of the original volume, with 160 of Mrs. Fisher's recipes. There are several recipes for croquettes alone, including crab, lamb, and liver, along with her pickles, relishes, and several familiar Southern favorites.
Her cookbook was finally obtained and reprinted in 1995 by Applewood Books, with historical notes by Karen Hess. If you're interested in food history, you'll treasure this book.
