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An overview of the food situation in the South during the American Civil War. This Bookshelf Edition (standard paperback with index) first published 2018; originally published as a Compact Edition in 1988. 139 numbered pages including index; 5.5 x 8.5 inches. 87 research notes. 55 recipes, including both historical receipts and commemorative dishes. ISBN-13: 978-1985821774.
.“We all have such entire reliance in the justice of our cause and the valor of our men, and, above all, the blessing of Heaven!” wrote Judith Brockenbrough McGuire on May 10, 1861. The “cause” to which Mrs. McGuire referred was the Confederate cause.
Cooking for the Cause, by Patricia B. Mitchell, brims with quotations, recipes (both old and updated), and illuminating narrative about the “coping” of the South.
Because of war-time shortages (brought on by the fact that most manufacturing was done in the North, and by the coastal blockade), Southerners became experts at finding substitutes for necessary items. Coffee made from acorns or tea brewed from holly leaves were drunk, but not with delight. “Apple Pie Without Apples” and unleavened biscuits were baked. (Indigestion trumps starvation.)
Read much more about Southern ingenuity in Cooking for the Cause.
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Cooking for the Cause is also available in a Compact Edition, which has a Kindle eBook version
Copyright © 1988–2020 Patricia B. Mitchell.