THE legacy of malinda russelL
Hard copy reproduction of Malinda Russell’s “A Domestic Cookbook”. Credit: David Betts / Metropolitan Photography.
Hi folx! My name is Lyndsie Fox, and I joined Andytown a few months ago as the new Kitchen Manager / Pastry Chef. I’m taking a moment now to wipe the butter off my hands and dust the flour out of my apron and wash the jam out of my hair (as you should, too) to write my first ever Andytown blog post about some pretty amazing food history. This month is Black History Month, and we’re going to be celebrating Black history all month long with a very special pastry straight out of the history books.
It’s no secret - Andytown is a white-owned, and largely white-run, company. And now I myself am another white person in an executive role. But Andytown’s commitment to fundraising and long-term support, as well a their commitment to diversity and inclusion, are a huge part of why I took this job and why most of our staff works here in the first place. Andytown, as a company and as individuals, are committed to welcoming, listening to, honoring, and uplifting BIPOC folx and their vision.
So, in talking about how to celebrate Black History Month, we thought - what better way than to celebrate for the entire month, and what better way than to celebrate with a historical recipe? I dug into the history of some of America’s most famous bakers, chefs, restauranteurs, and food inventors, and I ended up finding someone, and something, truly remarkable: Malinda Russell’s "A Domestic Cookbook: Containing a Careful Selection of Useful Receipts for the Kitchen” - the first cookbook authored by an African American, and the first book to offer culinary advice by an African American woman.
Cover page of Melinda Russell’s “A Domestic Cookbook”. Credit: Hathi Trust & the University of Michigan.
Printed in May 1866, Russell’s “A Domestic Cookbook” is a complete 39 page book, containing over 250 recipes for food and home remedies. The book mainly focuses on baking, but also includes recipes for savory dishes and household items like cologne and shampoo. And interestingly, the book opens with “A Short History of the Author” wherein she describes her dramatic trajectory from common townsperson to author and prominent businesswoman.
No known photos or drawings of Russell exist - above is an unknown woman in a plantation kitchen in Georgia, 1880. Credit: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
Born and raised in Greenville, Tennessee, Russell was a free woman of color, descended from her grandmother who was formerly enslaved. At 19, as she was about to emigrate to Liberia, a fellow traveler stole all her money and she instead ended up in Lynchburg, Virginia where she became a cook and “lady’s companion.” She married, but within four years her husband died and left her to raise their disabled son and run a laundry wash shop all by herself. After some time, she returned to her native Tennessee, where she cooked for prominent families and ran a boarding house and pastry shop for 8 years. In 1864, a guerrilla gang in Tennessee threatened her, again robbed her of everything she had, and violently drove her out of town because of her “Union principles.” They did not think it right that a woman of color should live freely - much less own property, run a business, and earn large sums of money.
Greenville, Tennessee, 1875. Credit unknown.
She was forced to flee and headed to Paw Paw, Michigan. In 1866, after several years in Paw Paw, Russell self-published “A Domestic Cookbook” as a fundraising effort to return to her Tennessee home and regain her property. Sadly, most copies of her book were lost shortly after they were published, when a fire raged through the small town and burned down the library that housed her books. To this day, only one original copy of her book remains - at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Ambrotype etching of Paw Paw Mills, 1860. Artist: D.S. Harley.
(On a personal note - half of my family lives in Ann Arbor and I grew up visiting them every year and wandering the halls of the university campus. To think I spent all those years so close to such a historical relic without knowing it, and ended up here today, reading her book and baking her recipes and sharing it with all of you!)
Unfortunately, not much else is known about Russell’s life or culinary career after the Paw Paw fire. This one well-worn copy of her book was lost for more than a century, until a rare book dealer just happened to discover it in 2000 at the bottom of a box full of old things. The book was carefully photocopied in 2007 and transferred to the University of Michigan’s rare book archives - which means that since it doesn’t really exist anymore physically, the only way to actually read it now is digitally. The facsimile can be read and downloaded here!
Author’s note and acknowledgements, which were a unique thing to publish during that time. Credit: Hathi Trust & the University of Michigan.
This cookbook is incredible for many reasons, beyond being the first authored by a Black person. It reveals Russell’s indelible strength and resilience, as well as her independence and confident entrepreneurialism. Not only was her writing personal and anecdotal, her recipes showed skill, expertise, and influence far beyond the stereotype of “Black southern soul food.” In terms of baking, she shows a level of expertise that far exceeds the societal expectations of that time - during this era, Black women were often not allowed or expected to do the baking, because baking requires a deep understanding of science and chemistry. And yet - here was a free woman who had never been enslaved, whose access and point of view expanded 1-2 generations past the confines of harrowing survival-mode plantation life, who was heavily influenced by European fine cooking/dining, who produced impressive cosmopolitan baked goods with an exceptional level of skill, and had the entrepreneurial prowess to monetize her baking success. In just 39 brief pages, this cookbook both challenged ingrained views of what “Black cuisine” was at the time and completely dispelled the notion of a universal Black cooking experience - especially for Black women.
To read more about Malinda Russell and her legacy, check out this Eater interview, this New York Times article, and this local Detroit News article.
Credit: Lyndsie Fox.
To celebrate Black History Month and honor the incredible Malinda Russell, we’ll be baking her “Cream Cake” exactly as it is written in her cookbook and donating $1 of each cake sale to the Young Women’s Freedom Center.
YWFC was “founded in 1993 to empower and inspire cis and trans young women, trans young men, and gender-expansive young people who have been disproportionately impacted by incarceration, racist and sexist policies, the juvenile and criminal justice systems, and/or the underground street economy, to create positive change in their lives and communities.” Headquartered in SF with several locations across California, their goal is “to end the criminalization and incarceration of cis and trans young women, trans young men, and gender-expansive youth, [and their] policy and advocacy work focuses on legislative and policy reform to advance [the] freedom and rights… of those most impacted by incarceration and cycles of intimate, community and state violence.” You can read more about YWFC here, or donate directly here!
Please join us at our Lawton and Taraval/47th cafes all month long to celebrate Black History Month, to support the Young Women’s Freedom Center, and to take a bite out of history - Malinda Russell’s “Cream Cake” is delicious on its own, but also pairs well with a side of our house-made seasonal jam, our new Meyer lemon curd, our whipped cream, or all three!
