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 Most of the recipes are previously unpublished, waiting in archives to be rediscovered.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.