Malinda Russell publishes first cookbook by a Black author in 1866

By David Winship   Malinda Russell was a culinary pioneer in the middle of the nineteenth century, whose “A Domestic Cook Book” was the first cookbook authored by an African American woman in the United States. It was printed in Paw Paw, Michigan, in 1866. Its story is a look at the heritage and history of the years leading up to and encompassing the Civil War from the perspective of a free woman of color. In the book’s introduction, she says, “I have put out this book with the intention of benefiting the public as well as myself.”  The cookbook contains 260 recipes, which were spelled “receipts” throughout the book. Russell’s cooking career spanned over 25 years, cooking for households and operating a bakery. The cookbook was discovered by culinary historian Janice Longone in the late twentieth century and it was reprinted the first time in 2007. It has recently been reprinted in 2025 by the University of Michigan Regional Press. It is available on Amazon, but is currently sold out. It can be downloaded free on Kindle.  Malinda Russell was a determined woman.   She was a free woman because her grandmother had been emancipated in Virginia. According to Virginia law...