Highlights Archives
A Taste of Wisconsin's Potluck Traditions
Potluck and community meals have been bringing people together for hundreds of years. More than just the sharing of delicious food, though, these meals enjoyed together provide a window into the culture and traditions of a community. On Thursday, May 1, Toni Brandeis Streckert, author of Potluck! Home Cooking from Wisconsin's Community Cookbooks, will share some of Wisconsin's recipe favorites along with the people behind them during A Taste of Wisconsin Traditions dinner and talk at the Wisconsin Historical Museum. Registrations for the event are due Friday, April 25.
Cookbooks, particularly community cookbooks, reflect the food habits of the communities and people that produce them. Often compiled by churches, clubs, schools, or service groups as a way to raise money, community cookbooks focus on home cooking (rather than fancy restaurant food) and often document regional, ethnic or family traditions and history. The Attic Angel Association in Madison, for example, produced a fundraiser cookbook in 1894 to provide clothes to poor families.
One of the most successful community cookbooks ever produced came out of Milwaukee in 1901. The Settlement Cook Book: The Way to a Man's Heart was created by Lizzie Kander to help young Jewish immigrant girls learn to cook nutritious "American-style" meals. An amalgam of Jewish and American food traditions, Kander's cookbook was an immediate success and has sold more than 2 million copies to date. Proceeds from the sale of the original cookbook helped build Milwaukee's first settlement house and later the city's Jewish Community Center. Kander's story is vividly brought to life in the childrens book A Recipe for Success: Lizzie Kander and her Cookbook.
Besides raising money, cookbooks also helped people preserve foodways and/or adapt them to a new environment. Henriette Davidis wrote what became the standard and perhaps the most popular cookbook for German Americans in the 19th century. First published in Germany, Henriette Davidis' Practical Cook Book was translated into English and ingredients adapted for German immigrants in the U.S. in 1879.
A more recent Wisconsin community cookbook was produced in the 1990s by the Minwanjigewin Nutrition Project. This community-based nutrition education project was designed to increase knowledge of healthful eating among Wisconsin tribes, and the book contains original recipes from various tribes that help preserve traditions through food.
Be sure not to miss this special food event! Registration for the dinner and talk is required and must be received by Friday, April 25. To register call 608-264-6566 or via e-mail.
:: Posted April 23, 2008
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