Abraham Lincoln in the Kitchen

January 20, 2014
The answer to questions of whether or not President Abraham Lincoln cooked, and what he ate, are answered in this upbeat culinary study of the life and diet of our 16th President. Sifting through countless vintage cookbooks for research and inspiration, Eighmey (Soda Shop Salvation) offers 55 recipes tailored for the modern-day kitchen. Prioritizing taste and texture, she provides original solutions for obscured dishes (such as horminy) and substitute ingredients (baking soda achieves the same function as the oft-requested pearl ash in order to enable cakes to rise); enabling any reader to recreate these historic meals. Some recipes, such as pumpkin pie and strawberry ice cream are virtually unchanged, while others, like the many cakes popularized after Lincoln's death are a rather curious riffs on what we'd now call a spice cake. Readers may also be surprised at Lincoln's breadth of tastes and culinary experiences. Lincoln, who had a number of jobs prior to becoming President, enabled him to travel throughout the nation's midsection including New Orleans, which brought him in contact with a wide variety of people and their native cuisines. Academics of all stripes will appreciate Eighmey's diligence and insight.

February 1, 2014

Just when you think every aspect of Abraham Lincoln's life has been exhausted, award-winning author Eighmey (Soda Shop Salvation; Food Will Win the War) stumbles across an anecdotal story of the president walking home to help cook dinner. Inspired, she examines Lincoln's life with a culinary lens. Using Lincoln family documents, period newspapers, cookbooks, and other resources, Eighmey carefully paints a picture of the Lincoln family's diet and customs. In addition to the thorough research used to re-create the president's culinary world, Eighmey adapts 55 period recipes for today's kitchen. While some foods (for instance, wild game, honey, and corn bread) are fairly obvious, others, such as New Orleans chicken curry, may come as a surprise. Lincoln may not have eaten all the dishes included here, but the author has successfully detailed the culinary world he moved in and thus given us a personal look at one of history's greatest figures. VERDICT Food and history enthusiasts will enjoy this well-written and lighthearted peek at Lincoln.--Lisa Ennis, Univ. of Alabama at Birmingham

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