"Abby Fisher" (1832-?)

Her cookbook, What Mrs.Fisher knows About Old Southern

Cooking,Soups,Pickles,Preserves,published in 1881,is the oldest known cookbook written by a former slave.Abby (maiden name unknown),grew up in plantation kitchens in South Carolina.There she honed her culinary skills and became a a phenomenal cook,which catapulted her to success in later in life.Abby married Alexander C. Fisher and the couple had eleven children.By the end of Civil War she and her family gained their freedom.In 1877 the Fishers relocated from Mobile Alabama to San Francisco where her her talents as a cook and caterer soon were in high demand among the city's upper class.Her reputation and award winning delicacies enable the Fishers to open their own business listed in the San Fransico dictories as "Mrs.Abby Fisher &Company"and later as "Mrs.Abby Fisher,pickle Manufacturer."She expertly blended African and American cultures by combining the foods from two cultures.Her unique dishes with their distinctive flavor represented some of the best Southern Cooking of the day.At the insistence of her friends and patrons to record her "knowledge and experience of Southern Cooking,pickle,and jelly making"Mrs.Fisher authored a cookbook.Since she could not read or write,her recipes were carefully described to writers who complied them in the cookbook under her name.Little is known of Abby life after the publication of her cookbook.In 1984 a volume of the cookbook was rediscoverd.In 1985 Applewood Books reprinted it.