Malinda Russell facts for kids

Malinda Russell (born around 1812) was an amazing cook. She was a free Black woman from Tennessee. She wrote the first known cookbook by a Black woman in the United States. Her book showed that Southern cooking by Black people was very skilled. It included many fancy and complex dishes.

Early Life and Education

Malinda Russell was born about 1812. This was in Washington County, Tennessee. She grew up in Greene County. We don't know much about her early life. Her mother, Karon, died when Malinda was a child. Karon was one of the first enslaved people freed by a man named Mr. Noddie.

Malinda got a good education for her time. When she was about 19, she traveled to Virginia. She planned to go from Lynchburg, Virginia, to Liberia. But she was robbed by another traveler. She arrived in Lynchburg with no money.

She found work as a nurse and travel helper for a family. A formerly enslaved woman named Fanny Steward taught Malinda how to cook. Fanny used a famous cookbook called The Virginia House-wife.

Cooking Career and Cookbook

Domestic Cook Book: Containing a Careful Selection of Useful Receipts for the Kitchen 1866

Malinda Russell became a cook. She was especially good at baking. She married Anderson Vaughn in Virginia. They had a son who was often sick. Anderson died four years later. Malinda then worked as a laundress to support herself and her child.

Later, she returned to Tennessee. She ran a boarding house for three years. This was on Chuckey Mountain near Cold Spring. After that, she ran a successful pastry shop for about six years.

In 1864, her home in Tennessee was attacked by groups of white people. She and her son had to flee. They went to Paw Paw, Michigan. There, she published her cookbook in 1866. It was called Domestic Cook Book: Containing a Careful Selection of Useful Receipts for the Kitchen. She hoped the book would earn money. She wanted to use the money to return home to Greeneville, Tennessee. Sadly, Paw Paw was destroyed by fire a few months later. What happened to Malinda Russell after that is unknown.

About the Cookbook

Malinda Russell published her book herself. In the beginning of the book, she shared a short story of her life. She said she hoped to earn enough money to travel back home. Most of her recipes were for fancy desserts. These included floating island, puff pastry, and rose cake. She also had recipes for main dishes. Examples are catfish fricassee, Irish potatoes with cod, and sweet onion custard. These dishes were not the "soul food" often thought of as Southern cooking.

Her book also had recipes for ointments and perfumes. It even gave tips for the home. The book had 265 recipes. It was written for people who already knew how to cook. It didn't give many step-by-step instructions. Most recipes just listed the ingredients. Sometimes, a cooking tip was included.

Legacy and Discovery

In 2000, a special cookbook collector bought Malinda's Domestic Cook Book. Her name was Jan Longone. She collects old cookbooks. She also works at the University of Michigan's William L. Clements Library. She bought the book from a dealer who had a collection from Helen Evans Brown. Longone soon realized how important this book was. It was the first known cookbook written by an African American woman. She spent the next seven years learning about Malinda Russell's life.

Longone wrote about the book and Malinda in a magazine called Gastronomica in 2001. Her article got a lot of attention. In 2007, Longone published a special copy of Russell's cookbook. It was a limited edition, meaning only a few were made. She also held a meeting at the Clements Library. There, she gave out copies of the book.

Malinda Russell's A Domestic Cook Book is now kept at the University of Michigan Library. It is part of the Janice Bluestein Longone Culinary Archive. You can download copies of the original 1866 book and the 2007 copy online.

See also

In Spanish: Malinda Russell para niños