Secret Ingredients Race, Gender, and Class at the Dinner Table

In Secret Ingredients , acclaimed author Sherrie A. Inness exposes how women have used recipes and cooking to challenge the status quo. Hiding within seemingly ordinary cookbooks are revolutionary messages from women about social and cultural norms. Surprising but true, something as mundane as a cookbook can contain subtle and not-so-subtle protests against traditional and accepted viewpoints. Exploring cookbooks including 1950s convenience food, 1970s natural food, 1980s "white trash" cuisine, and the surprise success of the Two Fat Ladies books from the 1990s, Inness reveals recipes for social change in Mom's pot roast and even mini-marshmallow Jell-O salad. She shows that cookbooks are rich and complex, and reveal more than they seem to about women's evolving role in society. Secret Ingredients uncovers how modern cookbooks continue to be a valuable tool for understanding the ways race, class, ethnicity, and gender intersect in the United States.

Sherrie A. Inness is Professor of English at Miami University. She is the author/editor of over a dozen books including Action Chicks (Palgrave 2004) and Kitchen Culture in America.