I spent $75 on a 1920s cookbook and it changed my whole kitchen game

I thought it was a silly buy, but the 'Old Kentucky Receipts' book from 1924 had a recipe for black walnut catsup that's nothing like the red stuff. I made a batch last weekend and it's this amazing, savory sauce for meats. Has anyone else found a gem in an old community cookbook like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

lee.diana1mo agoMost Upvoted

Teacup of lard" sounds like a unit of measurement invented by someone who'd already had a few. I'm guessing the black walnut catsup works because it's basically just fermented broken stuff, not a delicate science. Maybe the real rule is skip anything that sounds like a baking challenge and go for the weird preserves.

jamieperez1mo ago

Ugh, I have to be the downer here. My grandma's old cookbooks are full of recipes with weird measurements like "a teacup of lard" and unsafe canning tips. I tried a cake from one and it was a total brick. Sometimes old just means outdated.

abbyk101mo ago

Wait, teacup of lard? Like a literal teacup measurement? That's wild, @jamieperez, but I think that's the charm - those old ladies just used whatever they had on hand and it somehow worked. The black walnut catsup recipe I tried had "a lump of butter the size of a walnut" and it turned out incredible, so maybe the trick is knowing which old-timey tricks to trust.