Foodways in the American South: Frameworks for Research

1. What are the ingredients of the dish/recipe? From where do you think the cook acquired the ingredients? (Grown in their own garden? Purchased from a grocer?)

2. Consider the structure of the recipe - how are things measured? Are there instructions for how to make the dish - could you follow them?

3. Is the dish for everyday eating, or is it for a special occasion?

4. Why do you think the recipe/dish is potentially special and therefore saved?

5. Think about the period in which the source was created. What do you already know about that period and what might your document reveal that is new to you?

6. What arguments or theses could the document support? For example, analysis of cuisine or type of cooking? 

7. How does the item relate to what you are studying — to foodways, generally?

8. To understand the item more completely, what additional information do you need? What other questions come up?

1. Look at your cookbook and the title page, noting names and dates. Who is the author/creator? The publisher and its location? Does the cookbook look like it has been used before — are there indicators of previous ownership?

2. Analyze the content of your cookbook. Who contributed the recipes — where did they come from? Who created the cookbook, an entity or an individual? What was their purpose in creating it? Consider who the audience might be. What about the look — are there graphics/illustrations? Font — is it typed or handwritten? Types of ingredients? What does that imply to you?

Foodways and Food Studies are taught at UNC-Chapel Hill. This guide was created for a class in American Studies and will prove useful.