22 NOVEMBER 2019
By the Book Tim
Graham’s collection
of women’s com-
munity cookery
books tells a story
of Midwestern
cooking. By Seánan Forbes
THE OBSESSIVE
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CHEF TIM GRAHAM spent his youth trailing his
parents around flea markets. While they looked for
mid-century modern ephemera to sell for their busi-
ness, Graham would page through stacks of women’s
community cookbooks. Even then, he had a sense of
wonder about the books. Now, his enchantment is
balanced by curatorial responsibility. “These books
are an etymology of our modern food pathways,”
Graham says. “They are the wheel ruts of the food
traditions that we all share today.”
Graham has amassed more than 300 books, all
produced by women for church groups, community
centers, and charities. Most come from different
parts of the Midwest, and the collection inspired the
comfort food menu of Graham’s now-closed Chicago
restaurant, Twain. Here, he shares his favorites.
COOKERY ILLUSTRATED
AND HOUSEHOLD
MANAGEMENT
“Almost every one of these
books is not just a cook-
book—they’re about house-
hold management. The
pre-internet, pre–food
magazine, pre-cookbook
era. These were guideways
and maps of how to form
a life. In that time, you’d be
adrift without a textbook.”
500 DELICIOUS SALAD
RECIPES
“When these recipes tell you
to use sweet milk, that’s not
sweetened—it’s fresh milk,
as opposed to sour milk, or
buttermilk. Back when there
was poor refrigeration,
people made cottage cheese
to preserve milk that was
going bad. That’s why cot-
tage cheese is so prevalent
in these recipes. I take more
joy in cottage cheese now.”
OTTAWA’S FAVORITE
RECIPES
“The final paragraph reads,
‘The purpose of this cookbook
is to raise enough money to
purchase a projector and
screen to provide our enter-
tainment, especially during
the long winter.’ It melts my
heart. The section dividers
are little envelopes for your
own index cards. There’s
maybe 20 pages of actual
food in this one.
SECRETS FROM OUR
KITCHENS
“The casserole chapters are
huge, and there’s the intro-
duction of frozen vegetables.
A whole lot of cream-of-
mushroom and cream-of-
chicken soups. There’s less
of a focus on rudimentary
cooking. I guess that had to
do with changing job needs
and no longer dedicating
as many hours providing for
the household.”
500 SNACKS
“I took this to culinary school
and showed everybody.
There’s a caption on a
black-and-white picture of
unhealthy-looking foods
that says, ‘Almost anything
you like may be wrapped
in bacon.’ It’s a snapshot of
a generation where meat
was front and center on the
plate, all the time.”
photography by VICTOR PROTASIO
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