Good Things to Eat as Suggested by Rufus A Collection of Practical Recipes for Preparing Meats, Game, Fowl, Fish, Puddings, Pastries, Etc.

by Rufus Estes

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Genres: Cookbooks, History, Nonfiction, Cooking, Food, Reference, African American

148 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 16, 1999

Reviews

[Alicia Bayer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful historic cookbook that is widely available to read for free through public domain. Not only is it valuable as a book written by a man who was born a slave and helped support his family from early childhood, but it's also filled with wonderful recipes that can be great for teaching both history and cooking. The recipes are written in the style of old fashioned recipes, with the assumption that the cook knows the basics of how to cook. They are typically two sentences at most. Some ingredients are no longer common, but most of these recipes can easily be made in the 21st century and will be enjoyed as much today as when the book was written in 1911.

Note that these recipes are from a time when most folks worked all day doing hard physical work, and you could burn off the calories you got from them. This isn't diet food. ;)

Sample recipes:

SQUASH FRITTERS—To two cups of mashed dry winter squash add one cup of milk, two well beaten eggs, one teaspoon of salt, a little pepper and one heaping teaspoon of baking powder. Beat well and drop by spoonfuls into hot butter or cooking oil and fry.

BREADED POTATO BALLS—Pare, boil and mash potatoes and whip into three cups of potato three level tablespoons of butter, two tablespoons of hot milk, salt and pepper to taste; also two teaspoons of onion juice and two level tablespoons of chopped parsley, one-quarter cup of grated mild cheese and two well-beaten eggs. Beat well and set aside to cool. Mold into small balls, roll each in beaten egg, in fine stale breadcrumbs, and then fry in deep hot fat.

BEATEN CREAM PIE—Line a plate with good paste, prick in several places to prevent rising out of shape. Bake and spread over some jelly or jam about half an inch thick, and cover with one cup of cream beaten stiff with two rounding tablespoons of powdered sugar and flavored with one teaspoon of vanilla.

COCOA WITH WHIPPED CREAM—Heat four cups of milk to the scalding point over hot water, or in a double boiler. Milk should be heated by direct contact with the fire. Mix a few grains of salt, three level tablespoons of cocoa and one-fourth cup of sugar to a paste with a little of the milk, then add three-fourths cup of boiling water and boil one minute, add to the hot milk and beat two minutes by the clock. Serve with a tablespoon of beaten or whipped cream on top of each cup.

You can find the book here: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/18435..., as well as many other places online. It is in the public domain and can be freely used and shared.

[Adrienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book in Kindle format and I like it so much, I'm going for the hardcover edition. I have several old cookbooks, including a copy of Housekeeping in Old Virginia. Talk about hard to follow and make sense, now that book it difficult. This one, though it has no ingredient lists nor pictures, is a snap. Sure, you have to actually read through the recipe to get the ingredients and plan how to make the dish, but that's really simple. Modern recipes treat you as if you have no experience at all, cook by rote, and have no creativity. These recipes are easy to follow and allow you a little creativity.

I also love the way the author talks about steak - that it should not be cooked to a cinder. I think Rufus would have loved a sous vide immersion cooker; I'm sure he would make perfect steaks the way he and I like them, trying to get away (very rare).

I can't wait to make some of the dishes in his book. I have a recipe blog and will post results with pictures there.

[Q · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the recipes are outdated, this cookbook is more of an inspirational tome. The courses, ingredients and approaches harken back to a simpler time during which food often had meaning and/purpose. It also highlights the author’s evolution from slave to Pullman to chef. For those reasons, it is a great resource to offer a historical and diverse culinary perspective, and to motivate current day cooks to explore differences in African-American Epicureanism from “then” and “now”.

[Susan Molloy · Rating 5 out of 5]

2022 Review:
From the frontspiece:
BY RUFUS ESTES
FORMERLY OF THE PULLMAN COMPANY PRIVATE CAR SERVICE,
AND PRESENT CHEF OF THE SUBSIDIARY COMPANIES OF
THE UNITED STATES STEEL CORPORATIONS IN CHICAGO
PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR
Copyrighted 1911
By Rufus Estes, Chicago

There are unusual recipes included in Good Things To Eat As Suggested By Rufus, such as one for Tea Sherbet, Pepper Jelly, and Cranberry Sherbet.

Anyone up for Green Tomato Pie? “—Take green tomatoes not yet turned and peel and slice wafer thin. Fill a plate nearly full, add a tablespoonful vinegar and plenty of sugar, dot with bits of butter and flavor with nutmeg or lemon. Bake in one or two crusts as preferred.”

But the following Lemon Pie recipe sounds good, as it uses two crusts, as opposed to one, as used in a meringue: “This is an old fashion pie, because it is baked between two crusts, yet many have called it the best of all kinds. Grate the yellow rind of two lemons, take off all the white skin and chop the remainder very fine, discarding all the seeds. Add two cups of sugar and two beaten eggs. Mix well and pour into a paste lined plate cover, and bake thirty minutes.”

Unfortunately, many of the recipes do not have much of a clue as to what temperature the foods need to be baked: Slow? Quick? Fast? 425 degrees Fahrenheit? In this aspect, it may take a seasoned baker or cook to figure it all out.

Rufus Estes put together a well-written, fascinating recipe book published in 1911 by a former slave who could have easily been a celebrity chef had he lived today because that is how society rolls today.

Though many of these recipes could use a little updating, nevertheless, most are intriguing enough to try, which makes them kitchen worthy.


2011 Review
Interesting recipe book published in 1911 by a former slave . Though many of these recipes could use a little updating, nevertheless, most are intriguing and worth trying.

🟣Kindle version.

[Monique · Rating 5 out of 5]

So this cookbook was written back in 1911 and many of the recipes are no longer relevant. However, the history of food is interesting as I notice how our cooking has evolved. Used my kindle unlimited subscription to read this book.

[Neen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Missing

The majority of the book would have to be deciphered and interpreted to understand the context. Although I appreciate this gem, it wasn't something that I'd cook for myself.

[Avis Black]

The recipes are pretty much the same boring standards that nearly all cooks of that era put in their books.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

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[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slls

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Contains too much flour, red meat, dairy and sugar to be useful to me