Historical recipes reveal how various cultures think about and celebrate around food. American recipes from the 1970s, for instance, often reflect a growing interest in healthy eating, as well as cuisines outside of European traditions. The Craftsman’s Cookbook, produced in 1972 by the American Craft Council, had a “long and tasty germination,” according to editor Lois Moran. Unlike popular cooking practices of the previous decade, which celebrated convenience foods, the book is abundant with healthy ingredients, including plenty of whole grains and yogurt.
In Moran’s first role as director of regional programs at the ACC, she traveled the country and sampled countless meals prepared by the craft artists she met along the way. When the Museum of Contemporary Crafts was preparing the 1972 exhibition Objects for Preparing Food, Moran—then ACC’s director of research and education—decided it was “the right time to celebrate the American craftsman as the imaginative cook he is.”
Recipes were submitted by artists, then tested and prepared for publication by Malabar Brodeur, who worked as a Time-Life staff member on Foods of the World, a 27-volume cookbook series. ACC’s 192-page cookbook includes biographies of each contributor and was designed by Emil Antonucci, who also designed a number of the Museum of Contemporary Crafts’ exhibition catalogs in the 1960s and ’70s. The cookbook received complimentary notices in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Vogue, and House & Garden.
Alongside classic recipes such as ACC founder Aileen Osborn Webb’s quiche lorraine, readers are treated to a survey of international cuisine that reflects both the cultural traditions and the travel experiences of home cooks, including American artist Gwen-Lin Goo (Chinese beef and asparagus), woodworker Sam Maloof (baked stuffed kibbi), and Ellamarie Woolley (kiln-baked potatoes). The recipe below is another tasty delight found within.
View The Craftsman’s Cookbook in the ACC Digital Collections.
Beth Goodrich, aka The Crafty Librarian, has been the American Craft Council’s librarian and archivist since 2017.
The Craftsman's Cookbook includes recipes from American craftspeople.
