In this episode, the first of our two-part look at dishes from Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Nick makes two versions of cornbread from the novel after taking a close look at historical documents and recipes. He also tries two beverages with deceiving names: “pot liquor,” which contains no alcohol, and “buttermilk,” which contains no actual butter (as far as he knows). Stay tuned for more foolery and the second half of recipes from Huckleberry Finn in next week’s episode!

If you would like to suggest a meal (or beverage) from a work of literature for a future deep dive, send an email with the dish’s name, title of the literary work, and the author’s name to literallydelishpod@gmail.com. Keep listening to hear more of your favorite foods from books featured on Literally Delicious!

Sources:

American Chemical Society on the invention of baking powder

https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/bakingpowder.html#development-of-baking-powder

Ben H. McClary - “Introducing a Classic: Gunn’s Domestic Medicine” - Tennessee Historical Quarterly

https://www.jstor.org/stable/42626608

Ben Panko - “The Great Uprising: How a Powder Revolutionized Baking” - Smithsonian Magazine

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/great-uprising-how-powder-revolutionized-baking-180963772/

Bernard Herman - “Hannah Mary’s Giant Corn Pone” - Southern Cultures

https://www.southerncultures.org/article/hannah-marys-corn-pone/

Dwight Eisnach and Herbert C. Covey - “Slave Gardens in the Antebellum South”

https://muse.jhu.edu/article/773984

Kathleen Purvis’ interview with Michael Twitty for the Charlotte Observer