Special archives cookbooks at Berea College available for viewing

BEREA, Ky. – Visitors to the Berea College Hutchins Library’s Special Collections and Archives can learn more about the history of spoonbread perusing historical cookbooks during the library’s newest “Friday Finds,” which begins Oct. 20.

Berea — the community and the college — are closely associated with Spoonbread. The creamy, pudding-like dish not widely known and outside of Appalachia, is both the subject of an annual Berea celebration as well as a lunch and dinner feature at Berea College’s Historic Boone Tavern Hotel and Restaurant.

“With this fall’s Friday Finds, we hope to unravel some of the mystery of spoonbread,” said Tim Binkley, director of special collections and archives. “Our more than 500 historical cookbooks offer numerous variations of the spoonbread recipe, and we will take a look at many of them. And for those who aren’t interested in spoonbread, our cookbooks provide access to hundreds of years of recipes to read and possibly serve to your family and friends this fall and winter. It may be a new recipe or something that sparks a memory of something eaten at a grandparent’s house years ago. Our cookbook collection offers something for everyone.”

“Friday Finds: Peruse the Cookbooks Again—The Great Spoonbread Recipe Roundup,” will take place Friday mornings from 10-11 a.m. from Oct. 20 to Nov. 17. The events will be at the Hutchins Library on the Berea College campus. There will be no tours the week of Thanksgiving. The last “Friday Finds” of the semester will be Dec. 15.

Pre-registration is required at https://bctrace.com/explore/ a minimum of three hours in advance. There is a limit to the number of participants each week

———

For more information about Friday Finds or about doing research at the Hutchins Library’s Special Collections and Archives, please contact Tim Binkley at binkleyt@berea.edu or 859-985-3267.