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Cookbooks and Food Publications

A guide to the Schlesinger Library's cookbooks and other culinary collections

How to Find Culinary Materials at Schlesinger

There is no single search term you can use to pull up all of the food- and cooking-related materials at the Schlesinger at once, but there are a few useful searches you can use to browse the collections.

One key way to search is by using form/genre keywords:

Cookbooks

Community cookbooks

Recipes

The subject terms that you use are also important. Materials are described by catalogers using controlled vocabularies, i.e. a set of specific, standardized terms. The language of the subject headings might be slightly different from the way you'd normally describe a topic. Finding the controlled term that connects to your topic can help ensure that you pull up as many relevant resources as possible. Subject headings to search in a culinary history/food studies context might include names of ingredients (berries, cinnamon, goat meat, rice flour); pieces of equipment (clay pot cooking, microwave cooking, smart cookers); types of dishes (bibimbap, fruit salads, matzo balls, strudel), or diet (egg-free diet, macrobiotic diet, vegan cooking). You can also try the term Cooking combined with the country or area that you're interested in, i.e. Cooking, BarbadianCooking, French-Canadian; or Cooking, Nepali.

Looking for secondary sources like reference material, critical scholarship, or food history studies? Here are some search terms that might be useful:

Cooking--History

Cooking--Social aspects

Food--History

Food--Social aspects

Food consumption

Food habits--History

Food habits--Social aspects

Food industry and trade--History

Food supply--History

Nutrition--Social aspects

When you find the materials that you want to use, check out our guide to Requesting Materials from Schlesinger Library for all the information you'll need about creating a HOLLIS Special Request account, submitting requests, and planning a visit.

Research Tips

Contact us in advance of your visit

  • Confirm current policies and request accommodations.
  • Many of our collections are stored offsite and/or might have access restrictions. 

Request research support

  • We will help you discover materials that are relevant to your project and learn ways to navigate library catalogs, finding aids, and online resources.
  • The support can also include in-depth research help and guidance on preparing for a research visit.

Search the HOLLIS catalog 

  • This guide provides an introduction to materials related to your topic. You can discover even more by searching in HOLLIS