Self-Rising: The Magic Rise Behind Biscuit and Cornbread Culture

Self-Rising: The Magic Rise Behind Biscuit and Cornbread Culture reveals how a combination of simple ingredients sparked a quiet culinary and cultural revolution. Self-rising flour and corn meal―premixed blends of flour or meal, baking powder, and salt―freed home cooks from the guesswork of from-scratch baking and transformed everyday cooking. Throughout the twentieth century, in times of poverty, segregation, and sweeping changes such as electrification, few innovations gave women more control over their time and table.

Part historical narrative and part cookbook, this flavorful account starts in Tennessee, the "self-rising capital of the world," and travels across the Southern US. The first half of the book explores how self-rising products not only helped reshape the domestic sphere but further influenced society, culture, and industry. Vitamin boosts and flour-sack fashion made self-rising products a Southern staple. Radio jingles, blues tunes, and Grand Ole Opry broadcasts spread the word. The second half of the book offers a rich collection of timeless, foolproof recipes built for modern kitchens, including chicken and dumplings, fried pickle chips, chewy brownies, apple crisp, and more. Entertaining and insightful, Self-Rising offers a story about the spirit of Southern cooks―a story of nourishment, invention, and resilience.

Mindy Merrell is coauthor of Cheater BBQ: Barbecue Anytime, Anywhere, in Any Weather and two Jack Daniel's cookbooks. She is the 2014 winner of the reality cooking show Chopped, as well as a former columnist for The Tennessean and NFocus, and she has worked with baking brand Martha White. R.B. Quinn is an attorney, historian, and writer. He is coauthor of Cheater BBQ and a former columnist for The Tennessean and NFocus. Linda Carman is the former consumer affairs director, test kitchen director, and baking consultant for Martha White. She was also a consultant for White Lily.