"In the late 1800s, technological innovations made flour readily available to the masses. Around the same time, flour mills and producers began introducing a new product-self-rising flour, which was easily exported across the American South because of advancements in railroad transportation. Lower-income classes finally had access to an important product that the middle- and upper classes enjoyed, without the labor-intensive steps needed to make popular recipes. What was once a difficult, multi-step process to create modern day favorites like biscuits and cornbread quickly became a convenient staple of breakfast and dinners across the South. Self-Rising: The Magic Rise Behind Biscuit and Cornbread Culture traces the cultural "rise" of an inventive product alongside shifts in the South in industry, radio, and cooking. This work is both a culinary history of self-rising flour as well as a cookbook that tells the story of how a simple idea-blending just the right amount of leavening and salt into flour and cornmeal-changed Southern baking. The books nostalgic yet lively narrative stirs together the innovations of the 20th century that made the perfect recipe for self-rising flour to take over the kitchen. Drawing on their expertise working in the test kitchens of a prominent self-rising flour brand, the authors detail important contributing factors to self-rising flours popularity, such as leavening, milling, blending, and consolidation, in addition to the state-funded advertising from Tennessee.

A detailed account of the role that traveling musicians, clear channel radio, and targeted advertising played in exposing audiences to the new product is offered, accompanied by forgotten jingle lyrics. Self-Rising details the history of the product and its rise to fame and features a large number of timeless, foolproof recipes, and tips valuable to todays home cook"-- Provided by publisher.