It was believed to be the first cookbook written by an African-American, before Malinda Russell's Domestic Cook Book: Containing a Careful Selection of Useful Receipts for the Kitchen (1866) was rediscovered.

[6] The book was unknown, even to food historians,[7] until in 1984 an original volume was purchased by Harvard University's Schlesinger Library at auction from Sotheby's in New York.

Hess's research found Abby C. Fisher, aged 48, cook, in the 1880 U.S. census listed at 207-1/2 Second Street, San Francisco.

[7] The reprint from AppleWood Publishers is a replica of the original with Preface and Apology, Table of Contents and recipes divided into 13 categories.

The recipes offer an historic look into the culinary practices of plantation cooking and the influence that African American women had on it.

Karen Hess, the food historian who rediscovered the book and researched its author extensively, could not find any documentation to support this assertion.