From the birthplace of America’s original Mardi Gras to the heart of Gulf Coast cuisine, A Culinary History of Mobile takes you on a flavorful journey through three centuries of tradition, culture, and community.
Written by Chris Andrews, founder of the USA Today Top 5 ranked Bienville Bites Food Tour and published by The History Press in 2023, this is the definitive story of how Mobile’s remarkable heritage shaped one of the most underrated food cities in America.
Title: A Culinary History of Mobile
Author: Chris Andrews, founder of Bienville Bites Food Tour
Publisher: The History Press (2023)
For: History buffs, food lovers, Mobilians, and anyone curious about the Gulf Coast
The Stories Inside
This is not a cookbook and it is not a dry history text. It is a collection of the surprising, true, and often forgotten stories behind Mobile’s food, the kind of stories that make you see the city differently. Inside, you will discover:
🍽 How Mobile shaped the history of jambalaya. The oldest mention of the word in print and the first two appearances in an American cookbook all trace back to this city, including a recipe from a formerly enslaved Mobile cook whose work became legendary.
🍾 The 1863 Bread Riot. The day hundreds of starving Mobilians marched down Dauphin Street demanding bread, and routed the troops sent to stop them.
🥛 The Clotilda and Africatown. The story of the last slave ship to reach America, and the extraordinary community its survivors built just north of Mobile.
🍯 The scent of history on Dauphin Street. How the A&M Peanut Shop has roasted peanuts on the same block since the late 1800s.
🌕 From coal mines to Carnival. How the Moon Pie became the signature throw of Mobile’s Mardi Gras, with millions tossed every season.
🍷 Mobile’s Cuban connection. The hidden speakeasies, the cafes, and the flavors that tie our city to Havana.
And that is just the beginning. From the oldest restaurant in Mobile to the origins of West Indies salad, the book is packed with the history behind the dishes you will find on our tables today.
Why This Book Exists
Mobile is one of the oldest cities in America, older than New Orleans, the true birthplace of Mardi Gras, and a place where French, Spanish, African, Creole, and Southern traditions all met at the table. For a city with this much culinary history, the full story had never been told in one place. So Chris spent years researching and writing it, and the result is both a love letter to Mobile and the backbone of the stories told on every Bienville Bites tour.
Get Your Copy
Want a signed copy?
The best way to get the book is signed by the author. Join us on a Bienville Bites Food Tour or catch us at a local event, and you can pick up a personally signed copy. It makes a wonderful gift for the Mobile lover or food lover in your life. Reach out and we will help you get one.
Prefer to order online? The book is available on Amazon in print.
You can also find A Culinary History of Mobile at select local bookstores around the Mobile area. Support local when you can.
Read the stories, then taste them.
The history in this book comes alive on our tours, told on the very streets where it happened. Come walk Mobile with us.
Chris Andrews is the founder of Bienville Bites Food Tour, a USA Today Top 5 Food Tour in America, and the author of A Culinary History of Mobile (The History Press, 2023).