American Cookery
American Cookery is a cookbook published in 1796 in Hartford, Connecticut, by Amelia Simmons, regarded as the first known cookbook written by an American and published for American readers. It is a key source for understanding the origins of United States cooking.
History
Until 1796, the cookbooks used in the Thirteen Colonies were British, and they did not reflect the ingredients or habits of people living across the Atlantic. Simmons signed her book as "An American Orphan," and little else about her is documented; the assumption that she came from New England rests on the first edition, though some historians argue her vocabulary points to the Hudson River Valley.
The book was widely successful. It was reprinted and pirated for decades, with thirteen known editions between 1796 and 1831. It included recipes built on corn, such as johnnycake and Indian pudding, and used pearlash, a forerunner of baking soda, as a chemical leavener, which changed American baking.
Culture
The book blends English cooking methods with American produce such as maize, and it offers one of the first printed recipes pairing turkey with cranberries. It reflects everyday colonial domestic cooking, with a generous use of herbs and wine. Today it is treated as a key reference for the study of American food identity, and facsimile editions remain in print.