Image: Amelia Simmons, Hudson & Goodwin · Public domain
American Cookery
- Year
- 1796
- Era
- 18th century
- Origin
- USA · Americas
- Language
- English
- Category
- American
American Cookery, issued at Hartford in 1796 and styled on its title page as the work of "an American Orphan," holds the distinction of being the first cookbook composed by an American and printed in the United States. Earlier domestic manuals available to colonial readers were British reprints; Simmons's compilation instead incorporated indigenous ingredients such as cornmeal, pumpkin, and cranberries, and introduced terms like "slapjack" and recipes for Indian pudding into print.
Cooking from this book
Pumpkin Pudding
Signature dishOften hailed as the ancestor of the American pumpkin pie, this baked custard of stewed pumpkin enriched with eggs, cream, and warming spices, set in a pastry shell, appears in Amelia Simmons's slim Hartford volume of 1796. Its inclusion is emblematic because it celebrates a native New World ingredient within a European pastry tradition, signalling the emergence of a distinctly American culinary identity in the first cookbook written by an American for Americans.
An editorial note on a dish associated with this book, written for The Coquinist. It is not a reproduction of the book's recipe.
