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Published in Hartford in 1796, this volume in the American Antiquarian Cookbook Collection is a facsimile edition of one of the most important documents in American culinary history. This is the first cookbook written by an American author specifically published for American kitchens. Named by the Library of Congress as one of the 88 "Books That Shaped America," American Cookery was the first cookbook by an American author published in the United States. Until its publication, cookbooks printed and used by American colonists were British. As indicated in Amelia Simmons's subtitle, the recipes in her book were "adapted to this country," reflecting the fact that American cooks had learned to make do with what was available in North America. This cookbook reveals the rich variety of food colonial Americans used, their tastes, cooking and eating habits, and even their rich, down-to-earth language. Bringing together English cooking methods with truly American products, American Cookery contains the first known printed recipes substituting American maize for English oats; and the recipe for Johnny Cake is apparently the first printed version using cornmeal. The book also contains the first known recipe for turkey. Possibly the most far-reaching innovation was Simmons's use of pearlash--a staple in colonial households as a leavening agent in dough, which eventually led to the development of modern baking powders. "Thus, twenty years after the political upheaval of the American Revolution of 1776, a second revolution--a culinary revolution--occurred with the publication of a cookbook by an American for Americans." (Jan Longone, curator of American Culinary History, University of Michigan) This facsimile edition of Amelia Simmons's American Cookery was reproduced by permission from the volume in the collection of the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1812 by Isaiah Thomas, a Revolutionary War patriot and successful printer and publisher, the Society is a research library documenting the life of Americans from the colonial era through 1876. The Society collects, preserves, and makes available as complete a record as possible of the printed materials from the early American experience. The cookbook collection includes approximately 1,100 volumes.… (more)
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| 641.5 SIM |
User reviews
I am reviewing a digital version of this book so cannot comment on the physical properties. I can however say that it's a wonderful edition. Karen Hess is a scholar of food and cookery and her introduction goes far to putting the value of Amelia Simmon's "American Cookery" in
The potential buyer and/or reader should understand that this is THE first American cookbook. The recipes may be very like the ones from England, but some are made over to include 'Indian', or Indian Corn. And in any case, this is an American voice you hear throughout talking about being an orphan and the struggles that results from that condition; talking about hanging on the pot.
Applegate, the publisher, was no doubt interested in this unique American book. But it was Hess who wisely convinced Applegate to publish the second edition, rather than the first. The reason for this is that apparently there was a bit of fraud involved with the publication of the first edition. Amelia Simmons herself says as much, giving readers notice that the recipes in the first edition were written down wrong; and that the entire first portion of the book, which talks about how to purchase meat and buy the best sorts, was not her idea but was added by another.
And while I was interested in the first American cookbook, reading her own disavowment of the work convinced me that I wished to avoid the first edition. However if you are curious, you might look for at Gutenberg.
What follows the Karen's introduction is a facsimile of "American Cookery". So you will see it as it was read centuries ago. And you will no doubt have to struggle with the long 's' of that period and the quirky spelling. Thus you will learn to 'ferve your mutton' and learn to 'broil your beef stake'. Don't panick though. You will soon become accustomed to these slight differences.
One of the additional merits of this particular version of the book is that Ms. Hess has added an Index and a Glossary at the end. I particularly appreciated the latter as it saved me much time searching the web looking up definitions of words like: gill, emptins, and tumbles. And without that aid I would have no doubt misunderstood what a 'mango' was meant to be -- a method of preserving various fleshy fruits and veggies so that they resembled a pickled mango from India -- and it's entirely likely that for some words -- like 'long pepper' and 'grown flour' -- I would have found no answer at all.
All-in-all "American Cookery" is an interesting read. It's not the sort of book you go through in one setting. You could, but what would be the point. It's a cookbook after all. It's a book to be savored over coffee or late at night. If you read it too fast you miss out on details like the sheer number of herbs that are used in this short list of recipes. Not to mention the copious amounts of butter and eggs. It staggers the mind at points.
And if you are going to purchase a copy of Simmon's book, I can't see buying one without the introduction. To do so would leave most readers without an appreciation of a remarkable little volume it is.
Enjoy.
Pam T~
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