The British Origins of The First American Cookbook: A Re-evaluation of Amelia Simmons’ American Cookery (1796)

In 1796, the first American cookbook American Cookery by Amelia Simmons was published in Hartford, Connecticut. Although many scholars referred to it as “the second declaration of American independence” the cooking patterns presented in Simmons’ book still resembled the old English tradition. The purpose of this paper is to explore the British origins of the first American cookbook and to demonstrate that it is, in essence, a typical eighteenth-century English cookery book