The First American Cookbook: A Facsimile of "American Cookery," 1796

Name: The First American Cookbook: A Facsimile of "American Cookery," 1796
Price: 21.95 USD
Availability: InStock
ISBN: 9781626541962

✍️ Simmons, Amelia

Reader Score

4.6

(1 review)

$21.95

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📜

Food Writing & History

📚 EDITORIAL REVIEW

“This facsimile suits culinary historians, adventurous scratch-cooks, and anyone fascinated by early American foodways who owns a hearth or doesn't mind adapting historic techniques. Modern convenience-seekers wanting quick weeknight dinners or precise metric baking will find it frustratingly vague.

— Editorial Team

Author

Simmons, Amelia

📚 all books by this author (3) →

🏛 A.R. Shephard & Co. 📅 2015 📔 Hardcover ISBN: 9781626541962

📚 This Book in Collections

🥄 A first cookbook

📝 Description: The First American Cookbook: A Facsimile of "American Cookery," 1796

"This high-quality re-issue of the first American cookbook is an exact facsimile of the landmark 1796 publication that brought about the birth of American cuisine. In its pages of ingredients and preparations it reveals a great deal about the variety of food enjoyed by Colonial Americans, their tastes and cooking techniques, and the numerous resourceful experiments American women were conducting with New World ingredients that hadn't been cataloged in the primarily British cookbooks of the day"--

💎 Expert review

“

🍳

Eatbook Family editorial team

Cookbook desk

Because it reproduces eighteenth-century language, methods, and formatting without modern adaptations, it demands a reader comfortable deciphering early American cooking conventions. It is not suited for home cooks seeking practical, easy-to-follow weeknight recipes or modern measurements. However, for scholars, historical cooks, and dedicated food lovers, its authentic look into early American cuisine makes it a valuable, fascinating artifact.

✓ EDITOR'S REVIEW

⭐ Reader reviews

The starting rating comes from the team Eatbook Family —

⭐ eatbookfamily.com editorial review Editorial rating 4.6/5

★★★★★

This facsimile suits culinary historians, adventurous scratch-cooks, and anyone fascinated by early American foodways who owns a hearth or doesn't mind adapting historic techniques. Modern convenience-seekers wanting quick weeknight dinners or precise metric baking will find it frustratingly vague.

Reader rating

4.6

Based on 1 reviews

Eatbook Family editorial team

Because it reproduces eighteenth-century language, methods, and formatting without modern adaptations, it demands a reader comfortable deciphering early American cooking conventions. It is not suited for home cooks seeking practical, easy-to-follow weeknight recipes or modern measurements. However, for scholars, historical cooks, and dedicated food lovers, its authentic look into early American cuisine makes it a valuable, fascinating artifact.

❓ Frequently asked questions

Neither—being a direct facsimile of a 1796 text, it uses historic colonial measurements like gills, handfuls, and spoonfuls rather than standardized cups or metric units.

No, this is an exact facsimile of the original publication, so it contains period typography and text without modern photography.

📖 Who should read this

📜 Historical context

Originating at the dawn of the American republic, this landmark 1796 volume broke away from British culinary dominance. It captures a pivotal moment when resourceful colonial cooks experimented with indigenous New World ingredients, laying the foundational roots of a distinctively American culinary tradition.