American Cookery Highlights Early U.S. Culinary Identity

Amelia Simmons' American Cookery, first published in 1796, collects early U.S. recipes that adapted native ingredients such as corn, squash and pumpkin and includes dishes ranging from lavish 'Plumb Cake' to johnnycake and slapjack. The book, noted by the Library of Congress among 100 Books That Shaped America and discussed by Keith Stavely and Kathleen Fitzgerald, helped define a dialogue between elite and rustic American culinary identities and introduced recipes foundational to pumpkin pie.