Amelia Simmons

Very little is known for certain about Amelia Simmons’s life, which has only added to her fascination. She identified herself as “an American orphan,” and surviving records suggest she likely worked in domestic service, learning the kitchen knowledge that shaped her writing.

Her place in literary and food history rests on American Cookery, first published in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1796. It is widely regarded as the first known cookbook written by an American and published in the United States, and it helped show how American cooking was beginning to separate itself from older British models.

The book is remembered not just for its historical firsts, but for its lively sense of local life. It used ingredients familiar to American households and is often credited with popularizing dishes and terms that became part of the national table, including early versions of pumpkin pie, johnnycake, and “cookey,” an early form of the word “cookie.”