first American cookbook?

[Towse]

Kim & Rima McKinzey wrote:
>
> This was in today's (Wed. April 16th) SF Chronicle, in Marion
> Cunningham's column:
>
> "The first American cookbook - a thin little volume - was published
> in 1796, written by Amelia Simmons, an American orphan.  It was
> called 'American Cookery, or the art of dressing Viands, Fish,
> Poultry and Vegetables, and the modes of making Pastes, Puffs, Pies,
> Tarts, Puddings, Custards and Preserves, and all kinds of Cakes, from
> the imperial Plumb to Plain Cake.  Adapted to this country, and all
> grades of life."
>
> The title may have been longer than the book...

I checked to make sure Cunningham hadn't mentioned it, because
I'd run across this cookbook online earlier this year.

Images of this cookbook's pages are available online
<http://digital.lib.msu.edu/cookbooks/image.cfm?TitleNo=1&image=001>
through Feeding America: The American Cookbook Project at
Michigan State.

Fun stuff.

Some of the books are searchable by recipe title and ingredient.
Popping "lemon pudding" (the subject of Cunningham's column) into
the search brings interesting results.

Sal
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