Why Cookbooks Belong in Our Libraries:
A Study of Three Different Cookbooks Throughout American History
Hello, reader! My name is Zachary Corolla and I present to you a guide where we will explore how a cookbook can be used for both personal enlightenment and as a research/academic tool.
I love cookbooks. I read them front to back like I would any other novel. A cookbook contains priceless knowledge and it can reveal truths about who we are as a species. Books such as these have a place in our libraries and belong with our textbooks, novels, and dictionaries.
This guide will use three different cookbooks from three different times.
The chosen books are:
- Amelia Simmons’ American Cookery from 1796.
- Edna Lewis’ The Taste of Country Cooking from 1976
- Christina Tosi’s Momofuku Milk Bar from 2011
You can find all the books used in this guide at NYU libraries.
An important aspect of this guide is that I will link a YouTube video to each section. When discussing food, a visual component helps greatly, especially when discussing recipes.
Before you start:
We all engage in some way with food, it is quite necessary for us to live! So my hope is that as you read through this guide, you keep the following in mind:
1. Think about the span and history of cooking. It spans from our early ancestors who first manipulated fire, through the farming revolution, to modern food discourse.
2. How do you engage with both food and food knowledge?
(Revised with the help of Hemingway Editor)