Are you interested in food , United States history , and the English language ?
If so , American cookbooks provide wide information in all three subjects .
The first , published in 1796 , started a market that continues in the 21st century with online publications of such works .
And , the literature offers more than just recipes .
Megan Elias is the director of food studies at Boston University and the writer of Food on the Page : Cookbooks and American Culture .
She says that cookbooks do help teach us how to prepare food .
But they provide more than that , too .
“The concept of meals , how many meals a day that people expect to eat ?
What do they expect to have in those meals ?”
They also inform readers about discoveries , equipment and technology related to food making .
Elias said , “What are the objects that are necessary to make the things and what exists ?
So , are you being asked to do something over an open fire or are you being asked to use an electric stove ?
Is it something that can be done in the microwave ?
If you see a lot of recipes for things that are preserved for pickles , you know that you are looking at a time without refrigeration .”
Amy Bentley is a food historian at New York University .
She said that cookbooks from the 1800s were used as lifestyle and household guides .
They include food recipes , but they were not central to the books back then .
American Cookery by Amelia Simmons is the first cookbook published in the United States .
Simmons wrote that her goal with the book was to improve the new generation of women in the U.S .
Megan Elias says that after the Civil War , cookbooks became more diverse .
Writers started exploring local foods and customs in their work .
Some communities would put together a group cookbook to raise money .
These cookbooks provide a look into what the American middle class was eating throughout the years .
Such works serve as a record of the traditions and interests of different neighborhoods and groups .
Throughout the years cookbooks have signified humanity's growth in knowledge , trends and innovations .
During the last part of the 19th century , for example , many recipes were informed by the dangers of food containing bacteria .
Then , in the 1930s , refrigerators became common objects in American homes .
The threat of bacterial infection from food dropped , and very soon , cooks adapted to the new conditions .
New recipes and new cookbooks resulted .
But cookbooks are not complete reflections of American life .
Elias said publishing companies mostly control cookbook content .
And , their main goal is to make money from book sales .
“The publishing world doesn't necessarily have the goal of representing the truth of Americans who made it .
It tends to be upper middle class , white , Northeastern .”
In the 21st century , with the growth of social media and food websites , publishing companies have less control .
These new ways to share recipes have led to more open discussions about food and cooking .
This gives the public more choices and power .
Elias praised the new discussions around food .
Physical cookbooks are still highly desirable as well , Bentley says .
“They're very good to give as gifts .
They're very , very popular because they're sort of neutral .
And everyone loves a cookbook , especially with beautiful pages ,” she said .