A new American way of food in eighteenth-century Southeastern Pennsylvania: the recipe book of Bettee Saffin and Ann Ellis

This dissertation seeks to advance the historical study of Early American cookery through the examination of an unpublished eighteenth-century cookbook manuscript, “The Recipe Book of Bettee Saffin and Ann Ellis.” Bettee Saffin, a wealthy woman from rural Somerset, England, started the recipe book in 1716 and gave it to her daughter, Ann Ellis, in 1762. After the family descended into poverty, Ann married a commoner and migrated to Philadelphia with the cookbook. This previously ignored manuscript provides unique insight into the eighteenth-century eating habits of everyday Anglo-American women in Southeastern Pennsylvania and Philadelphia. The recipe book records how Ann adapted her mother’s English recipes to meet the challenges of the New World—adaptations that led to a new, uniquely American food culture. ❧ Through the analysis of “The Saffin-Ellis Recipe Book"" and other unpublished cookbooks, this dissertation traces the development of a distinct food culture in eighteenth-century Southeastern Pennsylvania. At first, Anglo-American women like Ann Ellis clung to English foodways, but they quickly added indigenous ingredients and adapted recipes from other colonial women, natives and slaves. They elevated the importance of dessert, made sugar a defining taste in American cuisine, and contributed new foods of their own invention. Their recipes became more than just practical adaptations to local conditions—they became American food. Their cookbooks help recreate the food culture of the eighteenth-century, and ultimately shed light on the formation of modern American eating habits.