Eliza Leslie

1787–1858

Author of the best selling 19th Century American cookbook (includes drink recipes)

Leslie was born into a connected Philadelphia family. Beginning in her teen years, her mother operated boarding houses. At some point, Eliza attended Elizabeth Goodfellow’s cooking school, perhaps the first cooking school in America. Eliza Leslie became not a boarding house cook, but a prolific author of cookbooks, novels, juvenile literature, and numerous articles for periodicals. In particular, her “Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches”, published in 1937, was a great success, selling at least 150,000 copies and remaining in print through the end of the century. The book is a comprehensive housewife resource and includes instructions for mixed drinks for hosting.