Janet McKenzie Hill

Who was Janet McKenzie Hill?

Janet McKenzie Hill was a prominent early practitioner of culinary reform, food science and scientific cooking, author of many cookbooks.

Hill was born in Westfield, Massachusetts, the daughter of Alexander McKenzie, a clergyman, and Nancy McKenzie. In 1873 she married Benjamin M. Hill. Hill took up the study of cooking and its related sciences later in life: she returned to school around age 40, graduating from the Boston Cooking School in 1892. Fannie Farmer was assistant principal at the time. In 1896 she founded the Boston Cooking School Magazine. Hill produced several cookbooks promoting the products of a particular company, a practice that began during this period. Alice Bradley, an 1897 graduate of the Boston Cooking School, who later bought Miss Farmer's Cooking school and was cooking editor of the Woman's Home Companion for twenty years, got her start doing cooking demonstrations for Hill.

A small sample of Hill's work is the Baked Bean Sandwich.