Maria Parloa

Biography

Maria Parloa turned her matronly skills into a national vocation, opening cooking schools in Boston and New York that taught young women how to prepare nourishing meals and to run households efficiently. She wrote cookbooks such as 'Common Sense in the Household' that combined practical instruction with a warm, encouraging tone, and she traveled widely to lecture on food science and hygiene.

She believed that thoughtful meal planning and sanitation were essential to healthy families, and her writings—later including 'The Appledore Cook Book'—offered sensible menus, budgeting tips, and a vision of domestic work as a profession deserving respect.