Her 1977 book The Taste of America co-authored with her late husband, John L. Hess, established them as anti-establishment members of the culinary world.
Born in Blair, Nebraska, she attended Humboldt State University in Arcata, California, where she majored in music.
Among their targets were celebrity chefs Craig Claiborne, James Beard and Julia Child.
The New York Times said in her obituary: "Ms. Hess, known as a kind but combative personality, did not shrink from taking on the icons of American cookery, who she felt presented a false picture not only of the quality of American food and cooking but also of its history.
[4] She also annotated What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking (Applewood Books, 1995), one of the oldest known African-American cookbooks, originally published in 1881.