Black Food: Stories, Art, and More than 75 Recipes from Across the African Diaspora: A Cookbook

Description

A beautiful, rich, and groundbreaking book exploring Black foodways within America and around the world, curated by food activist and author of Vegetable Kingdom Bryant Terry. WINNER OF THE ART OF EATING PRIZE . JAMES BEARD AWARD NOMINEE . ONE OF THE TEN BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR- The New Yorker, San Francisco Chronicle, Boston Globe . ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR- The Washington Post, Time Out, NPR, Los Angeles Times, Food52, Glamour, New York Post, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Vice, Epicurious, Shelf Awareness, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal "Mouthwatering, visually stunning, and intoxicating, Black Food tells a global story of creativity, endurance, and imagination that was sustained in the face of dispersal, displacement, and oppression."-Imani Perry, Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University In this stunning and deeply heartfelt tribute to Black culinary ingenuity, Bryant Terry captures the broad and divergent voices of the African Diaspora through the prism of food. With contributions from more than 100 Black cultural luminaires from around the globe, the book moves through chapters exploring parts of the Black experience, from Homeland to Migration, Spirituality to Black Future, offering delicious recipes, moving essays, and arresting artwork. As much a joyful celebration of Black culture as a cookbook, Black Food explores the interweaving of food, experience, and community through original poetry and essays, including "Jollofing with Toni Morrison" by Sarah Ladipo Manyika, "Queer Intelligence" by Zoe Adjonyoh, "The Spiritual Ecology of Black Food" by Leah Penniman, and "Foodsteps in Motion" by Michael W. Twitty. The recipes are similarly expansive and generous, including sentimental favorites and fresh takes such as Crispy Cassava Skillet Cakes from Yewande Komolafe, Okra & Shrimp Purloo from BJ Dennis, Jerk Chicken Ramen from Suzanne Barr, Avocado and Mango Salad with Spicy Pickled Carrot and Rof Dressing from Pierre Thiam, and Sweet Potato Pie from Jenne Claiborne. Visually stunning artwork from such notables as Black Panther Party creative director Emory Douglas and artist Sarina Mantle are woven throughout, and the book includes a signature musical playlist curated by Bryant. With arresting artwork and innovative design, Black Food is a visual and spiritual feast that will satisfy any soul.

Bryant Terry is an NAACP Image Award winner and a James Beard Award-winning chef and educator and the author of Afro-Vegan and Vegetable Kingdom. He is renowned for his activism and efforts to create a healthy, equitable, and sustainable food system. He is currently the chef-in-residence at the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco, where he creates programming that celebrates the intersection of food, farming, health, activism, art, culture, and the African Diaspora. His work has been featured in the New York Times and Washington Post and on CBS This Morning and on NPR's All Things Considered. San Francisco magazine included Bryant among the 11 Smartest People in the Bay Area Food Scene and Fast Company named him one of 9 People Who Are Changing the Future of Food.

"It's the kind of book that belongs both on your coffee table and in your regular kitchen rotation."-Eater "The book reveals the importance of food and community from diverse perspectives and encompasses Black cuisines from the Caribbean, the U.S., and across the African continent. And while cooking is central throughout, Black Food also sheds light on such issues as land access, spirituality, and the meaning of migratory patterns-chosen and unchosen."-Wall Street Journal The book, which brings together a chorus of voices across the Black American diaspora, shape-shifts from recipes to art to essays, and you'll find something new every time you open the book to a different page. It's almost hard to call it a cookbook, because you'll be gaining more than a few recipes from it."-Bon Appetit "This collection of essays, visual art, playlists, poems, and recipes commissioned and curated from more than 100 chefs and spirits experts, artists, scholars, activists, journalists, and leaders feels like a holy pursuit for Terry in its faithful documentation of the rites, rituals, and history of the nourishment of Black bodies, minds, and spirits, as well as a pulpit from which to share the gospel of self and community care. But unlike an ecclesiastical relic-hidebound, carved in stone, set out of reach-Terry means this book to be a living, evolving thing, accessible to all."-Food & Wine "Black Food is a cookbook, and a delight to use as such (think Peach Hand Pies, Okra and Shrimp Purloo, and Jerk Chicken Ramen), but more important, it's a testament to diverse cultures around the world and their foodways that includes literature about resources, agriculture, cooking and community. Food activist and writer Terry ('Vegetable Kingdom') adds generous dollops of joy, too."-Washington Post "Food activist Terry's Black Food reaches well beyond the scope of a cookbook, bringing together essays, poems, illustrations, stories, and recipes to pay homage to Black culinary art."-Alta Journal "Black Food is simply gorgeous. Mouthwatering, visually stunning, and intoxicating, Black Food tells a global story of creativity, endurance, and imagination that was sustained in the face of dispersal, displacement, and oppression."-Imani Perry, Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University "Food activist Terry's Black Food reaches well beyond the scope of a cookbook, bringing together essays, poems, illustrations, stories, and recipes to pay homage to Black culinary art."-Alta Journal "Numerous books of this kind have been published in the last few years, and this one outshines them all, particularly because of Bryant's acute vision of bringing together a mix of voices and people who form this distinct, yet loose definition of Black Food."-Edward Lee, chef and author of Buttermilk Graffiti and Smoke and Pickles "Black Food is an important and necessary book, a kaleidoscopic, almost dizzying vision of the foods of the African Diaspora that not only connects Africa and the US but reaches out to the Caribbean and Brazil. I hear the voices of a complex community of Black cooks and food writers-some seasoned professionals, others enthusiastic newcomers-who have each made sense of the African Diaspora in their own terms. Black Food is a trailblazing book on the crossroad of time and space and imbued with the irreverent eclecticism of Afrofuturism."-Maricel Presilla, chef, culinary historian, and author of Peppers of the Americas "The diverse cooking of delicious food inspired by all parts of the Americas, Africa, and other influences make this book one of the most important of this generation."-Todd Richards, author of Soul: A Chef's Culinary Evolution in 150 Recipes and owner of Lake & Oak Neighborhood BBQ and Soul: Food and Culture "Black Food showcases the profound world of Black culture and its influence. A very important addition to this year's offerings, historic."-Frank Stitt, author of Frank Stitt's Southern Table and owner of Highlands Bar and Grill and Bottega "This exuberant work cooked up by James Beard Award-winning chef Terry is way more than a notable collection of recipes. Stuffed with essays, poetry, and artwork from a cast of brilliant creatives with their finger on the pulse of Black culture and the culinary world, it sweeps readers from West Africa to Jamaica to New York with sumptuous stories that feed the soul."-Publishers Weekly "Best Books of 2021-Lifestyle" "Whether read straight through or browsed section by section, this meaningful book brings Black foodways into focus and will leave a lasting impact."-Library Journal