Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African American Cooking

First, thank you to Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla for getting me a copy of this book Jubliee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African American Cooking by  Toni Tipton-Martin, in advance.  I was in love with it from the first time I saw the cover, beautiful hands around a pot of cooked shrimp.  The hard backed book is textured and is a work of art on its own. As I looked through the recipes, I was taken in by the stories and the historical look at some of the recipes, (some from around 1881) and the stories that the author shared. It is more than a traditional cookbook.

I read the Introduction eagerly. My own grandmother cooked like the cooks honored in this book. Her family was poor and was good at making do with what they had to eat. I wanted to learn more about the food and the culture sounding it. Food has been a source of comfort for me and cooking a way to restore my frantic mind to a place of peace. Cooking slows down my whole body and as I read this book, I found that it was doing the same.

I found the amount of research that went into this book to be deep, rich and broad. The recipes were cooked many times, with many varieties until the recipes could be made in a modern kitchen. I am buoyed up by the thought of all the cooking that took place for this book.

I have plans to cook many recipes from here, particularly the Orange Glazed Chicken Wings, Codfish Balls, and Savannah Pickled Shrimp. The dessert section is so decadent. I need to make Gingerbread with Lemon Sauce and the Every-Kind-of-Cookie-Dough that is a basic cookie dough base, with many varieties to try. 

I highly recommend this delightful book for a holiday gift (this link will lead you to my Amazon store, where I make a small commission on your purchases!) for your favorite cooks. They will recognize the high quality of the book itself, and the recipes within.