The WELCOME TABLE : African-American Heritage Cooking
- Book Review,
by Jessica B. Harris
From Publishers Weekly
Cookbook celebrating the history of African American cuisine. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Harris is the author of a number of good cookbooks, including Iron Pots and Wooden Spoons: Africa's Gifts to New World Cooking (LJ 5/15/89), in some ways the forerunner of this one. Here she presents African American recipes of all sorts, from slave cooking, the source of many classic Southern dishes, to the family favorites she grew up with to her own sophisticated reinterpretations or inventions. Headnotes are readable and informative, providing culinary and cultural background and more; reminiscences from different cooks (and some noncooks) open the various chapters. Angela Medearis's The African-American Kitchen (LJ 8/84) offers a similar, somewhat more personal look at this culinary tradition, but Harris's thoroughly researched book is the essential purchase.Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
If Harris' more than 200 recipes don't appeal at first, her detailed historical introduction and the interviews launching each chapter will initially attract readers. Capturing tradition is her goal; to be true to the African American heritage, she deliberately includes old-fashioned ingredients and cooking methods, including bacon and pork drippings, as well as deep-fat frying, and, in the process, provides two, three, and sometimes four variations on one dish. Her inclusions reflect extensive research into the heart of African American cooking. Appended is a listing of African American restaurants around the country. Barbara Jacobs
Review
Jean Anderson Coauthor, The New Doubleday Cookbook Few of us know what major playes African Americans were in shaping the recipes we consider regional American classics...Jessica Harris set the record straight with love, lyricism, and recipes that set my mouth to watering.
Book Description
The African-American way with food combines the improvisational techniques that gave the world jazz with the culinary techniques and piquant tastes of the African continent. From Hoppin' John to creamy Sweet Potato Pie, from Benne Seed Wafers to the Gospel Bird, African-American cooking recalls its history and speaks eloquently to the richness and diversity of black culture. In The Welcome Table, Jessica Harris presents African-American food at its finest: over 200 recipes, both traditional and contemporary, combined with historical detail and personal interviews and illustrated with beautiful photographs.
About the Author
Jessica B. Harris is the author of A Kwanzaa Keepsake, Tasting Brazil, Iron Pots and Wooden Spoons, and Sky Juice and Flying Fish. Her articles have appeared in Eating Well, Food & Wine, Essence, and The New Yorker. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.
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