Everyone needs a guide sometime. From a how-to guide in grilling to a recipe book in dessert making, we appreciate when others share their ideas with us. More so, we enjoy learning about new ways and nuances in Southern cooking.
As a Black Southern Belle myself, I love a great cookbook. Cookbooks have brought new dishes into my home and regular made dishes now that I can take to family functions and get great reviews from. Since the summer is here, it is the perfect time to look into some BBQ cookbooks to get a new way of flavors for your next BBQ.
BBQ is a piece of Southern cuisine that has a personal love connection to the black community. Growing up we have experienced BBQ gatherings as a child and now as adults, we are the ones who are continuing the legacy and what better way to continue on an African American tradition then by incorporating African American cookbook BBQ knowledge.
BBQ Cookbooks with Black Heritage To Buy This Summer
Rodney Scott’s World of BBQ: Every Day Is a Good Day: A Cookbook
Rodney Scott is a Lowcountry native born with barbecue in his blood. At the age of eleven, Scott cooked his first whole hog and has been cooking and grilling ever since. Specifically in this cookbook, co-written by Lolis Eric Elie and written by Rodney Scott, readers can get a glimpse into Rodney’s cooking ways for items like pit-smoked turkey, barbecued spare ribs, smoked chicken wings, hush puppies, Ella’s Banana Puddin’ & all things BBQ. Whether it’s building your own pit to become a self-proclaimed pitmaster or understanding traditions of the South, Rodney Scott’s World of BBQ: Every Day Is a Good Day: A Cookbook is the ideal buy for summer cookbooks must-haves.
Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue
A text that emphasizes the impact African Americans have on barbecuing and American cuisines is Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue. Written and crafted by Adrian Miller, Black Smoke is just what our culture needed to remind us of the heritage our ancestors brought to America and how we should continue the legacy. Included in this book are 22 barbecue recipes, an evolving story of African American food, and tradition. This Denver-based food historian and James Beard Award Winner, Adrian Miller, is appreciated by many for his take on this topic and his presentation through the book Black Smoke.
The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South
Michael W. Twitty is a Black Southern Beau who enjoys African American cuisine. He appreciates this cuisine so much that he created a cookbook mixed with our food and African American history. The Cooking Gene, A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South offers an eye opening perspective on the roots of his own family and the politics surrounding the origins of soul food, barbecue, and all Southern cuisine. The 2018 James Beard Foundation Book of the Year, The Cooking Gene, sifts through stories, recipes, historical documents, and ways to heal through food. This book is another great summer read and buy.
These 3 books are important because of the lasting effect our food has on our community and those around us. Many dishes we made are mainstream and now we speak about it through books to keep the BBQ tradition alive in the South.
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