The Foodist: Cookbook Reviews

A Taste of Heritage: The New African-American Cuisine
Chef Joe Randall and Toni Tipton-Martin

Some of the great professional cooks in the country happen to be African-American, and A Taste of Heritage happens to be a collection of foods and dishes that reflect both their family histories and their training. Chef Joe Randall has reached out to 11 of his peers to contribute to this well-rounded cookbook that often makes sublime meals of humble ingredients. It's not a cookbook to keep on the book shelf. A Taste of Heritage is a cookbook you'll want to keep in the kitchen.

Each contributor is profiled at the end of the book, and offers a menu of favorite dishes. This is a wonderful addition, for you are able to get to know each chef by his or her food, not just by personal history. The mighty Patrick Clark, for example, includes a Bay Scallop Chowder, Roasted Rack of Pork with Cider-Pepper Glaze, Sweet Potato and Wild Mushroom Hash, and White Chocolate Banana Cream Pie. From Chicago's Kym Gibson, Curried Chicken, Red Mint Rice, and Saut�ed Green Tomatoes and Olives. From the fantastic Edna Lewis, Virginia Fried Chicken with Brown Gravy, Baked Tomatoes, Baking Powder Biscuits, and Blackberry Cobbler. The list goes on and on, with Chef Randall rounding out the selections.

This is not a book about being fancy for fancy's sake, tricking out some simple fare with trendy ingredients. Nor is it a book about the cooking of African-American church basements. A Taste of Heritage: The New African-American Cuisine is about pride and culture and heritage - a book that celebrates all the life sustaining goodness that can be cooked into food and passed along in good times and bad times alike. While a great deal of the heritage can be laid on the doorstep of the South and southern cooking, these chefs have moved all over the country and served all kinds of palates, and their deep knowledge about what makes food delicious gives these recipes their true bottom. It's a melange, like a fine gumbo.
Schuyler Ingle ...