To be honest, I was a little unprepared for the book. I thought that this book would focus on recipes from the archives of cookbooks and go into depth on how these recipes defined the time and culture. I also expected to see more innovative recipes that were a result of the limited availability of ingredients. I could clearly see the amount of passion the author poured into this book. The years of collecting and finding these cookbooks and the author's in depth analysis was impressive. The images and snippets from these books were some of my favorite parts of the book. However, I think the author could have organized the book by combining the analysis into topics based on time periods, locations, or as examples of the cultural stereotypes. Then maybe the author could have added more analysis on recipes that define the culture and added some recipes. Mostly, the book was a beautiful and informative compilation of African American culinary history.

This was a great historical journey into the history of African Americans cooking in America. Influenced by the times and cultures near and far, I am ashamed to admit that I didn't realize just how much the "Aunt Jemima" characterization helped to perpetuate stereotypes for generations. I thoroughly appreciated the information on cookbooks, which are listed chronologically and serves as a valuable historical and culinary lesson.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for allowing me to preview this book. This is an amazing cookbook for those who are wanting to know more about the history of African American cooks, the culture, catering ideas, and information from the African American cooks, chefs, and community that hopes to share their pride and history. This is a must have for your cookbook collection!

I am disappointed, I thought it would be a book with many recipes from the two centuries o f African American cooking books, but it was in the first place a history of cookbooks that was not what I expected when I had requested it. My other complaining was a format of this book that was not comfortable to handle for me as a reader.

For sure interesting insights in American history, but the book didn't get all my attention and I gave up somewhere in the middle of it.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Thanks to the author for providing a copy of this book via Netgalley!

Beautiful book: we get gorgeous illustrations, history of American cuisine, stories about african-american mothers and grandmothers who did stunning job to create some wonderful meals.

I recommend this one to everybody who like to cook and to learn some of history about their favorite meals.

Jemima Code

My thanks to #NetGalley for this ebook in exchange for an honest review. The Jemima Code is no ordinary cookbook. Part history book, part anthology, and mostly a tribute to the magnificence and resiliency of the African-American culinary contribution. The African and African American contributions to the American Southern cooking are well chronicled within the book, and a more complete understanding of the African-American place in the American culinary tradition. Highly recommended for any cook who likes to know the history of the American culinary tradition.

This was an interesting book, in a format I don’t think I have ever seen before. According to the publisher’s notes about the book, the author has one of the largest private collections of cookbooks by/about African American cooks, and this book is a compilation of reviews/descriptions of more than 150 of these cookbooks.

The book is divided into chapters that are broken down by time periods. Each chapter begins with a short essay about the historical period covered within that chapter, and the how the cookbooks of that particular era reflected the beliefs society held about these chefs and home cooks during that period. This essay is followed by entries about each individual cookbook, featuring a photo of the cover, a description of the content, and sometimes images from inside the book as well.

I found myself slightly disappointed with this book. At first because I was hoping to find more actually recipes, but once I really understood that this was not the intent of the book, I found myself disappointed that the later chapters felt much less analytical about the social milieu out of which those later books arose.

I finished the book unsure whether the author was trying to provide a bibliography of sorts featuring African American cookbooks, in which case I would have liked to see more of the actual pages inside the books, or if she was trying to do a scholarly examination of society as reflected through the framework of cookbooks, in which case I wish she would have included fewer books, and examined the ones she did include more closely. In either situation I finished this book with a better understanding of what my college professors meant when they told me that I hadn’t taken my argument far enough. I would love to read more from this author, but only if she digs more deeply into what we can learn about society through a careful examination of the domestic art of cooking.

This is the type of food history I love to read about. I love reading about what cooking looked like in previous centuries and this did not disappoint. I only wish I would look in all of these mentioned cookbooks.

A wonderful cookbook that connects the history with the recipes of African American culture. Really great read

An interesting read about African-American chefs and cookbooks through history. I really enjoyed this book!

This book is an excellent, thoroughly-research, and timely read. I enjoyed it immensely and recommend it to anyone who wants to understand more about the history and culture of food in the United States. Fantastic!

Not really what I was expecting ( a cook book) , instead it is an encyclopedia about the history of African American cookbooks from the 19th century to the present.A great resource of information about who created what recipes, I might add.

This book is for history and food lovers and people like me who are African American history buffs. It was absolutely fascinating to see the space we created for ourselves in the world of cookbooks and domestic service. We were not just cooks, maids and butlers. We wrote guidelines for running an entire household, managing dinner parties and creating numerous dishes with sweet potatoes (my favorite). I wish I could afford to purchase every single cookbook mentioned. Maybe one day.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for and honest review. I selected this book thinking it was a cookbook. However, it turned out to be so much more. I learned so much from this book I was almost in tears. The history, the depth and the extraordinary research that was done to bring this book to life. I was constantly writing and searching for the the books mentioned in this book. I had no idea the depth and sacrifices people made in order to share their recipes with the world.

Phenomenal!
The work done by Ms. Tipton-Martin on the role of African-Americans in the history of culinary arts is to be applauded! While this subject has been written about previously by a limited group of authors who are solid in their knowledge and provide excellent information, add this book to the list. Ms. Tipton-Martin has provided vivid documentation on the contributions of African-Americans to the culinary world as well as the background information demonstrating how these contributions fit into history
The breadth of publications in this book, some as early as before 1900, demonstrates the contributions made by African-Americans to a level that has not been previously acknowledged. It is even more interesting to know how many more contributions made and recipes they created that were not credited to them. The removal of credit may lead to an erasing of the history surrounding that creation. Ms. Tipton-Martin has contributed a revelation of that history. Well done!
DISCLAIMER: I voluntarily received a copy of this work in eBook format from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The thoughts and opinions given in this review are my own.

I was unable to download this and view. I followed the directions for viewing on a PC and it did not work. I was really looking forward to viewing this since I love Soul Food.

I had heard really great things about this book and was very excited to get a copy. It did not disappoint! The history of these cooks and the food they created is fascinating. The recipes, although not as many as I would have liked, are charming and flavorful. Everyone who enjoys cooking should have a copy of this book... keep it on your coffee table and invite your friends who also enjoy cooking over for a cuppa and great conversation.

I had the pleasure of seeing this author at the Texas Book Festival where she was moderating a session for another author. Out of curiousity I looked her up and found this book - am I glad I did. This is an extensive, detailed and historically accurate book of African American Cooks and Cookbooks. The many photos of cooks, cookbooks, receipes and articles were incredible. This is a history book more than a cookbook and I am very glad it is. As much as I enjoyed the book itself, the forward and introduction were also well worth the read and gave you insight into the author.

I have heard several authors of fiction (particularly of a particular culture or era) say that cookbooks are an important part of their research before writing. This book takes a deep dive into the cookbooks themselves, in particular, American cookbooks written by African American authors. I learned about this book around the same time that another title contends with some of the same material (The Cooking Gene: a journey through African American culinary history in the Old South by Michael Twitty) and I plan to pick up Twitty's book next. The rich heritage of culinary artistry among African Americans is explored in this book and it is fascinating to read the language and focus of recipes from earlier centuries in America. Close attention and recognition needs to be given to the contribution of African American citizens as well as the appropriation and assimilation of African culture into the more general American culture. I especially enjoyed the visual aspect of viewing the actual pages of these cookbooks from earlier eras. A great book for anyone interested in American history and culture.

Extraordinary bibliographie and research. This a geam that must be in own libraries.