Rise: Black Cooks and the Soul of American Food

Chef Samuelsson (Yes, Chef) underscores the significance and breadth of Black contributions to America’s culinary culture in this remarkable collection of recipes from and profiles of Black chefs, writers, historians, and more. Among the topics covered are where Black food is headed, its history in various parts of the country, and the influence of the American South (“I’ve come to think of the American South as not only a geographical region but a state of mind... food in the South is still very much West and Central African cooking reinterpreted, remixed, in America”). Recipes include condiments and pantry items, such as San Francisco activist Shakirah Simley’s benne seed dressing and TV food personality Carla Hall’s garden egg chow chow, and heartier items, as with Samuelsson’s bird and toast (an ode to Harlem restaurateur Melba Wilson) and his wife’s recipe for doro wat rigatoni. The variety of recipes is impressive and appealing, from the chicken liver mousse with croissants of Le Bernardin executive chef Eric Gestel to the spiced lemon chess pie by Oxford, Miss., bartender Joe Stinchcomb. While the recipes are reliably excellent, the book’s positive messages of equality, enlightenment, and social justice make it something anyone would want to have in their home. (Oct.)