Cooking can be very intimidating, especially when we didn’t grow up learning or seeing family come together for big meals. But on the other hand, it can be this wonderful event, celebration, or an intimate thing we do with the people we love.
Either way, as much as we cherish such big or small meals, we can become afraid to cook because it won’t be the same. Or at least you feel that way. You won’t get the same experiences or outcomes when cooking yourself. Like anything else, mental and physical prep must be done: brainstorming, shopping lists, grocery store queues, time management, etc.
Sometimes, this pressure can be built up to preserve our Black American culture and familial traditions, a combination of many influences. In these cases, cooking joins the list of things that are necessary but probably wouldn’t care about.
Falling In Love With Food All Over Again
Slowly, through your most intimate relationships with friends and partners, you begin to see the beauty — and rewards — of cooking.
Stop giving in to that defeat of always bringing chips or paper products to social gatherings. You can start slowly by asking a family member to send Christmas and Thanksgiving recipes. You can even volunteer to host Thanksgiving dinner at your place.
Each time you hear your loved ones praise the foods you prepared for them, you’ll feel more confident that you can carry out traditions your way.
Cookbooks
These seven cookbooks by Black chefs have inspired and fed in nutrients, joy, and spiritual sustenance. They’re also helping people overcome their personal fears of cooking.
Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African American Cooking
by Toni Tipton-Martin
Who says a cookbook can’t also be a history lesson?
Tipton-Martin draws on her nutritionist and food activist background to amass over 125 recipes demonstrating soul food’s complexity and nuance.
“Jubilee” pushes beyond the trope of soul food as survival, wherein enslaved and impoverished Africans created a new cuisine from plantation scraps. The author showcases the culinary skills of enslaved Black chefs, entrepreneurs, the upper class, and everything in between.
You will be joyfully full, whether the black-eyed pea fritters, okra gumbo, or braised lamb shanks with
