The first major Gullah Geechee cookbook from “the matriarch of Edisto Island,” who provides delicious recipes and the history of an overlooked American community The history of the Gullah and Geechee people stretches back centuries, when enslaved members of this community were historically isolated from the rest of the South because of their location on the Sea Islands of coastal South Carolina and Georgia. Today, this Lowcountry community represents the most direct living link to the traditional culture, language, and foodways of their West African ancestors. Gullah Geechee Home Cooking, written by Emily Meggett, the matriarch of Edisto Island, is the preeminent Gullah cookbook. At 89 years old, and with more than 50 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, Meggett is a respected elder in the Gullah community of South Carolina. She has lived on the island all her life, and even at her age, still cooks for hundreds of people out of her hallowed home kitchen. Her house is a place of pilgrimage for anyone with an interest in Gullah Geechee food. Meggett’s Gullah food is rich and flavorful, though it is also often lighter and more seasonal than other types of Southern cooking. Heirloom rice, fresh-caught seafood, local game, and vegetables are key to her recipes for regional delicacies like fried oysters, collard greens, and stone-ground grits. This cookbook includes not only delicious and accessible recipes, but also snippets of the Meggett family history on Edisto Island, which stretches back into the 19th century. Rich in both flavor and history, Meggett’s Gullah Geechee Home Cooking is a testament to the syncretism of West African and American cultures that makes her home of Edisto Island so unique.

The first major Gullah Geechee cookbook from "the matriarch of Edisto Island," who provides delicious recipes and the history of an overlooked American community The history of the Gullah and Geechee people stretches back centuries, when enslaved members of this community were historically isolated from the rest of the South because of their location on the Sea Islands of coastal South Carolina and Georgia. Today, this Lowcountry community represents the most direct living link to the traditional culture, language, and foodways of their West African ancestors. Gullah Geechee Home Cooking, written by Emily Meggett, the matriarch of Edisto Island, is the preeminent Gullah cookbook. At 89 years old, and with more than 50 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, Meggett is a respected elder in the Gullah community of South Carolina. She has lived on the island all her life, and even at her age, still cooks for hundreds of people out of her hallowed home kitchen. Her house is a place of pilgrimage for anyone with an interest in Gullah Geechee food. Meggett's Gullah food is rich and flavorful, though it is also often lighter and more seasonal than other types of Southern cooking. Heirloom rice, fresh-caught seafood, local game, and vegetables are key to her recipes for regional delicacies like fried oysters, collard greens, and stone-ground grits. This cookbook includes not only delicious and accessible recipes, but also snippets of the Meggett family history on Edisto Island, which stretches back into the 19th century. Rich in both flavor and history, Meggett's Gullah Geechee Home Cooking is a testament to the syncretism of West African and American cultures that makes her home of Edisto Island so unique.

Vibration Cooking was first published in 1970, not long after the term “soul food” gained common use. While critics were quick to categorize her as a proponent of soul food, Smart-Grosvenor wanted to keep the discussion of her cookbook/memoir focused on its message of food as a source of pride and validation of black womanhood and black “consciousness raising.” In 1959, at the age of nineteen, Smart-Grosvenor sailed to Europe, “where the bohemians lived and let live.” Among the cosmopolites of radical Paris, the Gullah girl from the South Carolina low country quickly realized that the most universal lingua franca is a well-cooked meal. As she recounts a cool cat’s nine lives as chanter, dancer, costume designer, and member of the Sun Ra Solar-Myth Arkestra, Smart-Grosvenor introduces us to a rich cast of characters. We meet Estella Smart, Vertamae’s grandmother and connoisseur of mountain oysters; Uncle Costen, who lived to be 112 and knew how to make Harriet Tubman Ragout; and Archie Shepp, responsible for Collard Greens à la Shepp, to name a few. She also tells us how poundcake got her a marriage proposal (she didn’t accept) and how she perfected omelettes in Paris, enchiladas in New Mexico, biscuits in Mississippi, and feijoida in Brazil. “When I cook, I never measure or weigh anything,” writes Smart-Grosvenor. “I cook by vibration.” This edition features a foreword by Psyche Williams-Forson placing the book in historical context and discussing Smart-Grosvenor’s approach to food and culture. A new preface by the author details how she came to write Vibration Cooking.

The history of the Gullah and Geechee people extends back generations, when enslaved members of this society were traditionally separated from the rest of the South due to their position on the Sea Islands of coastal South Carolina and Georgia. Today, this Lowcountry group provides the greatest direct living connection to the traditional culture, language, and foodways of their West African ancestors. Gullah Geechee Home Cooking: Mama'a Family Secret recipe is the classic Gullah cookbook. Gullah cuisine is rich and savory, while it is also generally lighter and more seasonal than other forms of Southern cookery. Heirloom rice, fresh-caught seafood, local game, and vegetables are vital to her recipes for regional favorites like fried oysters, collard greens, and stone-ground grits. This cookbook contains not only tasty and accessible recipes, but also pieces of the family history which reaches back into the 70's.

A celebration of African American cooking with 109 recipes from the National Museum of African American History and Culture's Sweet Home Café Since the 2016 opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, its Sweet Home Café has become a destination in its own right. Showcasing African American contributions to American cuisine, the café offers favorite dishes made with locally sourced ingredients, adding modern flavors and contemporary twists on classics. Now both readers and home cooks can partake of the café's bounty: drawing upon traditions of family and fellowship strengthened by shared meals, Sweet Home Café Cookbook celebrates African American cooking through recipes served by the café itself and dishes inspired by foods from African American culture. With 109 recipes, the sumptuous Sweet Home Café Cookbook takes readers on a deliciously unique journey. Presented here are the salads, sides, soups, snacks, sauces, main dishes, breads, and sweets that emerged in America as African, Caribbean, and European influences blended together. Featured recipes include Pea Tendril Salad, Fried Green Tomatoes, Hoppin' John, Sénégalaise Peanut Soup, Maryland Crab Cakes, Jamaican Grilled Jerk Chicken, Shrimp & Grits, Fried Chicken and Waffles, Pan Roasted Rainbow Trout, Hickory Smoked Pork Shoulder, Chow Chow, Banana Pudding, Chocolate Chess Pie, and many others. More than a collection of inviting recipes, this book illustrates the pivotal--and often overlooked--role that African Americans have played in creating and re-creating American foodways. Offering a deliciously new perspective on African American food and culinary culture, Sweet Home Café Cookbook is an absolute must-have.

The Golden Isles are home to a long and proud African American and Gullah Geechee heritage. Ibo Landing was the site of a mass suicide in protest of slavery, the slave ship Wanderer landed on Jekyll Island and, thanks to preservation efforts, the Historic Harrington School still stands on St. Simons Island. From the Selden Normal and Industrial Institute to the tabby cabins of Hamilton Plantation, authors Amy Roberts and Patrick Holladay explore the rich history of the region's islands and their people, including such local notables as Deaconess Alexander, Jim Brown, Neptune Small, Hazel Floyd and the Georgia Sea Island Singers.

Charleston's Gullah Recipes: The Gullah People have managed to keep many aspects of their cultural heritage alive today, as evident in their dialect and through their food. We call it love food because you could tell that someone who cared prepared it. They knew that taste mattered. The Gullah People cooked with everything they grew and brought over from Africa. Now you can enjoy many of the same dishes that were handed down for generations. You have not really eaten until you have tasted some of the delicious meals from Charleston's Gullah Recipes.

At oyster roasts and fancy cotillions, in fish camps and cutting-edge restaurants, the people of South Carolina gather to enjoy one of America's most distinctive cuisines--the delicious, inventive fare of the Lowcountry. In his classic Hoppin' John's Lowcountry Cooking, John Martin Taylor brings us 250 authentic and updated recipes for regional favorites, including shrimp and grits, she-crab soup, pickled watermelon rinds, and Frogmore stew. Taylor, who grew up casting shrimp nets in Lowcountry marshes, adds his personal experiences in bringing these dishes to the table and leads readers on a veritable treasure hunt throughout the region, giving us a delightful taste of an extraordinary way of life.

Theresa Jenkins Hilliard was born on Edisto Island, SC where she spent her early childhood under the guardianship of her beloved grandmother, Susan Jenkins, affectionately known as Mama Doonk. She developed an interest in cooking at an early age and watched attentively as her grandmother prepared the family meals. Her grandmother always involved her in the preparation of the meals by assigning her to whatever her little hands could do. This was her grandmother's way of teaching her. She later began cooking at an early age under her grandmother's tutelage. She has been preparing Gullah cuisine for her family and friends for the past sixty years. What began as a scrapbook of recipes for her children culminated into "Mama Doonk's Gullah Recipes" Book named for her grandmother. Theresa later moved to the historic Maryville/Ashleyville neighborhood in the West Ashley area of Charleston, on the site where Charleston was founded in 1670, to live with her mother Molly. Molly moved to Charleston during the Great Migration of the 1940s to work as a cook for a wealthy south of Broad Street family. Under her mother's tutelage, Theresa's love for cooking continued to grow. Food was always the focal point of every celebration. No matter the occasion, food was a part of it. Theresa always prepared the celebratory meals, which always included Gullah food. This book includes dishes prepared by her grandmother, her mother, and her aunt, as well as some of Theresa's favorite dishes that she has prepared during the years. You will find her grandmother's rabbit, opossum, and raccoon stew, shrimp and grits, corn fritters, okra soup, and mouthwatering homemade biscuits. She includes her mother's corn muffins and roast duck, as well as, her Aunt Edna's, squash casserole and easy pound cake. Her ancestors were all great cooks. This book gives you a glimpse of history when food were from the land, sea, wood, fields and trees, long before all of the modern conveniences of "store bought" food. Their food was literally from the field to the plate long before it became popular. Theresa adds some antidotes that will make you chuckle as you reminisce. Take a step back in time with her. This book will jog the memory of some and give others a peek into the past. "Hunna en had good eatin' 'til ya' grease ya' mouf' wid Gullah food." (You all haven't had good eating until you've eaten Gullah food). Theresa's descendants were members of a distinctive group of people known as Gullah-Geechee. Theresa stands on the wings of three very special women whose teachings have made a significant impact on her life. This book is dedicated to her beloved grandmother, Mama Doonk, her most treasured mother Molly and her dear aunt, Edna. Their recipes will live on forever between these pages.