Our South Black food through my lens

North Carolina chef, sommelier, and former Top Chef contestant Shanti explores Appalachian food, soul food, and Southern cooking to give readers a deeper understanding of Black foodways. She begins with the necessities for cooking Southern staples like cornbread and dried beans, offering great time-saving tips, such as making double batches of cornbread to freeze and freezing dried beans after soaking. Shanti continues with master recipes for necessities like homemade chicken stock before moving into dishes to enjoy and delight in: brown butter apple pork chops, smoky ham bbq oysters on the half shell, stewed peanut chicken and shrimp rice, and a mouthwatering meal of cube steak, red-eye gravy, broccoli, and crispy potatoes. Shanti brings the region to life with moving descriptions of her childhood, family, and connections to the culture she comes from, adding even more heart to the collection of recipes she has cultivated.

Shanti, having already received recognition from the James Beard Foundation and Eater, plus her stint as a contestant on Top Chef, has written a modern cookbook classic that invites readers and cooks to join her as she shares her early life, her passion for history and food, and her rise to success. She takes readers to the places that helped define her culinary viewpoint, telling through recipes her story of being a Southerner, a chef, and a gay Black woman. The finished product is a treasure, with visits to cherished Southern locales, all with a nod to the African diaspora. Each recipe is lovingly written, beautifully photographed, and carefully chosen to highlight regional flavors and reveal little-known culinary traditions, like leather britches, kilt lettuce, and trout roe beer. Shanti's epic journey will inspire cooks to make every dish featured in the book as they absorb the tales she tells. The hard work that went into this volume is evident, making it a soon-to-be-classic addition to collections that explore American cuisine from a Black viewpoint. VERDICT This important work should be on every library's cookbook shelf.--Ron Block