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Kin: Caribbean Recipes for the Modern Kitchen
‘A beautiful, familiar and comforting cookbook … I can’t wait to buy it for everyone I know’ Candice Carty-Williams
‘An outstanding gem of a book – vibrant, exciting and full of modern twists’ Ixta Belfrage
As the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, Marie Mitchell's cooking is motivated by a powerful desire to understand and celebrate those recipes that have been passed down from generation to generation. In Kin, her hotly anticipated debut cookbook, she shares dishes from the Caribbean and its diaspora, exploring the connection food can foster between different times and different places, and between friends, families and strangers.
Accompanied by gorgeous photographs, many of them shot on location in the Caribbean, the book's eighty recipes - which include crispy saltfish fritters, rich and tempting aubergine curry, slow cooked jerk pork, zingy lime and ginger cheesecake and sweet Guinness punch - confound the widespread misconceptions about Caribbean food that abound in the West, which draw on stereotypes of intense heat, pungent smoke and a handful of familiar dishes. But while chilli is certainly a key ingredient and cooking over fire has a long and storied history, Caribbean cookery is also subtle and playful, layering different notes and spices carefully to create delicate, rewarding flavours.
Crackling with energy and heart, Kin is a love letter to Marie's Caribbean identity, a journey through the region's myriad food cultures and a tribute to this most resourceful, resilient and joyous of cuisines. Here, Caribbean food emerges as one of the first truly global cuisines, borne out of the violent convergence of African, American, European and South Asian cultures in the long, troubling history of empire and emancipation, its legacy preserved - and, ultimately, transformed - by the kinship of those who share food.
‘An outstanding gem of a book – vibrant, exciting and full of modern twists’ Ixta Belfrage
As the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, Marie Mitchell's cooking is motivated by a powerful desire to understand and celebrate those recipes that have been passed down from generation to generation. In Kin, her hotly anticipated debut cookbook, she shares dishes from the Caribbean and its diaspora, exploring the connection food can foster between different times and different places, and between friends, families and strangers.
Accompanied by gorgeous photographs, many of them shot on location in the Caribbean, the book's eighty recipes - which include crispy saltfish fritters, rich and tempting aubergine curry, slow cooked jerk pork, zingy lime and ginger cheesecake and sweet Guinness punch - confound the widespread misconceptions about Caribbean food that abound in the West, which draw on stereotypes of intense heat, pungent smoke and a handful of familiar dishes. But while chilli is certainly a key ingredient and cooking over fire has a long and storied history, Caribbean cookery is also subtle and playful, layering different notes and spices carefully to create delicate, rewarding flavours.
Crackling with energy and heart, Kin is a love letter to Marie's Caribbean identity, a journey through the region's myriad food cultures and a tribute to this most resourceful, resilient and joyous of cuisines. Here, Caribbean food emerges as one of the first truly global cuisines, borne out of the violent convergence of African, American, European and South Asian cultures in the long, troubling history of empire and emancipation, its legacy preserved - and, ultimately, transformed - by the kinship of those who share food.
256 pages, Hardcover
Published June 6, 2024
31 people are currently reading
5073 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 21, 2025
Beautiful book. Gorgeous, atmospheric photographs of Caribbean along with pictures of the food. I loved notes above the recipes giving tips, talking about the history of the dish, and/or providing insight to the author's personal connection to it. The introductions to each chapter about the history of the Caribbean's heritage and food, along with the author's reflections on her own history, were insightful and informative. The reader can tell that this book was made with a lot of love and passion. I was sticky-tabbing pages as I read, and I can't wait to try some of the recipes!
June 19, 2025
A lovely cookbook highlighting Caribbean cuisine. I found the information to be education and the variety of recipes enticing. The photos are quite striking. This is right up there with the best of the Caribbean cookbooks I’ve read - “The Pepperpot Diaries” and “Motherland” being other other top books.
November 30, 2024
This is an excellent cookbook. I've already tried some of the pickle recipes, which were easy to follow. The author, including stories of her family and some history of the Caribbean, is a nice touch.
August 23, 2025
"KIN is a love letter to my Caribbean identity..."
I love an on-the-nose title. If you didn't know, KIN is the airport code for the Kingston, Jamaica airport.
KIN is my new favourite cookbook. The most gorgeous cookbook I've read. It will get the place of honour in my kitchen.
The recipes are lovely and attainable, but also, the book itself is a work of art. The photography, a mix of the food and the natural sights of Jamaica, is stunning. The book feels like home.
The design of the book is equally noteworthy-- from colour palette, to the illustrations-- absolutely gorgeous. I thought that the illustrated index of Caribbean ingredients included at the back of the book was a particularly sweet, engaging, and helpful/practical touch. Even the typeface used for the titles and headings was beautiful and so different from anything we may typically see.
The recipes were interspersed with briefs histories and reflections from the author that were well done and elevated the cookbook's storytelling.
My 2 notes would be:
- "nyam" does not mean "food", but "eat" in Jamaican dialect
- No one living in the Caribbean refers to ourselves collectively as "Caribbeans." In fact, it is a pet peeve for those of us from here, is one of the easiest tells that someone did not grow up here.
I love an on-the-nose title. If you didn't know, KIN is the airport code for the Kingston, Jamaica airport.
KIN is my new favourite cookbook. The most gorgeous cookbook I've read. It will get the place of honour in my kitchen.
The recipes are lovely and attainable, but also, the book itself is a work of art. The photography, a mix of the food and the natural sights of Jamaica, is stunning. The book feels like home.
The design of the book is equally noteworthy-- from colour palette, to the illustrations-- absolutely gorgeous. I thought that the illustrated index of Caribbean ingredients included at the back of the book was a particularly sweet, engaging, and helpful/practical touch. Even the typeface used for the titles and headings was beautiful and so different from anything we may typically see.
The recipes were interspersed with briefs histories and reflections from the author that were well done and elevated the cookbook's storytelling.
My 2 notes would be:
- "nyam" does not mean "food", but "eat" in Jamaican dialect
- No one living in the Caribbean refers to ourselves collectively as "Caribbeans." In fact, it is a pet peeve for those of us from here, is one of the easiest tells that someone did not grow up here.
October 19, 2025
I love this cook book! I especially enjoy all the history/ backstory of each recipe. The recipes are easy, fast, and have affordable ingredients. My favorite recipes so far are the cornbread and the black bean soup!
Thank you so much Goodreads giveaways for providing me a copy of this book!
Thank you so much Goodreads giveaways for providing me a copy of this book!
April 14, 2025
A beautiful Caribbean cookbook. It will introduce you to new tastes and give you a little history of the food. A wonderful addition to your cookbook library.
#Kin
#Kin
December 9, 2025
absolutely stunning - amazing photos, great cover, readable but fun text, and what appear to be great recipes with lots of wiggle room for dietary restrictions. have 15 (listed below, but for reference i do not eat meat) recipes i want to try from my flip through! will report back when i try them.
**recipes i marked down**
pg58 fried plantain with lime & scotch bonnet salt
pg74 peppered tofu
pg118 moros y cristianos (cousin of rice and peas)
pg126 pops' mac pie
pg137 black bean soup
pg145 ital chickpea curry
pg147 ital coconut stew
pg148 jerk jackfruit
pg150 creamy tomato curry
pg152 squash soup
pg156 callaloo greens soup
pg159 eggplant curry
pg196 toto coconut loaf
pg200 sweet potato pudding
**recipes i marked down**
pg58 fried plantain with lime & scotch bonnet salt
pg74 peppered tofu
pg118 moros y cristianos (cousin of rice and peas)
pg126 pops' mac pie
pg137 black bean soup
pg145 ital chickpea curry
pg147 ital coconut stew
pg148 jerk jackfruit
pg150 creamy tomato curry
pg152 squash soup
pg156 callaloo greens soup
pg159 eggplant curry
pg196 toto coconut loaf
pg200 sweet potato pudding
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews