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Afro-Vegan: Farm-Fresh African, Caribbean, and Southern Flavors Remixed
Renowned chef and food justice activist Bryant Terry reworks and remixes the favorite staples, ingredients, and classic dishes of the African Diaspora to present more than 100 wholly new, creative culinary combinations that will amaze vegans, vegetarians, and omnivores alike.
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST VEGETARIAN COOKBOOKS OF ALL TIME BY BON APPÉTIT
Blending African, Carribean, and southern cuisines results in delicious recipes like Smashed Potatoes, Peas, and Corn with Chile-Garlic Oil, a recipe inspired by the Kenyan dish irio , and Cinnamon-Soaked Wheat Berry Salad with dried apricots, carrots, and almonds, which is based on a Moroccan tagine. Creamy Coconut-Cashew Soup with Okra, Corn, and Tomatoes pays homage to a popular Brazilian dish while incorporating classic Southern ingredients, and Crispy Teff and Grit Cakes with Eggplant, Tomatoes, and Peanuts combines the Ethiopian grain teff with stone-ground corn grits from the Deep South and North African zalook dip. There’s perfect potluck fare, such as the simple, warming, and intensely flavored Collard Greens and Cabbage with Lots of Garlic, and the Caribbean-inspired Cocoa Spice Cake with Crystallized Ginger and Coconut-Chocolate Ganache, plus a refreshing Roselle-Rooibos Drink that will satisfy any sweet tooth.
With more than 100 modern and delicious dishes that draw on Terry’s personal memories as well as the history of food that has traveled from the African continent, Afro-Vegan takes you on an international food journey. Accompanying the recipes are Terry’s insights about building community around food, along with suggested music tracks from around the world and book recommendations. For anyone interested in improving their well-being, Afro-Vegan ’s groundbreaking recipes offer innovative, plant-based global cuisine that is fresh, healthy, and forges a new direction in vegan cooking.
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST VEGETARIAN COOKBOOKS OF ALL TIME BY BON APPÉTIT
Blending African, Carribean, and southern cuisines results in delicious recipes like Smashed Potatoes, Peas, and Corn with Chile-Garlic Oil, a recipe inspired by the Kenyan dish irio , and Cinnamon-Soaked Wheat Berry Salad with dried apricots, carrots, and almonds, which is based on a Moroccan tagine. Creamy Coconut-Cashew Soup with Okra, Corn, and Tomatoes pays homage to a popular Brazilian dish while incorporating classic Southern ingredients, and Crispy Teff and Grit Cakes with Eggplant, Tomatoes, and Peanuts combines the Ethiopian grain teff with stone-ground corn grits from the Deep South and North African zalook dip. There’s perfect potluck fare, such as the simple, warming, and intensely flavored Collard Greens and Cabbage with Lots of Garlic, and the Caribbean-inspired Cocoa Spice Cake with Crystallized Ginger and Coconut-Chocolate Ganache, plus a refreshing Roselle-Rooibos Drink that will satisfy any sweet tooth.
With more than 100 modern and delicious dishes that draw on Terry’s personal memories as well as the history of food that has traveled from the African continent, Afro-Vegan takes you on an international food journey. Accompanying the recipes are Terry’s insights about building community around food, along with suggested music tracks from around the world and book recommendations. For anyone interested in improving their well-being, Afro-Vegan ’s groundbreaking recipes offer innovative, plant-based global cuisine that is fresh, healthy, and forges a new direction in vegan cooking.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2014
588 people are currently reading
2793 people want to read
About the author
Bryant Terry
14 books270 followersbryant terry is a multidisciplinary artist, chef, publisher, and author. His studio practice bridges cooking, sculpture, sound, video, and social practice to explore resilience, cultural memory, and liberation. From 2015 to 2022, he served as the inaugural Chef-in-Residence at San Francisco’s Museum of the African Diaspora, curating dynamic programming connecting food, health, farming, art, and activism.
His art and ideas have been featured at leading institutions including the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Harvard Graduate School of Design, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, The Underground Museum, The Birmingham Museum of Art, Worth Ryder Art Gallery, and The Hammer Museum at UCLA.
As founder and editor-in-chief of 4 Color Books (an imprint of Ten Speed Press/Penguin Random House), he collaborates with visionary creatives of color to produce visually stunning nonfiction books. Notable 4 Color titles include The Scarr’s Pizza Cookbook by Scarr Pimentel, My Cambodia by Nite Yun with Tien Nguyen, The Black Yearbook by Adraint Khadafhi Bereal, and The Memory of Taste by Tu David Phu and Soleil Ho. Forthcoming works include cookbooks by Carla Hall, Nasim Lahbichi, Rashad Frazier, and Amethyst Ganaway.
terry’s achievements in the publishing world include authoring five highly acclaimed cookbooks, editing and curating an anthology, Black Food, and serving as the editor of The Best American Food and Travel Writing 2025. His work has earned him prestigious honors, including a James Beard Award, an NAACP Image Award, and an Art of Eating Prize. His book Black Food received widespread praise and was hailed as the most critically acclaimed American cookbook of 2021.
terry is the recipient of numerous grants and residencies, including those from the Headlands Center for the Arts (Graduate Fellowship), Open Society Foundations (Community Fellowship), the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (Food and Society Fellowship), UC Berkeley’s Black Studies Collaboratory (Artist Fellowship), and the East Bay Fund for Artists.
terry completed an MFA in Art Practice at UC Berkeley in 2025. He holds an MA in History from NYU and received his culinary training at the Natural Gourmet Institute. He presents frequently around the country as a keynote speaker at community events, conferences, and colleges.
His art and ideas have been featured at leading institutions including the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Harvard Graduate School of Design, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, The Underground Museum, The Birmingham Museum of Art, Worth Ryder Art Gallery, and The Hammer Museum at UCLA.
As founder and editor-in-chief of 4 Color Books (an imprint of Ten Speed Press/Penguin Random House), he collaborates with visionary creatives of color to produce visually stunning nonfiction books. Notable 4 Color titles include The Scarr’s Pizza Cookbook by Scarr Pimentel, My Cambodia by Nite Yun with Tien Nguyen, The Black Yearbook by Adraint Khadafhi Bereal, and The Memory of Taste by Tu David Phu and Soleil Ho. Forthcoming works include cookbooks by Carla Hall, Nasim Lahbichi, Rashad Frazier, and Amethyst Ganaway.
terry’s achievements in the publishing world include authoring five highly acclaimed cookbooks, editing and curating an anthology, Black Food, and serving as the editor of The Best American Food and Travel Writing 2025. His work has earned him prestigious honors, including a James Beard Award, an NAACP Image Award, and an Art of Eating Prize. His book Black Food received widespread praise and was hailed as the most critically acclaimed American cookbook of 2021.
terry is the recipient of numerous grants and residencies, including those from the Headlands Center for the Arts (Graduate Fellowship), Open Society Foundations (Community Fellowship), the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (Food and Society Fellowship), UC Berkeley’s Black Studies Collaboratory (Artist Fellowship), and the East Bay Fund for Artists.
terry completed an MFA in Art Practice at UC Berkeley in 2025. He holds an MA in History from NYU and received his culinary training at the Natural Gourmet Institute. He presents frequently around the country as a keynote speaker at community events, conferences, and colleges.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 137 reviews
September 29, 2018
This book's theme is the connection between Africa and the Americas (particularly (souther) US, the Caribbean isles, and Brazil), though recipes presented here. Some are no doubt familiar from the author's previous books, but they have been 'remixed' here. There are 100+ recipes, many with pictures; at the end are some menu suggestions. Michael W. Twitty (author of "the Cooking Gene", another great book) gives the afterword. Again Terry gives us music with each recipes, and books/films with some, also. The theme is heritage, and it shows.
I think this is perhaps his most balanced vegan cookbook, of the three so far. The theme is brought out clearly, and they have gives me the best urges to try the recipes. I don't list recipes from the first section here, but certainly from the others:
A very delicious experience of a read, certainly the best out of three of his I've read now. Very cheery to read, and inspiring. Very worth it.
I think this is perhaps his most balanced vegan cookbook, of the three so far. The theme is brought out clearly, and they have gives me the best urges to try the recipes. I don't list recipes from the first section here, but certainly from the others:
A very delicious experience of a read, certainly the best out of three of his I've read now. Very cheery to read, and inspiring. Very worth it.
February 8, 2017
Oops, I totally forgot to add and review this book ages ago! Or at least, like three weeks ago.
As half of my family is from Southeast Texas with roots in Louisiana, much of this is the kind of food I grew up on, and feels like home. Or at least like my mom's home. It's also one of the very, very few cookbooks in which I actually read all the introductions and essays and things. It's super interesting, and gives a really good overview of the history behind many of these dishes and where they come from and why they're culturally important, and also includes music and film pairings, and now I want to read everything of Bryant Terry's! Seriously, one of my very favorite cookbooks that I read this year (and I've...kind of read a shit-ton).
As half of my family is from Southeast Texas with roots in Louisiana, much of this is the kind of food I grew up on, and feels like home. Or at least like my mom's home. It's also one of the very, very few cookbooks in which I actually read all the introductions and essays and things. It's super interesting, and gives a really good overview of the history behind many of these dishes and where they come from and why they're culturally important, and also includes music and film pairings, and now I want to read everything of Bryant Terry's! Seriously, one of my very favorite cookbooks that I read this year (and I've...kind of read a shit-ton).
October 27, 2018
This was a little disappointing but I feel like it could easily be just my perspective. The introduction was the best part, where the author lays out his intentions for it’s genesis: the need for more African Americans to understand the African roots of their cooking and to be able to integrate ingredients and spices from Africa into their vegan cuisine. While I thought his promotion of the book was solid, he didn’t really follow through with a lot of that knowledge for the rest of the book. Apart from a few spice mixes, you could easily find these recipes in any multi-ethnic cookbook, and many of them were not original to Africa. Also, one of my biggest pet peeves (and I blast my students on this) is that Africa is a continent, not a country, as it is so often referred to. I would’ve liked more regional specificity in the description of his recipes. What would probably have made it seem a stronger piece would’ve also been more inclusivity. His guiding purpose was to catalyze heretidary-based cooking in Afro-diasporic communities, but a much more revolutionary goal would be to influence home cooks who are not familiar with those ingredients in order to shift mainstream cuisine towards a more trans-global pallet.
December 28, 2016
although i am not vegan, nor do i plan to go vegan, i do appreciate vegan cooking. this was on my list because i was curious how to include more vegan options in my family cooking that still feels like "home" and familiar. my family is from the south, and i'm african american....so many of the inspirations for these recipes were familiar.
pros -
i love that the majority of recipes do not include the seitan or tempeh. while there is some that does include it, it isn't overwhelming like many vegan or vegetarian cookbooks i've come across.
the recipes seem to be very accessible and do able. most have no crazy ingredients that you have to order special. there are a few which asks for particular herbs, but nothing too far out of the reach of a normal cook.
although some of these use special sauces or rubs, the nice thing, he includes how to make those in the book.
i loved how each recipe has an inspirational song, or book to further explore the culture.
the only con:
i wish the book had more photos, and photos which named what was in the photo. that is it.
this is a book that is going on my "to be purchased" list for my personal library.
pros -
i love that the majority of recipes do not include the seitan or tempeh. while there is some that does include it, it isn't overwhelming like many vegan or vegetarian cookbooks i've come across.
the recipes seem to be very accessible and do able. most have no crazy ingredients that you have to order special. there are a few which asks for particular herbs, but nothing too far out of the reach of a normal cook.
although some of these use special sauces or rubs, the nice thing, he includes how to make those in the book.
i loved how each recipe has an inspirational song, or book to further explore the culture.
the only con:
i wish the book had more photos, and photos which named what was in the photo. that is it.
this is a book that is going on my "to be purchased" list for my personal library.
1-tbr-owned-but-not-yet-read
December 16, 2022This is one of the best-selling cookbooks in my bookshop, but I've never read it. But I got it as soon as I read that Michael W. Twitty author of the brilliant, fantastic, 10 star The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South. So then I sold it. I've just got it again, for myself.
June 9, 2020
This is actually my SECOND read of this book and honestly my first read ratings were not good but as you will see how and why that changed DRASTICALLY. I read this book a while back when I was thinking of changing to plant based. It wasn’t a good fit because I was so unfamiliar with a lot of items and terms. But now that I’m a little bit more mature in eating this way, I understood just about everything. Also I was a law student so I didn't have the time to invest in cooking and it was one of the first vegan cook books I picked up. I was saying no to every dish. Now I have more time and my taste buds have changed, which is why I picked this book back up.
I know it sounds weird to read a COOKBOOK from cover to cover but this is one that you must read from cover to cover.
The research and the time and effort put in this book is beyond amazing. He studied other cookbooks and cultures. If it were me, it would take me about 4-5 years to write this book but I would never be able to bring everything together as he did. He speaks about the slave market for African, African Americans, Jamaicans, Haitians and several others. He is obviously a culinary historian and I was glad he unapologetically shared these things with me in his book. He explains the history of the food and the benefit of the food to our bodies. Additionally, I appreciate the strategic naming of each recipe. For example, there is a drink recipe called Black Queen that reminded the author of elegant Southern aunties which prompted him to name the drink “BLACK QUEENS”.
Further, he recommends books and music that represents artist and authors from that area that the recipe was inspired. Some of the books I’ve recently add to my “to read pile.” For music, if the food includes Ingredients for a Caribbean, African or Louisiana cuisine, he will recommend an author or a song from someone who is in or from the region. For example, for a creole based meal-there’s a song by Lil Wayne because creole is big in Louisiana and lil Wayne is from Louisiana. There are plenty of songs I don’t know from all over the world, but I will give all of them a listen to expand my pallet. (I’m glad streaming music is so easy right now).
With each recipe, he tells you what it would be best served with. He also highlights what flavors will attach to your taste bud for each dish so you can get the flavor profile of the dish. So you would know if the dish is something you should try. I love the menu suggestion that create a full menu based on recipes in the book.
He tells you how to pick fresh fruits from the store or the market to get the best items. For example, pick pineapples that are fragrant at the stem. Pick mangoes that are soft to touch and have a fruity aroma. He also shares when is the best season to buy certain items.
When I was a kid, I always read books about places my mom could never take me. This book has taken me to Brazil, Ghana, Caribbean, Cameroon, Egypt, Morocco, Louisiana, The South, North Carolina, Kenya, Senegal, Salvador, Haiti and so many other places. I felt like a kid all over again.
The only con is I don’t know where I’m going to get some of the ingredients. For example, stuff-like orange blossom water or persimmon, or Teff Flour. I wish there was a glossary in the back of the book to describe some of the unknown items and where to generally get them from. But other people may not have an issue with this because of the power of ordering anything online.
Favorite Quote: “It is not enough to celebrate the food of the African diaspora without appreciating the people who gave birth to this rich culinary heritage.”
Without hesitation, I would recommend this book to anyone. This is the most well researched cookbook, I’ve ever came across. Thank you Bryant! I will be trying several of these recipes because now I’m a chef right?
I know it sounds weird to read a COOKBOOK from cover to cover but this is one that you must read from cover to cover.
The research and the time and effort put in this book is beyond amazing. He studied other cookbooks and cultures. If it were me, it would take me about 4-5 years to write this book but I would never be able to bring everything together as he did. He speaks about the slave market for African, African Americans, Jamaicans, Haitians and several others. He is obviously a culinary historian and I was glad he unapologetically shared these things with me in his book. He explains the history of the food and the benefit of the food to our bodies. Additionally, I appreciate the strategic naming of each recipe. For example, there is a drink recipe called Black Queen that reminded the author of elegant Southern aunties which prompted him to name the drink “BLACK QUEENS”.
Further, he recommends books and music that represents artist and authors from that area that the recipe was inspired. Some of the books I’ve recently add to my “to read pile.” For music, if the food includes Ingredients for a Caribbean, African or Louisiana cuisine, he will recommend an author or a song from someone who is in or from the region. For example, for a creole based meal-there’s a song by Lil Wayne because creole is big in Louisiana and lil Wayne is from Louisiana. There are plenty of songs I don’t know from all over the world, but I will give all of them a listen to expand my pallet. (I’m glad streaming music is so easy right now).
With each recipe, he tells you what it would be best served with. He also highlights what flavors will attach to your taste bud for each dish so you can get the flavor profile of the dish. So you would know if the dish is something you should try. I love the menu suggestion that create a full menu based on recipes in the book.
He tells you how to pick fresh fruits from the store or the market to get the best items. For example, pick pineapples that are fragrant at the stem. Pick mangoes that are soft to touch and have a fruity aroma. He also shares when is the best season to buy certain items.
When I was a kid, I always read books about places my mom could never take me. This book has taken me to Brazil, Ghana, Caribbean, Cameroon, Egypt, Morocco, Louisiana, The South, North Carolina, Kenya, Senegal, Salvador, Haiti and so many other places. I felt like a kid all over again.
The only con is I don’t know where I’m going to get some of the ingredients. For example, stuff-like orange blossom water or persimmon, or Teff Flour. I wish there was a glossary in the back of the book to describe some of the unknown items and where to generally get them from. But other people may not have an issue with this because of the power of ordering anything online.
Favorite Quote: “It is not enough to celebrate the food of the African diaspora without appreciating the people who gave birth to this rich culinary heritage.”
Without hesitation, I would recommend this book to anyone. This is the most well researched cookbook, I’ve ever came across. Thank you Bryant! I will be trying several of these recipes because now I’m a chef right?
September 4, 2014
Vibrant, brimming with flavour, Afro-Vegan is a fresh approach to some of the best flavours in the world: African, Caribbean and Southern. By blending each of these traditional cuisines together, famous chef Bryant Terry has created a scintillating eating style which is sure to please all palates. Although I am not a Vegan, I eat as many vegetables as I can possibly fit into my diet, and I always appreciate awesome vegetable recipes! The book begins with instructions on how to make many of the renown spice mixtures used in the recipes- berbere, zaatar and more. The rest of the book is packed with colorful recipes such as Cinamon-soaked Wheat Berry Salad with dried apricots; Creamy Coconut-Cashew Soup with okra, corn and tomatoes; Crispy Teff and Grit Cakes with Eggplant, Tomatoes and peanuts...
If you love flavours, you will love this book.
If you love the cultures of Africa, the Caribbean and the South you will be delighted by this book.
If you want to update your vegetable recipes, you NEED this book! No longer will you be confined to the same repetitive vegetable recipes you've relied on day after day!
I thought the cover of this book especially intriguing with its colorful design and friendly photograph of the author. Inside the book, beautiful photographs depict the recipes marvelously. Each recipe has a suggested 'theme song', or 'soundtrack'. I thought that was neat.
I am so excited about this unusual recipe book!
African, Caribbean, and southern food are all known and loved as vibrant and flavor-packed cuisines. In Afro-Vegan, renowned chef and food justice activist Bryant Terry reworks and remixes the favorite staples, ingredients, and classic dishes of the African Diaspora to present wholly new, creative culinary combinations that will amaze vegans, vegetarians, and omnivores alike.
Blending these colorful cuisines results in delicious recipes like Smashed Potatoes, Peas, and Corn with Chile-Garlic Oil, a recipe inspired by the Kenyan dish irio, and Cinnamon-Soaked Wheat Berry Salad with dried apricots, carrots, and almonds, which is based on a Moroccan tagine. Creamy Coconut-Cashew Soup with Okra, Corn, and Tomatoes pays homage to a popular Brazilian dish while incorporating classic Southern ingredients, and Crispy Teff and Grit Cakes with Eggplant, Tomatoes, and Peanuts combines the Ethiopian grain teff with stone-ground corn grits from the Deep South and North African zalook dip. There’s perfect potluck fare, such as the simple, warming, and intensely flavored Collard Greens and Cabbage with Lots of Garlic, and the Caribbean-inspired Cocoa Spice Cake with Crystallized Ginger and Coconut-Chocolate Ganache, plus a refreshing Roselle-Rooibos Drink that will satisfy any sweet tooth.
With more than 100 modern and delicious dishes that draw on Terry’s personal memories as well as the history of food that has traveled from the African continent, Afro-Vegan takes you on an international food journey. Accompanying the recipes are Terry’s insights about building community around food, along with suggested music tracks from around the world and book recommendations. For anyone interested in improving their well-being, Afro-Vegan’s groundbreaking recipes offer innovative, plant-based global cuisine that is fresh, healthy, and forges a new direction in vegan cooking.
If you love flavours, you will love this book.
If you love the cultures of Africa, the Caribbean and the South you will be delighted by this book.
If you want to update your vegetable recipes, you NEED this book! No longer will you be confined to the same repetitive vegetable recipes you've relied on day after day!
I thought the cover of this book especially intriguing with its colorful design and friendly photograph of the author. Inside the book, beautiful photographs depict the recipes marvelously. Each recipe has a suggested 'theme song', or 'soundtrack'. I thought that was neat.
I am so excited about this unusual recipe book!
African, Caribbean, and southern food are all known and loved as vibrant and flavor-packed cuisines. In Afro-Vegan, renowned chef and food justice activist Bryant Terry reworks and remixes the favorite staples, ingredients, and classic dishes of the African Diaspora to present wholly new, creative culinary combinations that will amaze vegans, vegetarians, and omnivores alike.
Blending these colorful cuisines results in delicious recipes like Smashed Potatoes, Peas, and Corn with Chile-Garlic Oil, a recipe inspired by the Kenyan dish irio, and Cinnamon-Soaked Wheat Berry Salad with dried apricots, carrots, and almonds, which is based on a Moroccan tagine. Creamy Coconut-Cashew Soup with Okra, Corn, and Tomatoes pays homage to a popular Brazilian dish while incorporating classic Southern ingredients, and Crispy Teff and Grit Cakes with Eggplant, Tomatoes, and Peanuts combines the Ethiopian grain teff with stone-ground corn grits from the Deep South and North African zalook dip. There’s perfect potluck fare, such as the simple, warming, and intensely flavored Collard Greens and Cabbage with Lots of Garlic, and the Caribbean-inspired Cocoa Spice Cake with Crystallized Ginger and Coconut-Chocolate Ganache, plus a refreshing Roselle-Rooibos Drink that will satisfy any sweet tooth.
With more than 100 modern and delicious dishes that draw on Terry’s personal memories as well as the history of food that has traveled from the African continent, Afro-Vegan takes you on an international food journey. Accompanying the recipes are Terry’s insights about building community around food, along with suggested music tracks from around the world and book recommendations. For anyone interested in improving their well-being, Afro-Vegan’s groundbreaking recipes offer innovative, plant-based global cuisine that is fresh, healthy, and forges a new direction in vegan cooking.
March 18, 2024
A cook book that has so many foods I can eat! What I really loved were the song/film/book recommendations he gave with every recipe. What a way to lift up fellow BIPOC artists past and present!
January 1, 2018
I am not vegan
But
These recipes are EXTREMELY GOOD
But
These recipes are EXTREMELY GOOD
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 12, 2015
One of the coolest cookbooks I've read in recent times. Awesome spice mixes, menu suggestions, song and book recommendations for recipes, and even a little touches of history. Not for the beginner cook, but someone comfortable in the kitchen will find it a welcome addition. I wish there were more photographs, and, as always, I wish people wouldn't wax on about how great the farmer's market fresh fruit for dessert is. Who has the time or the money to go to the farmer's market? Seriously. Not people with fast-food or retail jobs, that's for sure. /rant
January 5, 2016
Full of not just good food, but also music, book and film recommendations!
April 24, 2021
Yes, I read a cookbook! Afro-Vegan offers modern takes on African, Caribbean and Southern recipes while emphasizing the history of the dishes, ingredients and farm to table practices.
What I particularly love is that he has a song recommendation for every recipe which is awesome for someone like me who enjoys listening to music while cooking. Some recipes also offer an additional book or movie recommendation and I am looking forward to following those.
What I particularly love is that he has a song recommendation for every recipe which is awesome for someone like me who enjoys listening to music while cooking. Some recipes also offer an additional book or movie recommendation and I am looking forward to following those.
June 18, 2018
A beautifully put together book! It feels like a personal project, which is awesome. I’ve never had a cookbook with soundtrack/movie suggestions, and now I wish every book did.
December 31, 2022
Found lots of inspiration and ideas for cooking!
June 22, 2017
Beautiful recipe book with tons of interesting recipes. Despite the recipes being delicious, I do wish that the recipes had an estimated time for how long it would take to cook because most of these recipes are very elaborate. It's definitely not an everyday cooking cook book. Its more like a cooking on a special holiday or day off book. Also, the ingredients he suggests are often pretty hard to come by at a regular grocery store. I would recommend this book as a treat, for when you feel like doing some rigorous cooking with some pretty pricey ingredients on your day off :)
December 27, 2015
Bryant Terry's books demonstrate that a life of pleasure can be entirely consistent with living a life committed to social justice. Terry's recipes are fantastic. He makes delicious food. But what I love even more than his great culinary gift is his commitment to grounding and orienting his food in the rich traditions of the African Diaspora. Terry is working for food justice within a community that is underserved in terms of access to healthy foods and medical care. He presents his food as a means of community self-empowerment and a celebration of the arts and culture of the Black diaspora. I love this book. And I am grateful that there's a Bryant Terry out there in the world.
August 2, 2015
I would highly recommend this. I am liking a number of the recipes. I am not a vegan but do like to eat lots of fresh vegetable dishes and this offers some new ideas particularly for some classics I grew up with like black eyed peas and greens.
It's fairly easy to adapt many of the recipes to your own liking. The seasoning blends appealed to me. My basil is almost ready to harvest and make into Basil Salt.
A nice plus is each recipe has a music suggestion and sometimes a book or movie suggestion as well. I'm familiar with some,some others I have checked out on line and put together a nice new music playlist.
It's fairly easy to adapt many of the recipes to your own liking. The seasoning blends appealed to me. My basil is almost ready to harvest and make into Basil Salt.
A nice plus is each recipe has a music suggestion and sometimes a book or movie suggestion as well. I'm familiar with some,some others I have checked out on line and put together a nice new music playlist.
December 24, 2014
Great descriptions of food and traditions, with soundtrack, and occasionally a film or a book, to accompany each recipe. So, it's also a great read besides being a cookbook. So far, I've tried about 4 recipes, they turned out very good, they offer an interesting fusion of various traditions. They can be quite labor-intensive and time consuming, and likely need to go grocery shopping for specific ingredients, but if you decide to make a date out of the shopping, preparation, cooking, and eating, you'll have lot of fun (like I did!)
March 19, 2016
This is a beautiful cookbook, inside and out! Great recipes and photos and each recipe has a song listed at the top, creating a "book soundtrack," which I love. There's a playlist for it on YouTube and it was awesome to hear while cooking. Some of the recipes even list book recommendations about various topics. Another thing I appreciated about the book were the recipes for homemade spice blends. What more could you ask for in one place? Yummy vegan recipes, reading ideas, cool music, beautiful photos, cultural and historical lessons. Yes, please!
April 2, 2016
Some interesting recipes from the Afro-Diaspora. No nutrition information and old school measurements are used. Some recipes look heavy on salt and oil, but nowhere near as crazy as Anglo-southern cooking. This is a fusion cookbook, so don't expect to create a country specific menu. Lots of spice mixes and condiment recipes included along with mains, sides and drinks. I will have to try a few recipes before I can rate it.
I have tried a couple of recipes now, tasty!
I have tried a couple of recipes now, tasty!
December 18, 2019
First cookbook review.. I have a bad habit of acquiring cookbooks and not using them for months, but I bought this beauty at the perfect time- made 4 recipes in a week! This is a rare cookbook where I use the recommended spice quantities and it's sufficiently flavorful- and the first vegan cookbook I've used that resembles how I like to eat. Be warned, this is not for the beginner cook and the recipes are time consuming. With experience you can come up your own shortcuts.
July 30, 2014
Another thoughtful winner from Bryant Terry. He cooks about 3 clicks up from me, so I don't actually make a lot of his recipes, but I appreciate what he's going for. Also, saving your corncobs and making broth from them is a good idea and it worked.
January 15, 2022
I had saved a couple of the author's recipes when they were shared around various food sites awhile back, so when this came on sale, I was curious to see how a cookbook would look on my kindle. It's fine, though I have yet to see if how I saved recipes of note are convenient to search back and find when I go to finally cook them.
That said, there are a ton of recipes in here I really want to eat! I really appreciate a vegan cookbook that isn't full of weird substitutions, nor does it rely too much on mushrooms (which I don't really care for most of the time). I'm not vegan, but I am lactose-intolerant and don't eat a great deal of meat, so vegan is a nice shorthand way for me to know that things aren't going to be drowning in cream and bacon.
The recipes use a lot of different vegetables that I already happily eat, and it describes how to cook different grains like teff and millet in straightforward ways. The different spice blends were also good to have. I always have a zillion different spices in the house and have recently been making more of my own blends to make certain dishes easier/cheaper. Not EVERY dish is something I'd be excited to eat (I'm sorry, but rice pudding and I are never going to be friends. Neither am I about to get excited about peas, unless they are black-eyed!), and maybe some might be too fiddly for the amount of effort I want to put forth most of the time, but I'd still say I'd eat three-quarters of the recipes in the book.
I also enjoyed the bits of history and supplemental music and book suggestions paired with the recipes. Those made this more like a book you can just sit down and read straight through. There are even some gardening tips and a word from Michael Twitty at the end.
My only complaints are some of the (thankfully minimal) asides about health, but I suppose it'd be surprising if a vegan cookbook author didn't do that. I don't necessarily buy into the whole "this ingredient alkalizes your body!" thing (something that gets mentioned 2 or 3 times here), and the one mention of working off calories in the dessert section was unnecessary. Like, yes, absolutely, we're all gonna be better off if we eat more vegetables and drink more water. But I don't need to hear how you justify dessert, my dude. Just eat the dessert.
That said, there are a ton of recipes in here I really want to eat! I really appreciate a vegan cookbook that isn't full of weird substitutions, nor does it rely too much on mushrooms (which I don't really care for most of the time). I'm not vegan, but I am lactose-intolerant and don't eat a great deal of meat, so vegan is a nice shorthand way for me to know that things aren't going to be drowning in cream and bacon.
The recipes use a lot of different vegetables that I already happily eat, and it describes how to cook different grains like teff and millet in straightforward ways. The different spice blends were also good to have. I always have a zillion different spices in the house and have recently been making more of my own blends to make certain dishes easier/cheaper. Not EVERY dish is something I'd be excited to eat (I'm sorry, but rice pudding and I are never going to be friends. Neither am I about to get excited about peas, unless they are black-eyed!), and maybe some might be too fiddly for the amount of effort I want to put forth most of the time, but I'd still say I'd eat three-quarters of the recipes in the book.
I also enjoyed the bits of history and supplemental music and book suggestions paired with the recipes. Those made this more like a book you can just sit down and read straight through. There are even some gardening tips and a word from Michael Twitty at the end.
My only complaints are some of the (thankfully minimal) asides about health, but I suppose it'd be surprising if a vegan cookbook author didn't do that. I don't necessarily buy into the whole "this ingredient alkalizes your body!" thing (something that gets mentioned 2 or 3 times here), and the one mention of working off calories in the dessert section was unnecessary. Like, yes, absolutely, we're all gonna be better off if we eat more vegetables and drink more water. But I don't need to hear how you justify dessert, my dude. Just eat the dessert.
February 17, 2023
Gunpowder Lemonade
Some of the best edibles are to be found in Vegan cookbooks... beverages too ... whether you're strictly vegan, or a pan-foodie like me. I try to choose healthy options. Naturally, I spotted the Gunpowder Lemonade in the beverage section right away. This cookbook was compiled by Bryant Terry as a celebration of African food ways for the African diaspora. It features classic global fusion dishes to enjoy with a bit of the culture they originate from described. Each recipe begins with a suggested Soundtrack and film to enjoy with your meal.
The Gunpowder Lemonade is a gunpowder tea concoction with lemon juice and spearmint syrup. Gunpowder tea is an aromatic blend of finely rolled tea leaves. It has a strong aroma, moreso than the usual lightness of green teas. The spearmint syrup provides a rich, soothing flavor. It can be prepared as an iced beverage as described. I preferred to sip mine hot. Gunpowder Tea is the national drink of Morocco in North Africa.
I recommend this cookbook for those seeking culinary delights with multicultural flavors. I checked it out from an out of state digital library through Libby, and read it on Kindle. I am looking forward to trying a few more things found inside.
Some of the best edibles are to be found in Vegan cookbooks... beverages too ... whether you're strictly vegan, or a pan-foodie like me. I try to choose healthy options. Naturally, I spotted the Gunpowder Lemonade in the beverage section right away. This cookbook was compiled by Bryant Terry as a celebration of African food ways for the African diaspora. It features classic global fusion dishes to enjoy with a bit of the culture they originate from described. Each recipe begins with a suggested Soundtrack and film to enjoy with your meal.
The Gunpowder Lemonade is a gunpowder tea concoction with lemon juice and spearmint syrup. Gunpowder tea is an aromatic blend of finely rolled tea leaves. It has a strong aroma, moreso than the usual lightness of green teas. The spearmint syrup provides a rich, soothing flavor. It can be prepared as an iced beverage as described. I preferred to sip mine hot. Gunpowder Tea is the national drink of Morocco in North Africa.
I recommend this cookbook for those seeking culinary delights with multicultural flavors. I checked it out from an out of state digital library through Libby, and read it on Kindle. I am looking forward to trying a few more things found inside.
January 24, 2018
I read an article online recently that mentioned this book. First, I was intrigued by the title: a mashup of African cooking and veganism. Second, when I read multiple reader reviews on Goodreads, my mouth kept watering from all the delicious-sounding recipe titles that the reviewers were referencing. So with a growling belly I requested this book through my library. The cookbook is full of beautiful, closeup, full-color photos of these beautiful and intriguing recipes. Not only does Bryant Terry want to encourage healthy eating through the vegan lifestyle, he also wants African Americans to embrace the culinary legacies and traditions of their ancestors. He believes that eating a plant-based diet of African heritage food will not only restore the physical health of many African Americans but their emotional and spiritual health as well. A unique aspect of this cookbook is that each recipe has a recommended song (and sometimes a recommended book!) to build the mood and atmosphere as the dish is created. So you can fill your belly, add to your musical playlist, and expand your literary horizons, all at the same time!
You can read more of my reviews at: http://thesouthernbookworm.blogspot.com/
August 23, 2022
3.5
Clearly what attracted me to this cookbook was the AFRO part. The intentions were made clear. Bryant Terry wanted to draw the lines and make connections between our African roots to the foods we eat in present day. More specifically he attempted to bridge Southern and Caribbean cooking to those African roots.
Positives:
*I really liked the intention.
* I liked the playlist of the day along with current reads for some of the recipes. It gave the cookbook a bit of a vibe.
*The pictures were simple and for the most part I think the recipes were simple and easy to follow.
Missed Opportunities:
*More pictures.
* As someone from the Diaspora, who is constantly searching for a connection to nations in Africa that my ancestors originated from, I would have appreciated more research and follow through. Africa is a continent made up of many different countries with different foods/dishes and ingredients. Our food in the diaspora is not so complicated that we can’t trace those origins back to Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Benin and Togo. These are only a few. There were also a few items included in the book that are not African in origin.
I’ve already purchased the physical cookbook because I can still appreciate it for what it is.
I received a digital copy via the publisher via Netgalley. At the time of this review, I read a digital copy from my library and is based on that copy.
Clearly what attracted me to this cookbook was the AFRO part. The intentions were made clear. Bryant Terry wanted to draw the lines and make connections between our African roots to the foods we eat in present day. More specifically he attempted to bridge Southern and Caribbean cooking to those African roots.
Positives:
*I really liked the intention.
* I liked the playlist of the day along with current reads for some of the recipes. It gave the cookbook a bit of a vibe.
*The pictures were simple and for the most part I think the recipes were simple and easy to follow.
Missed Opportunities:
*More pictures.
* As someone from the Diaspora, who is constantly searching for a connection to nations in Africa that my ancestors originated from, I would have appreciated more research and follow through. Africa is a continent made up of many different countries with different foods/dishes and ingredients. Our food in the diaspora is not so complicated that we can’t trace those origins back to Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Benin and Togo. These are only a few. There were also a few items included in the book that are not African in origin.
I’ve already purchased the physical cookbook because I can still appreciate it for what it is.
I received a digital copy via the publisher via Netgalley. At the time of this review, I read a digital copy from my library and is based on that copy.
December 30, 2023
This looked like a great option to freshen up our recipe rota, but when I got it and opened it up, I didn't see a single thing I wanted to make for dinner.
It's divided into sections and none of them scream "entrée" to me, and I didn't have the patience to read through it. There are sauces and salads and side dishes and soups and sandwiches and more side dishes and spreads and small bites and preserves and smoothies and biscuits and drinks and cakes and I was still sitting there thinking "but what am I making for DINNER? Where are the entrées?" (They are there, I just didn't want to make any of them.)
Added to that difficulty for me was that I guess my family doesn't really like the ingredients of African, Caribbean, and Southern foods? Each recipe featured something objectionable to someone in my family. That's not the fault of the cookbook, of course. This just wasn't a good fit for us.
I never tried a single recipe.
It's divided into sections and none of them scream "entrée" to me, and I didn't have the patience to read through it. There are sauces and salads and side dishes and soups and sandwiches and more side dishes and spreads and small bites and preserves and smoothies and biscuits and drinks and cakes and I was still sitting there thinking "but what am I making for DINNER? Where are the entrées?" (They are there, I just didn't want to make any of them.)
Added to that difficulty for me was that I guess my family doesn't really like the ingredients of African, Caribbean, and Southern foods? Each recipe featured something objectionable to someone in my family. That's not the fault of the cookbook, of course. This just wasn't a good fit for us.
I never tried a single recipe.
May 25, 2017
Soul food is often stereotyped as being as unhealthy as it is delicious. This cookbook boasts huge flavor alongside a variety of nutritious, no-meat treats. Bryant Terry pulls from cooking traditions from the diverse African diaspora – North Africa, Ethiopia, Brazil and the 61DUkUn680L._SX258_BO1,204,203,200_Southern US all feature prominently throughout the book. You can find sauces, salsas, and stews, sweet and savory snacks, and beautiful images accompanying each of the sections. A whole chapter is devoted to okra, black-eyed peas and watermelon – scrumptious! Each receipt also has a soundtrack and/or reading suggestion to get you in the proper cooking mood. Though many of the offerings are a bit more complicated than I can usually manage in the kitchen (I mean I have a 9 month-old LOL!), I wish someone would make them for me because they sound delicious!
June 27, 2017
Nothing mind-blowingly interesting, though I like the idea of using corn cobs to make a broth. I like that each dish had information about its inspiration, which helped me learn a little bit about African and Caribbean cuisine. But I found myself unwilling to make a lot of the recipes because a lot of them called for a not so healthy amount of oil, and all of the greens recipes called for first boiling the greens and then transferring them to another pan to cook, a method which seems to needlessly increase the amount of pots you have to use and also take leech out vitamins into the water. It's probably to cut down on the bitterness, but, you know, isn't that the point of eating greens anyways?
July 16, 2020
A truly wonderful and unique cookbook. Bryant Terry provides delicious recipes alongside powerful information about history and the African diaspora from which he draws from.
One of my favorite things about this cookbook is the inclusion of books and songs with each recipe. Someone needs to make a playlist for this cookbook if they haven’t already!!
I will add that the recipes themselves tend to be on the more complicated side. There are typically several steps for each dish, and special attention is paid to spices and seasoning. However, these extra steps make it worth it. Every dish I’ve made is bursting with flavor from every layer. The leftovers taste good.
This isn’t just vegan food, it’s good food.
One of my favorite things about this cookbook is the inclusion of books and songs with each recipe. Someone needs to make a playlist for this cookbook if they haven’t already!!
I will add that the recipes themselves tend to be on the more complicated side. There are typically several steps for each dish, and special attention is paid to spices and seasoning. However, these extra steps make it worth it. Every dish I’ve made is bursting with flavor from every layer. The leftovers taste good.
This isn’t just vegan food, it’s good food.
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