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books2023-02-04 09:40 pm
ysabetwordsmith) wrote in books2023-02-04 09:40 pm
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Review: Watermelon and Red Birds
Watermelon and Red Birds: A Cookbook for Juneteenth and Black Celebrations by Nicole A. Taylor
The front matter includes a recipe list, a foreword, the poem "Hot Links & Red Drinks," an introduction, How to Use This Cookbook, Juneteenth Gadgets, Juneteenth Pantry, Juneteenth Food Pyramid, and BIPOC-owned Brands. While a few of the gadgets are excellent party items, like a snow cone machine, I find it hard to imagine a black or southern cook buying an official biscuit cutter instead of using a tuna can. I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone except a TV chef make biscuits with a cutter instead of a can. The food pyramid is not really proportional, even for feast food, with herbs on the bottom. The list of recommended brands is interesting, though.
The chapters are Spice Blends, Hot Sauces, & Pickled Things; Red Drinks; Festivals & Fairs; Cookout & BBQ; Potato, Green, & Fruit Salads; Snow Cones, Ice Pops, & Ice Cream; Cake! Cake! Cake! (And a Couple of Pies); and Everyday Juneteenth. The back matter includes Notes on Juneteenth and an index. "Rhubarb BBQ Sauce" is worth noting as one of the few savory rhubarb recipes. The recipe for "Savory Elephant Ears" uses white cheddar in another departure from a usually sweet thing. "Meatless Baked Beans" is a promising vegetarian variation. "Blackberry Eton Mess" includes a recipe for blackberry coulis that I want to try come summer.
This cookbook is a modern world fusion take on African-American cooking, rather than a traditional soul food or back-to-Africa approach. It's a good pick if you're looking for something new and different with its roots in those traditions. It's also a good choice for summer-seasonal recipes due to the Juneteenth focus. It doesn't have a lot of overlap with the various branches of Afro-diaspora and soul food that I'm familiar with, but that's okay. It's an incredibly syncretic cookbook, and that's about as African as it gets. It seems to be about picking up all the cool things in reach and throwing them together in new and interesting ways. So if that's your thing, you'll probably have fun with this.
The front matter includes a recipe list, a foreword, the poem "Hot Links & Red Drinks," an introduction, How to Use This Cookbook, Juneteenth Gadgets, Juneteenth Pantry, Juneteenth Food Pyramid, and BIPOC-owned Brands. While a few of the gadgets are excellent party items, like a snow cone machine, I find it hard to imagine a black or southern cook buying an official biscuit cutter instead of using a tuna can. I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone except a TV chef make biscuits with a cutter instead of a can. The food pyramid is not really proportional, even for feast food, with herbs on the bottom. The list of recommended brands is interesting, though.
The chapters are Spice Blends, Hot Sauces, & Pickled Things; Red Drinks; Festivals & Fairs; Cookout & BBQ; Potato, Green, & Fruit Salads; Snow Cones, Ice Pops, & Ice Cream; Cake! Cake! Cake! (And a Couple of Pies); and Everyday Juneteenth. The back matter includes Notes on Juneteenth and an index. "Rhubarb BBQ Sauce" is worth noting as one of the few savory rhubarb recipes. The recipe for "Savory Elephant Ears" uses white cheddar in another departure from a usually sweet thing. "Meatless Baked Beans" is a promising vegetarian variation. "Blackberry Eton Mess" includes a recipe for blackberry coulis that I want to try come summer.
This cookbook is a modern world fusion take on African-American cooking, rather than a traditional soul food or back-to-Africa approach. It's a good pick if you're looking for something new and different with its roots in those traditions. It's also a good choice for summer-seasonal recipes due to the Juneteenth focus. It doesn't have a lot of overlap with the various branches of Afro-diaspora and soul food that I'm familiar with, but that's okay. It's an incredibly syncretic cookbook, and that's about as African as it gets. It seems to be about picking up all the cool things in reach and throwing them together in new and interesting ways. So if that's your thing, you'll probably have fun with this.