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Cooking and Culture: Learning More about Family, One Cookbook at a Time

CPL's African American Heritage Committee presents these recommended reads. Explore traditional recipes and modern takes on cooking from cultures around the world. If you aren't sure where to start with creating a family tree or researching your relatives, you can always start by learning a family recipe and cooking a traditional meal instead. Here’s hoping these books will remind you that food too is family history.

Chicago Public Library

10 items

  • Heirloom Kitchen

    Heritage Recipes and Family Stories From the Tables of Immigrant Women

    Gass, Anna Francese,
    BookNew York : Harper Design, 2019. — TX725.A1G33 2019
  • Carla Hall's Soul Food

    Everyday and Celebration

    Hall, Carla,
    BookNew York, NY : Harper Wave, [2018] — TX715.2.A47H34 2018
  • High on the Hog

    a Culinary Journey From Africa to America

    Harris, Jessica B.
    BookNew York : Bloomsbury, 2011. — TX715.H29972 2011
  • My Modern Caribbean Kitchen

    70 Fresh Takes on Island Favorites

    Jackson, Julius,
    PaperbackSalem, MA : Page Street Publishing Co., 2018. — TX716.A1J33 2018
  • Butcher & Beast

    Mastering the Art of Meat

    Mar, Angie,
    BookNew York : Clarkson Potter/Publishers, [2019] — TX749.M2575 2019
  • Original Flava

    Caribbean Recipes From Home

    McAnuff, Craig,
    BookLondon : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019. — TX716.A1M245 2019
  • The African-American Heritage Cookbook

    Traditional Recipes and Fond Remembrances From Alabama's Renowned Tuskegee Institute

    Tillery, Carolyn Quick
    BookNew York, NY : Citadel Press, 2005, c1996. — TX715.T568 2005
  • The Cooking Gene

    a Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South

    Twitty, Michael W., 1977-
    BookNew York, NY : Amistad, an imprint HarperCollinsPublishers, [2017] — E185.89.F66T95 2017
  • We Are La Cocina

    Recipes in Pursuit of the American Dream

    Zigas, Caleb,
    BookSan Francisco : Chronicle Books, [2019] — TX725.A1Z47 2019