Cookbook Club

What We’re Reading: April Cookbook Releases

By: The Local Palate

From Black barbecue to inventive cocktails, these three cookbook releases are on our must-read list 

Black Smoke: Africa Americans and the United States of Barbecue 

Adrian Miller
The University of North Carolina Press

Adrian Miller, author of Soul Food, has a track record for delivering smart, nuanced research about food and history, which he delivers with delicious wit in Black Smoke. A much-needed addition to the barbecue canon, Miller explores the world of Black barbecue. He goes back to investigate both the Native American and Black contributions to America’s most beloved style of cooking to drill down to barbecue’s origins. He tracks the Black influence on America’s early barbecue experts and he moves through time to discuss connections to church and community, today’s current barbecue climate, and even the competition circuit. Throughout, he profiles a number of black barbecue experts, like Ernestine VanDuvall, an experienced barbecue cook and gospel singer from Nicodemus, Kansas, who catered and opened her own restaurant in 1975. While other barbecue books share knowledge in the form of recipes and steps, or history as told from a white perspective, Miller gets us closer to seeing the full picture, and to acknowledging that the story is richer, and more delicious, with these shared stories. 

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Date Published: 04.23.21
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