American cuisine, especially that of the American South, owes a great deal to the influence of black cooks. As Smithsonian Magazine explains, it was often enslaved black chefs who created the feasts that gave the South its reputation for hospitality. James Beard Book Award-winner Michael Twitty further explores this topic, showing us how chefs of African descent laid the groundwork for American foodways. Eater has an excerpt from Twitty's book The Cooking Gene, which was named the JBF's Cookbook of the Year in 2018.

The achievements of these chefs and their vital role in developing American cuisine have been overlooked both in history books and in the world of cookbook publishing, despite the fact that black cooks and chefs have been writing cookbooks from at least the mid-1800s, such as Malinda Russell's Domestic Cook Book. The University of Michigan provides a digital version of the only known copy of that 1866 cookbook free to the public.

Change has been slow to arrive and recognition now cannot fully compensate for omissions of the past, but in recent years there has been an uptick in the number of cookbooks and/or memoirs by authors of African descent. We want to highlight some of the excellent books from the past several years (and other important titles you may be interested in). You can also read our past articles on black chefs who changed the history of cooking, and another on unsung heroes in the culinary world.

Edit to add: if you are planning to purchase any of these books, please consider supporting one of these black-owned bookstores: