7 Hours 3 Mins | Harper Audio | Non-Fiction | 1/11/2011
I was excited to read this book because I wanted to compare it to the documentary but, after I finished the book I didn’t feel the need to watch the documentary. I got everything I need from this small but mighty book as it details the history of African-Americans and how that history impacts the foods we eat.
Harris outlines the history of Black people in America from 1619 to the early 2010s. She shows how there are two very different narratives of America and how so much gets left out when history is taught in school. It’s something I’ve always known, but it’s truly mindboggling seeing it laid out.
Having parents from The South, I definitely saw some of what I ate growing up reflected in the book like collard greens and black-eyed peas. While there was a section on chicken and rice, I was hoping to learn more about chicken bog, a Low Country dish I grew up eating and have had to explain to people in Virginia.
This book was published in 2011 and the ending is a bit dated with references to the (now divorced) Neelys, an early career Marcus Samuelsson and a then rising star G. Garvin–who I think isn’t quite a household name anymore.
1/2 of the blogging duo at Books and Sensibility, I have been blogging about and reviewing books since 2011. I read any and every genre, here on the blog I mostly review Fantasy, Adult Fiction, and Young Adult with a focus on audiobooks.