When journalist and activist Toni Tipton-Martin collected nearly 400 cookbooks chronicling the culinary stories of largely forgotten and overlooked African American cooks and chefs, she curated her findings into a massive project, a well-read book and well received later known as The Jemima Code: Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks.
Now after The Jemima code won a 2016 James Beard Award, Tipton-Martin is back with Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African-American Cooking (Clarkson Potter, $35).
Her latest work is less a continuation of what she exhibited in The Jemima code and more of a bridge to understanding the complexities and vast diversity often overlooked when talking about African American food and those who cook it.
“At its core, African American cuisine reflects the blending of two distinct culinary styles,” she writes. “One was made by ingenious and industrious field hands in the slave cabin, from meager ingredients, informed by African techniques. The other signifies the sumptuous cooking in the plantation kitchen or in the kitchens occupied or owned by persons formally and informally trained in the culinary arts.
Tipton-Martin, a Southern California native, writes at length about her frustration with both popular culture and the food media, which views “soul food” as the lone marker of African-American culinary prowess.
But his education and research indicate otherwise. It was something she wanted to catalog and highlight. The result is an assemblage of recipes from across the country and a variety of cultural influences from the greater African diaspora.
For example, there are the crispy crackers sprinkled with sesame seeds, known as dumpster wafers popularized via the Sea Islands in South Carolina, the bite-size curry meat pies by those of Caribbean descent. and African, the Creole latte and a handful of breads – biscuits, cornbread, sweet potato buns, cinnamon buns. Each of the recipes represents a cultural touchstone with clear historical roots and connections.
To structure her cookbook, Tipton-Martin was inspired by a book proposal titled Black Hunger: The Food and Politics of American History. Arturo Schomburg, for whom the prestigious Schomburg Center for Black Culture in New York was named, in recognition of his scholarship, wrote the proposal for the never-completed book.
The anatomy of Tipton-Martin’s cookbook might be familiar to anyone who has had to conceptualize a meal from start to finish – light bites or appetizers to whet the appetite, hot or cold beverages with or without alcohol; soups and salads, main courses; meats, seafood and sweets to conclude the meal.
Schomburg’s plan and recipes from Tipton-Martin’s collection of rare African-American cookbooks dating as far back as 1827 also provided a number of sidebars, tangential explanations that give context to the recipes in their entirety. original form, recipes that have often been updated and translated for modern cooks.
The lasting impression that any reader will retain from Jubileeis that the true breadth of African-American culinary history is greater than it first appears.
It’s more than the pot of greens seasoned with ham hock or smoked turkey and bubbly mac and cheese, both of which are essential on their own. However, to not look deeper is to ignore a band of people and their stories, visions, legacies and culinary advancements and triumphs.
There are also countless avenues to honor Black contributions to the culinary world, and there are countless heroes to look back on. Tipton-Martin argues that we should look at these men and women and imagine what it meant to these African Americans to cook and live in their day and contribute to American history.
Makes 30 small pies.
Pastry pockets wrapping savory fillings have a long history in black cooking, writes Toni Tipton-Martin in Jubilee. This recipe is adapted from Eric Copage’s “curried lamb samosas,” she writes. “He wrapped the spicy filling in wonton wrappers (another nod to the global pantry). My version maintains the ancestral character of the African Diaspora and the Caribbean, cradling a spicy beef filling in a curry-flavored homemade pastry.
1 pound ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
¼ cup chopped red bell pepper
½ to 1 teaspoon chopped chili pepper, such as Scotch bonnet or habanero
1½ teaspoons minced garlic (about 2 cloves)
½ tsp salt, or to taste
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons curry powder, preferably Jamaican
½ teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
Oil, for greasing the baking sheet
1 egg
Curry puff pastry, see recipe
All-purpose flour, for the work surface
Paprika (optional)
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat until very hot. Add ground beef and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 5 minutes. Drain all but 1 tablespoon of pan juices from pan. Add the onion, bell pepper, chilli and garlic to the skillet and sauté over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned around the edges, about 5 minutes. Stir in salt, cayenne pepper, curry powder, thyme, tomato paste and ¼ cup water. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for 7 to 10 minutes to thicken the mixture. Taste and salt to your liking. Set the filling aside to cool completely.
Preheat oven to 400. Lightly grease a baking sheet or line with parchment paper.
In a small bowl, mix the egg and 1 tablespoon of water. Set aside the egg wash.
Divide the dough into quarters. On a lightly floured board, working one piece of dough at a time, roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut out circles with a 3 inch cookie cutter. Stack the rounds of dough on a plate and cover with a damp kitchen towel. You should have 30 turns in total. Place 1 tablespoon of filling on one side of each round, leaving a ½-inch border around the filling. Brush the edges with a small amount of water to moisten. Fold the other half of the dough over the filling to create a half moon shape. Press the edges with a fork or your fingers to seal the filling.
Place meat pies on baking sheet and brush with egg wash. Bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Sprinkle with paprika, if desired. Serve hot.
Nutritional information per mini tart: 110 calories, 7 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 16 mg cholesterol, 7 g carbohydrates, 0 g sugar, 4 g protein, 97 mg sodium, 0 g fibre.
Makes enough for 30 pies (3 inches).
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon of salt
¾ cup shortening, cut into 1/2-inch dice, chilled
⅓ cup of ice water, or as needed
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, curry powder, cayenne pepper and salt. Sprinkle the shortening pieces over the dry ingredients. Using fingertips, pastry blender, or two knives, cut shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle half the water over the dough and stir with a fork to combine. Stir in enough additional water, 1 tablespoon at a time, to form a shaggy dough. Scrape the dough onto a floured board. Knead 5 to 10 seconds, until the dough is smooth. Wrap the dough in a large sheet of waxed paper or plastic, folding in the edges to completely cover the dough. Press dough into a flat disc and refrigerate until ready to use.
Note: For a stronger crust, reduce the shortening to ½ cup and increase the amount of water to 3⅔ cups.
