The recipes our great grandmothers were never allowed to write down.
Free shipping on every order. Full refund within 30 days, no questions asked.
Over 200 real African American recipes from the kitchens of Alabama's Tuskegee Institute, with the exact measurements, the stories and the photographs the history books skipped. Hardcover. Built to be handed down.
The book behind the recipes has been featured by
- USA Today
- NPR
- Parade
Her recipes lived in her hands. Then they died in the kitchen.
For 200 years it was against the law for our ancestors to learn to read or write. So the food that raised us was never written down. It was passed hand to hand, pot to pot, and every time a grandmother passed, a piece of it went with her.
That is why the mac and cheese you find online never tastes like hers. Why the fried chicken recipe on the blog never tells you the first step. Why so many of us are standing in a kitchen on Thanksgiving morning guessing.
Pulled straight from the kitchens of the Tuskegee Institute, founded by Booker T. Washington in 1881, it holds the real recipes, with the real measurements, next to the photographs and stories of the women who cooked them.
Not a blog. Not a watered down version. The real thing.
Everything in this book came from Black cooks, Black kitchens and Black history. No guessing, no filler, no stranger's "soul food inspired" takes.
200+ real recipes
Smothered yard bird, baked macaroni and cheese, collard greens, cornbread dressing, candied yams, sweet potato pie, peach cobbler, Louisiana gumbo, spoon bread and Dr. Carver's peanut cake. Written out step by step with exact measurements.
Archival photographs
Black and white photographs from the Tuskegee kitchens and classrooms, the women in their white uniforms, the campus, the tables. It reads like a family album as much as a cookbook.
The stories behind the food
Personal remembrances, quotes and 19 newly added profiles of the people who cooked and taught at Tuskegee. You learn where each dish came from, not just how to make it.
A hardcover built to pass down
The updated 2024 hardcover edition, 272 pages, made to live on the counter, take the splatters, and get handed to your kids one day.
Free shipping. 30 day money back guarantee.
From the page to the table.
This is not a coffee table book. It gets opened, propped against the canister, cooked from, and argued over.
Don't take our word for it.
A must have in every Black kitchen.
Great recipes with the stories that go with them. The historical notes open a window into family history.
I enjoyed the history lesson as much as the food.
Recipes I grew up with sitting right next to ones I had never heard of. Timeless traditions.
I have bought this book five times.
To give as gifts, and to replace my own copies when they wore out.
Dishes I had not had in years.
Southern born, went to culinary school, and still found food in here I had never heard of. Loved having the history right next to the recipe.
Passed down through generations.
A wonderful resource. A taste of history about our people, for my African American library.
Gave it to my mom.
She found dishes she had not made in years and started cooking them again.
Free shipping. Full refund within 30 days if it is not right.
Get it in your kitchen before the family gets there.
Nobody wants to be the one who brought the bucket. This year the mac, the dressing, the greens and the pie come out of your oven, made the way our great grandmas made them, with the measurements written down so you are not guessing with twelve people on the way.
- Cornbread dressing, baked macaroni and cheese, candied yams, greens
- Sweet potato pie, peach cobbler and the cakes
- Every step and every measurement on the page
- Ships free so it is on your counter before the big day
One for you. One for your sister. One for the kids.
Readers buy this book again and again, for a mother, a daughter, a sister, a son who just got his first apartment. It is the kind of gift that stays on the counter for thirty years and gets passed to the next generation with the stains still on it.
Order two or three copies on the product page and the bundle pricing kicks in automatically.
The African-American Heritage Cookbook
- Updated 2024 hardcover edition, 272 pages
- 200+ recipes with exact measurements
- Archival photographs, stories and 19 new profiles
- Free e-book version sent with your order
- Free shipping on every order
- 30 day money back guarantee, no questions asked
Secure checkout. Sale pricing applied on the product page.
Before you order.
Is this the real African-American Heritage Cookbook?
Yes. It is the updated 2024 hardcover edition of the African-American Heritage Cookbook: traditional recipes and fond remembrances from Alabama's Tuskegee Institute. 272 pages, new, never used.
How many recipes are in it?
Over 200, from everyday dishes like fried chicken, greens, cornbread and baked macaroni and cheese to the ones you only hear about from the elders, like spoon bread, peach pandowdy and Dr. Carver's peanut cake with molasses.
Is it a hardcover?
Yes. Every copy we ship is the hardcover edition. No paperbacks, no used copies.
What about the free e-book?
Every order gets a free digital version sent to your email so you can cook from your phone while the hardcover lives on the shelf.
How does the guarantee work?
Give it a real try. If it is not right for you within 30 days, contact us and we will make it right with a full refund. No hoops, no restocking fees.
Does it ship free?
Yes. Every order ships free, no minimum.
Cook the recipes that raised us.
Bring the flavor, the history and the family back to your table. 30% off, free shipping, and a full 30 days to decide.
Get 30% off now →Rated 4.7 out of 5 by readers · Hardcover · Free e-book included