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-- This title will ship on or after September 23, 2025 --
Celebrate the heritage and history of traditional African American cuisine.
Soul Food for Dummies teaches you about the foods, dishes, recipes and traditions of the cuisine of the African American culture. From greens and cornbread to fried foods like porgies, catfish, and chicken; baked goods such as tea cakes, cobblers and pies. Add thirst-quenchers like lemonade, Hibisicus and sweet tea. African American cooks have skillfully flavored foods for more than 400 years—many of the foods have become favorites—often crossing over with appeal to other cultures. Written by a former editor of Ebony magazine, this book dishes up the history and legacy of Soul Food while helping you develop and strengthen your skills in the kitchen. Soul Food for Dummies also includes guidelines for successful recipe preparation, including kitchen equipment needed for specific dishes, and nutrition tips for creating healthful, soulful meals, modifying recipes as needed. Discover key ingredients linked to African American cuisine
- Get recipes for classic traditional dishes, tips for cooking with cast iron, and instructions for adjusting recipes for specific health needs
- Improve your skills in the kitchen with best practice shopping guidelines and soul food prep methods.
- Prepare meals that explode with flavor and honor the history of African Americans.
This engaging Dummies cookbook and guide will inspire folks who want to know more about traditional Soul Food cuisine, a dash of food history and how to prepare legacy dishes of the African American culture.
BIO
Charla L. Draper is the former food editor of Ebony magazine and the founder of National Soul Food Month, a holiday created to celebrate the heritage and history of foods and foodways of African Americans and peoples from the African diaspora.
The Chicago native has known about good food all her life coming from a family of cooks who set the bar high. She graduated from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, with a degree in home economics and began her career in food.
As subscriber to the iconic Ebony magazine, she approached the publication about enhancing their food section and after interviewing, got a call and the offer to be the food editor one year later. “One of the things that was important was to strengthen the food pages, make them more appetizing and a section that would really resonate with the Ebony reader.” She would be there first food editor to work in the iconic Ebony Test Kitchen that has now secured a home a the National Museum of African American History and Culture in D.C.
After her stint at Ebony, she took on the role as the food editor of Southern Living in Alabama before moving back to her home town of Chicago.
[P] For Dummies / September 23, 2025
384 pages