Jubilee by Toni Martin

Toni Tipton-Martin, the first African-American food editor of a daily American newspaper, is the author of the James Beard Award-winning The Jemima Code, a history of African-American cooking found in--and between--the lines of three centuries' worth of African-American cookbooks.

Tipton-Martin builds on that research in Jubilee, adapting recipes from those historic texts for the modern kitchen. What we find is a world of African-American cuisine--made by enslaved master chefs, free caterers, and black entrepreneurs and culinary stars--that goes far beyond soul food.

It's a cuisine that was developed in the homes of the elite and middle class; that takes inspiration from around the globe; that is a diverse, varied style of cooking that has created much of what we know of as American cuisine.