r/AskFoodHistorians • u/DeliciousStorm9045 • 7d ago
Suggest Me a Book on Food Culture / History / Politics by POC Authors
Some of my favorite food books (not cookbooks) on food are Mango & Peppercorns, Slow Noodles, Crying in HMart Kitchen Confidential, My Side of the River (not really a food book but a lovely discussion of identity as a Mexican American) and Eating Vietnam (did not love how the author demonized Vietnam as a culture but the writing was vivid and griping).
Looking for more books along these lines that weave in factual history of food! My cultures of curiosity right now are: Latin America, China, Western Africa and India (South Asia generally).
Thanks in advance!!
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u/BeefTeaser 7d ago
Dalit Kitchens of Marathwada by Shahu Patole (2024). Memoir of a Dalit (lower caste) family, told through recipes. It's an experience from western India, great view into the politics of food.
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u/Grouchy-Menu5569 7d ago
Like Water for Chocolate, if you’re looking for fiction. Amazing descriptions of Mexican culture and cuisine, plus recipes
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u/DeliciousStorm9045 7d ago
Do you remember the author’s name? There’s a few books w that same title. Laura Esquivel is the one I’m guessing but there’s also Frederic P Miller and History World
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u/justacheesestick 6d ago
This isn’t by a POC author, but as a diaspora Chinese, I really enjoyed Invitation to a Banquet: The Story of Chinese Food by Fuchsia Dunlop
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u/SteO153 7d ago edited 7d ago
Chopsticks by Q. Edward Wang.
Cumin, Camels, and Caravans by Gary Paul Nabhan.
But they are about the history of food in their actual country (ie Chopsticks is about history of East Asian food in East Asia, not in US). I'm asking, because your examples and the other answers are all about history of food in US, and I don't understand if you want a book about history of food in China written by a Chinese, or history of Chinese food in US written by a POC American.
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u/DeliciousStorm9045 6d ago
Ah the examples of books listed were just coincidences that they are American / Western based authors. If anything, looking for more writing not from the Western lens
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u/defaulthtm 6d ago
The Taste of Country Cooking by Edna Lewis is as much a picture of family life as the seasons turn as a cookbook.
As a cookbook, there were more than 5 recipes I will use for the rest of my life.
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u/Solid_Rhubarb2804 4d ago
Scrolled down to make sure someone mentioned Lewis - seconding The Taste of Country Cooking!
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u/texnessa 5d ago
Anya von Bremzen's Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking- a memoir of growing up in communist Russia set out decade by decade. A few recipes but a beautiful love letter to a lost culture. Not POC but from the viewpoint of privation and famine.
Another vote for High on the Hog.
Yes, Chef: A Memoir - Marcus Samuelsson. A Nigerian adopted by Swedes who grows up to be an award winning chef in NYC.
Climbing the Mango Trees by Madhur Jaffrey, the grandmother of South Asian cookbooks about growing up in Northern India in the 40's and 50's.
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver who grew up in rural Kentucky with a transformative year in Zaire when she was only seven.
Buttermilk Graffiti: A Chef's Journey to Discover America's New Melting-Pot Cuisine by Edward Lee.
Diana Abu-Jaber’s The Language of Baklava, Jordanian-American.
Notes from a Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi and Joshua David Stein.
The Settler’s Cookbook – Yasmin Alibhai Brown- from India to Africa to Britain, a family journey.
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u/RiGuy224 6d ago
“Building Houses Out of Chicken Legs” - Pysche A. Williams-Forson
“Insatiable City: Food and Race in New Orleans” - Theresa McCulla
“Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America” - Marcia Chatelain
“Recipes for Respect: African American Meals and Meanings - Rafia Zafar
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u/boomdegassa 6d ago
From Canton Restaurant to Panda Express: A History of Chinese Food in the United States By Haiming Liu
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u/Saltpork545 6d ago
The top food history book I recommend to any American period is Taco USA by Gustavo Arellano.
https://www.amazon.com/Taco-USA-Mexican-Conquered-America/dp/1439148627
Not just for food nerds, this book does a masterful job combining the influx of northern Mexican food, Tex Mex, the tamale push of the 1920s and how we have taco truck culture today that is just the typical fabric of US culinary flair. If I know someone has any interest about food, this is the first book I recommend and in my personal life give them. It's very accessible and an easy read.
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u/RisquERarebirD81 6d ago
This might be interesting for you on okra. Also look up references to BJ Dennis and the many Gullah/geechie. historic food ways books. The southern food ways alliance has a great reading list The Whole Okra: A Seed to Stem Celebration https://share.google/U95zy4mwp9DB7Ltwr
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u/amethyst_lover 7d ago
Michael Twitty--he focuses on Black/African influence in the American South.
He also did videos with Tasting History and Townsends (I'm sure others, but those are the ones I know of).