Chef Bryant Terry’s joyous ‘Black Food’ goes beyond recipes to celebrate African diaspora culture

Q&A

BY KATE LUCKY

Chef and activist Bryant Terry’s newest volume isn’t only a cookbook. Yes, “Black Food: Stories, Art, and Recipes from the African Diaspora” (4 Color Books) includes 60-plus recipes, from Terry’s own Dirty South Hot Tamales to chef Dadisi Olutosin’s elevated Poulet Yassa Osso Buco and Erika Council’s Buttermilk Biscuits. But the book is also an anthology that combines scholarly essays, poems, a playlist and art from more than 100 culinary minds and thinkers. Terry calls it a “communal shrine to the shared culinary histories of the African diaspora.”

QWhy did you choose an anthology approach?

A“Black Food” was inspired by the work that I’ve done at the Museum of the African Diaspora as chef-in-residence. Since 2015, I’ve been creating programming, along with my colleagues at the museum — from panel discussions to intimate conversations with authors, from book signings to dinners — where we’ve had a multilayered conversation around food, the African diaspora, Blackness and culture.

For a long time, I thought about creating a book like this. But last year, there was a strong impetus that came out of the historical moment post-Breonna Taylor and George Floyd’s murders by the state, and the subsequent uprisings and important conversations around the ways in which Black folks in this country have been historically and contemporarily marginalized.

I felt like this was the moment to give us voice. I was very clear when I pitched this book to its contributors that I didn’t want it to be about the ways in which Black people have been marginalized, oppressed and exploited. We’ve heard that story hundreds of times. I wanted this book to be about joy and celebration. We’re inviting the world to listen in, make our recipes, read our words, enjoy, be moved, be forced to think about things differently.

QIs there a section in the book that’s particularly exciting to you?

AMany of the book’s chapters come from programming at MoAD, including “Land, Liberation & Food Justice” and “Black Women, Food & Power.” It was important for me to start my residency by lifting up the contributions of Black women, historically and contemporarily, to the production, distribution and consumption of food and food knowledge. Malcolm X talks about Black women being the most disrespected people in America. I’ve been very intentional about using my position, platform and power to uplift Black women — and most of “Black Food”’s contributors are black women.

QCan you tell us about the art and poetry in the book?

Five book picks from Terry

“Burnt Toast and Other Disasters” by Cal Peternell

“Diet for a Small Planet” by Frances Moore Lappé

Chef and author Bryant Terry says his book, “Black Food,” was inspired by work he had done at the Museum of the African Diaspora as chef-inresidence.

RAY CHAVEZ/STAFF

AThe book’s first chapter, “Spirit,” feels like a beautiful way to start: grounded in the unseen, in our connection with divine creative intelligence. I tapped different artists to contribute pieces to open the chapters, and Daniel Minter insisted he create an original work for “Spirit.” I’m so glad that he did. The piece that he created is literally layered; you could sit with it for hours. It evokes that energy that I hoped it would — the spirit world, the ancestors, our sacred staple ingredients like okra and black eyed peas and symbols like cowrie shells. The piece is followed by the Rev. Marvin K. White’s prayer poem. Marvin and I collaborate often, since he’s here in the Bay Area. I’ll often have him open up my events with a prayer or invocation to help focus the energy.

QAre there dishes in “Black Food” you might recommend for less experienced home cooks?

AForthe novice, something simple, like the Jollof Rice with Beans. If you can boil a pot of water, you can make that dish.

I often talk about African American cuisine being the original modern global fusion cuisine. Classic dishes made their way from Western Central Africa to the Americas, intermingling with the indigenous foods and flavor profiles of the Americas and European cuisine. All these came together to create something new — and I feel like a rice-and-beans dish speaks to that.

Nana’s Sweet Potato Pie! It’s one of the best sweet potato pies I’ve ever had.

The cocktails: That’s an easy lift. I also love the Sweet Potato Snack by Dr. Howard Conyers. If one doesn’t make any other recipe in this book, make those sweet potato snacks!

“Creative Acts for Curious People” by Sarah Stein Greenberg

“Five Morsels of Love” by Archana Pidathala

“Afro-Vegan: Family Recipes from a British Nigerian Kitchen” by Zoe Alakija