Description

A New York Times bestseller and NPR Best Book of the Year, this is the first major Gullah Geechee cookbook: Emily Meggett, the matriarch of Edisto Island, shares the recipes and the history of an essential American community.

The history of the Gullah and Geechee people stretches back centuries, when enslaved members of this community were historically isolated from the rest of the South because of their location on the Sea Islands of coastal South Carolina and Georgia. Today, this Lowcountry community represents the most direct living link to the traditional culture, language, and foodways of their West African ancestors.

Gullah Geechee Home Cooking, written by Emily Meggett, the matriarch of Edisto Island, is the preeminent Gullah cookbook. At 89 years old, and with more than 50 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, Meggett is a respected elder in the Gullah community of South Carolina. She has lived on the island all her life, and even at her age, still cooks for hundreds of people out of her hallowed home kitchen. Her house is a place of pilgrimage for anyone with an interest in Gullah Geechee food.

Meggetts Gullah food is rich and flavorful, though it is also often lighter and more seasonal than other types of Southern cooking. Heirloom rice, fresh-caught seafood, local game, and vegetables are key to her recipes for regional delicacies like fried oysters, collard greens, and stone-ground grits. This cookbook has snippets of the Meggett family history on Edisto Island, which stretches back into the 19th century, and some of their delicious and accessible recipes include:

Shrimp and Grits with Gravy

Okra Gumbo

Macaroni and Cheese

Barbecue Ribs and Sauce

Black-Eyed Peas

Chocolate Cream Pie

Rich in both flavor and history, Meggetts Gullah Geechee Home Cooking is a testament to the syncretism of West African and American cultures that makes her home of Edisto Island so unique.

Includes color images

Author: Emily Meggett
Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
Published: 04/26/2022
Pages: 288
Weight: 2.4lbs
Size: 10.23h x 8.35w x 1.00d
ISBN: 9781419758782
Language: English