The Signifying Dish Ch. 15

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Black Women have been notoriously misrepresented in American society. Their roles have been underestimated and skewed. Their images have been distorted and marginalized. During the civil rights and black power movements, several literary/cookbooks emerged. Several fearless black women felt the duty to make sure that the history of African American cooking was not swept under the rug.

Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor and Carole & Norma Jean Darden were three brilliant authors who used their cookbooks as a way to tell stories. They were able to share their history as well as share recipes that were part of their African lineage. This also led to their contributions as part of the greater “political consciousness of the 1960’s”(Zafar, 2019)

Vertamae Smart-Grovsvenor was a fiery, passionate woman, who was not afraid to speak out on racism and oppression of African-American people. She had an activist mentality and wanted to enlighten her readers on the nature of “culinary racism”. (Zafar, 2019) Grovsvenor’s ideologies began to evolve and in doing so was reflected in her recipes. Dishes like Black-eyed peas were later rearranged to reflect her devotion to the Muslim religion. As part of her religious evolution, she begins to leave pork out of her recipes. Aside from explaining the recipe, she also gives an account of her own life decisions and growth as a woman of color.

Zafar, R. (2019). The Signifying Dish: Autobiography And History In Two Black Women’s Cookbooks. In 970399315 753428412 C. Counihan & 970399316 753428412 P. V. Esterik (Authors), Food and culture: A reader (pp. 221-235). New York and London: Routledge.