If I Can Cook/You Know God Can (Bluestreak Series) [Paperback]

Ntzoake Shange (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Bluestreak | Publication Date: January 1, 1999

Acclaimed artist Ntozake Shange offers this delightfully eclectic tribute to black cuisine as a food of life that reflects the spirit and history of a people. With recipes such as "Cousin Eddie's Shark with Breadfruit" and "Collard Greens to Bring You Money," Shange instructs us in the nuances of a cuisine born on the slave ships of the Middle Passage, spiced by the jazz of Duke Ellington, and shared by all members of the African Diaspora. Rich with personal memories and historical insight, If I Can Cook/You Know God Can is a vivid story of the migration of a people, and the cuisine that marks their living legacy and celebration of taste.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

With lyrical originality and musical patois, playwright, novelist, and poet Shange (Liliane: Resurrection of the Daughter, LJ 11/15/94) intertwines the history and food of the "African Diaspora" into a beautiful little book in the tradition of M.F.K. Fisher. This collection of essays?conversations might be more accurate?takes the reader to the tables of African Americans; the kitchens of Nicaragua, London, Barbados, and Brazil; and the feasts of Africa. Proud tradition plays an important role here, but don't overlook the book's value for the chef. Easy-to-follow recipes for "collards to bring you money," rack of lamb, hominy, feijoada, barbecue, gumbo, okra, and couscous are among the 34 exotic dishes, and most of the ingredients?except maybe turtle eggs?are readily available. Herein is also contained the coveted secret of determining a watermelon's ripeness! An inexpensive cookbook with a lot of class.?Wendy Miller, Lexington P.L., Ky.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Perhaps best known for her play . . . for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf (1977), Shange in her new book interweaves recipes with memories in a generous banquet celebrating the cultural significance of certain foods. In recollecting places lived or visited, Shange questions the derivation and preparation of various comestibles, while observing the way traditions vary from state to state. Recalling impressions of countries such as Nicaragua, England, and Cuba, Shange paints a fervent, richly impassioned chronicle of African American experience, at the same time making note of political situations and discord among the peoples of these nations and recording how connections are made beyond issues of class or skin color. Recipes serve as savory, nourishing garnishes--at once enhancing and adding a qualified zest to Shange's potent commentaries. Alice Joyce --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Beacon Press (January 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807072419
• ISBN-13: 978-0807072417
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.4 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,062,662 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ntozake Shange, poet, novelist, playwright, and performer, wrote the Broadway-produced and Obie Award-winning For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf. She has also written numerous works of fiction, including Sassafras, Cypress and Indigo, Betsy Brown, and Liliane.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delicious!, November 21, 2001

By 

yygsgsdrassil "yygsgsdrassil" (Crossroads America) - See all my reviews

This review is from: If I Can Cook/You Know God Can (Bluestreak Series) (Paperback)

Autobiographical and historical and cultural all rolled up in one. With the holidays coming up, these great stories and recipes of great african and african-american dishes--dishes from people and lands of color--would go perfectly with each serving of yams, blackeyed peas and rice and collards. Foods of defiance, comfort, strength. Presented by the superb Ntozake Shange. (For my two cents, all the schoolkids ought to be taught how really influential Ntozake was in black entertainment, period, not just literature. But that sounds like a discussion for another review.)

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Experience African-American experience through culinary hist, September 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: If I Can Cook, God Can (Hardcover)

I am not an African-American but through Shange's words I can feel the grief, the sorrow, and the triumphs of the African-American experience. By talking about food, which everybody needs and relates to, she paints a far more vivid picture of the African people in the Diaspora than a scholarly historian might. Many of her recipes call for ingredients I've hardly heard of, but her evocative descriptions of the food almost make me able to taste it.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cooking, October 11, 2010

By 

Carmen Redpath "sparkle" (Philadelphia, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: If I Can Cook/You Know God Can (Bluestreak Series) (Paperback)

I loved the book. Would recommend to family and friends.



Carmen