Customer Reviews

Hallelujah! The Welcome Table: A Lifetime of Memories

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Here in San Francisco folk with educated palates still talk and reminisce about Maya Angelou's stint cooking at the Creole Cafe, back during the heigh of the Creole movement westward bound. A wandering people had reached the blue Pacific but hungry Louisianans still yearned for a little bit of home. Of course Angelou was not from Louisiana herself, as we all know she is from Arkansas which is why Bill Clinton asked her to read "On The Pulse of Morning" for his first inauguration, but her family's recipes saw her through some difficult times. And when times got tough for her, San Francisco diners reaped the benefits. Now, sixty years later, she finally reveals the secrets that made her own brand of Creole food so good. (Our local columnist the late Herb Caen wrote about Angelou first as a cook, later as an exotic dancer and singer, finally of course as a famous poet.) The truth is, she did a little bit of everything and you can taste it in her cooking.

I tried the home-made potato salad, and found that, for me, speaking personally, there was maybe too much parsley and not enough pickles, relish, or celery, but it had a delicious flavor nevertheless and I'm not surprised she has called it her favorite picnic food. Brian Lanker's photographs of the food she made herself decorate nearly every chapter, and he is of course the famous LIFE magazine photographer who made the award winning documentary about artists who work for the US government (and independently) in combat. Here his photographs are nore relaxed, though still gritty and reliable. He is a firm photographer, with definite slants to his insight, and so he is a good match up for Maya Angelou, who now must be nearly 80 and with a lifetime of achievement to look back on. Even the famous food writer MFK Fisher gave Maya Angelou a great compliment, saying she is one of the ten best cooks she ever met. (Both women were Bay Area residents during the 50s and 60s, and were quite fond of each other, odd as it seems.) There is one recipe here for every year of Maya Angelou's life, and I hope that the success of this volume calls forth for a sequel, one in which the recipes are arranged seasonally, and perhaps a few fewer tales of compliments that guests gave her, because it does sound a little vain, as though she were patting herself on the back in the pages of her own book.

This is a warmly written, beautiful book with very tempting recipes (you almost drool on the pages) -- which are either unique, or have incredibly special touches. Magnificent (like everything the author does). My only quibble (and the reason I didn't give it five stars) is that the descriptions of the recipes and what makes them special appear in a chapter preceding the recipes, rather than above each recipe -- and the recipes are organized by family event, rather than type. That makes it awfully difficult to find anything. But you'll still want the book ... It is glorious, and I can't wait to start trying the tempting recipes.

So, I'm a cookbook collector. By that, I mean, I have all these cookbooks, but I don't think I've ever tried a recipe out of any of them -- I just like to read them. This was, by far, the best cookbook I've ever read, and devouring the recipes' stories made me actually want to try cooking them. Something about such a great story behind it really got me off my butt to actually make them. I started with Decca's Chicken as I had everything in the house, and it was wonderful, and it prompted me to run out and buy the ingredients I needed for the Smothered Chicken. There's something about Angelou's stories that make me want to try every one of the recipies... ok, maybe not-so-much on the tripe. But for anyone who doesn't get inspired by the normal cookbooks, I highly suggest this one.

I WAS REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS BOOK AND WAS NOT DISAPPOINTED. EACH RECIPE IS PRECEDED BY AN ESSAY OF REMEMBRANCE AS TO HOW THE DISH PLAYED A PART IN SOME SMALL SNIPPET OF THE AUTHOR'S RATHER EVENTFUL LIFE. DR. ANGELOU CONTINUES TO WRITE WITH SPARKLE AND SNAP. THE INTRODUCTIONS TO HER RECIPES RUN THE GAMUT FROM AMUSING TO ENLIGHTENING TO HEARTWARMING. YOU ARE IMMEDIATELY TRANSPORTED TO THE PLACES SHE HAS BEEN AND BEAR WITNESS TO THE THINGS SHE HAS DONE. HER WRITING ALLOWS YOU TO KNOW THE PEOPLE SHE MENTIONS. SHE ILLUSTRATES THEM SO DEFTLY THAT YOU CAN PICTURE THEM IN YOUR MIND'S EYE. AS FOR THE RECIPES, I MADE THE SMOTHERED PORK CHOPS AND THE DRUNKEN CHICKEN. THEY WERE DELICIOUS. THE BEEF STEW MADE FOR COMFORTING NOURISHMENT ON A RECENT DRIZZLY SATURDAY AFTERNOON. THOSE TRIUMPHS MADE ME LOOK FORWARD TO TRYING MORE. BUT, SHAME ON HER EDITOR. A TRULY JUDICIOUS EDITOR WOULD HAVE PAID MORE ATTENTION TO SOME THINGS THAT WOULD LEAVE THE COOK WITH QUESTIONS. THE COOK IS LEFT TO WONDER WHY DR. ANGELOU USES BREAD CRUMBS IN THE CUSTARD FOR HER BANANA PUDDING. AND THE CARAMEL CAKE RECIPE CALLS FOR A CARAMEL SYRUP THAT ACTUALLY GOES IN TO THE BATTER. WHY? AND IN THE ACCOMPANYING PHOTOGRAPH, IT IS OBVIOUS THAT THE FROSTED CARAMEL CAKE HAS HAD A DRIZZLING OF SOMETHING (CARAMEL SYRUP?). BUT THE RECIPE DOESN'T TELL YOU WHAT IT IS. ALSO, THE CAKE IN THE PICTURE HAS 3 LAYERS, BUT THE RECIPE IS FOR A TWO LAYER CAKE. AND DESSERTS RECEIVE SHORT SHRIFT IN THE BOOK. THERE ARE NOT A LOT OF RECIPES FOR CAKES AND PIES. I EXPECTED THAT THERE WOULD BE MORE OF THEM. BUT, OVERALL THE BOOK IS VERY SATISFYING. I HAVE LOVED DR. ANGELOU'S WORK FOR SO LONG AND THROUGH SO MANY OF HER WRITINGS. SHE AGAIN INVITES US IN TO HER LIFE AND THIS TIME OFFERS US THE OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE A SATISFYING MEAL AND WE COME AWAY THE BETTER FOR HAVING BEEN THERE. HALLELUJAH, INDEED!!

I collect cookbooks, and this was one I just happened upon, but it has become one of my favorites, my mother is a wonderful cook, and I have always wanted to learn to make her bread pudding, Maya's bread pudding is just like hers and it is wonderful, my husband and kids couldn't get enough of it. Every recipe I have tried from this book has been a hit with my family, and the great part is they are so easy to make.

I think the book is great. The recipes are simple and easy to follow. Each dish that I have prepared turned out good. I really love the smothered chicken recipe, the mushrooms adds a different taste. However, I would like to know the effects of soaking the chicken parts in lemon juice and water!

This book has it all: succulent pictures, good soul food recipes, but most of all interesting and funny stories. A must-read, not only for women, but for everybody with a passion for food and love of good heart-felt writing.

Maya Angelou is one of my all time favorite authors. The way she descirbes things is amazing, so much so that you can feel, taste, and even smell whatever it is she is describing. So it is only fitting that she write this cookbook, because the way she describes the foods makes your mouth water, and your stomach growl. I cannot wait to try the fried chicken, the potato salad, and numerous other recipes from this book. Also, what is great about this book is the variety of the dishes. In the beginning, when she is talking about her childhood, and living with her "Momma", there are real down home southern dishes. But as the book progresses, and she moves into her adult years, the food gets fancier, because she is describing dishes from fancy restaurants in Paris, and all the other places she travelled. I love this book, as I love everything she writes. I would love to meet her one day and pick her brain. Maybe over some of her wonderful cooking!

Maya Angelou can write, orate, and narrate, but here she is wearing a different hat as chef. These recipes chronicle some important memories including fried chicken for when the pastor came to visit, lemon meringue cake which her brother savored for, and couselet which she served to none other then M. K. Fisher. There are few people who have lived such an extraordinary life then Ms. Angelou, but her recipes reflect simple good cooking that her grandmother used to make (where she wasted nothing- check out the recipe for crackling crackling) and passed to her. I love Southern food and a lot of these recipes blow away the homestyle food served here. I love her potato salad with all the eggs and pickles, her collards, lettuce and peas, and of course the banana pudding (yum!). There is something so fufilling to read her memoirs and savor some of these comfort foods, then prepare and relive the stories she's telling. Only Maya Angelou can have that effect on people.

I bought this book more for the stories than the recipes. I was pleased with both, but the stories are my favorite. I tried one of the recipes and it was excellent.