GHETTO GASTRO PRESENTS BLACK POWER KITCHEN (Artisan Books, 2022, 304 pages, $50 hardbound)

GHETTO GASTRO PRESENTS BLACK POWER KITCHEN (Artisan Books, 2022, 304 pages, $50 hardbound) is by Jon Gray, Pierre Serrao, and Lester Walker, assisted by Osayi Endolyn. All are chefs, cooks and food writers. In conjunction with the Bronx Ghetto Gastro (a culinary collective think tank with intensive experiences), they merge food, fashion, music, art, and design. They use food to create immersive culinary experiences incorporating storytelling and product design to advance health sovereignty in the Bronx by feeding the local community. Endolyn is a Beard-award writer whose work explores food and identity; she co-authored with Marcus Samuelsson, The Rise: black cooks and the soul of American food. The stylish, gorgeous large form photographic images are by Nayquan Shuler and Joshua Woods. It is all a mix of 75 recipes that stress crunch, heat, and umami; with interviews, photography and art re: the nature of Black food, the Black experience, and Black food inequality. Some may call this production part cookbook and part manifesto, with material on a unique viewpoint that even resulted in newly-designed cookware offered through both Williams-Sonoma and Target. Most of the food preps come directly from family roots and cultural heritage, many with modern updating to accomodate a plant-based diet. In the opening pages, they produce "the makings of a Ghetto Gastro dish". That being, in this case, Triple Cs -- seared cornbread, crab salad, and caviar. Instruction are given (in both imperial and in metric measurements), and it is all doable, although types of caviar are not discussed. This is followed by Chopped Stease (their version of a chopped cheese sandwich), Green Juice (juiced assorted greens with black cumin seed oil), Coco Loco (coconut ice), and Seafood City (smoked paprika romesco, frito misto), Strong Back Stew, Banana Leaf Fish,Tres Leches,  and others. A very compelling book, well-worth a look and well-worth reading. This is a terrific Christmas treat. Quality/price rating: 92.

Dean Tudor,  Prof Emeritus T'karonto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson) School of Journalism

Treasurer of Wine Writers' Circle of Canada http://www.deantudor.com
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