Four generations of cooking and eating in one black American family, as explored by a mother-daughter literary duo who are reclaiming and redefining soul food, with 80 recipes to help everyone live longer and stronger.
In May 2012, bestselling author of The Wind Done Gone Alice Randall penned an op ed in the New York Times titled “Black Women and Fat,” chronicling her quest to be “the last fat black woman” in her family. Soul Food Love, written with her daughter, Caroline Randall Williams, uses the authors’ fascinating family history to explore the often fraught relationship African American women have had with food; once a place of servitude, scarcity, and often violence, kitchens were reclaimed by black cooks in the late 20th century, only to become places of overabundance and overindulgence. With obesity rates skyrocketing in the African American community, Alice and Caroline advocate a powerful new way forward that honors their cultural and culinary heritage by translating recipes and traditions handed down by generations of black cooks into easy, affordable, and indulgent, but healthful soul food dishes.
In May 2012, bestselling author of The Wind Done Gone Alice Randall penned an op ed in the New York Times titled “Black Women and Fat,” chronicling her quest to be “the last fat black woman” in her family. Soul Food Love, written with her daughter, Caroline Randall Williams, uses the authors’ fascinating family history to explore the often fraught relationship African American women have had with food; once a place of servitude, scarcity, and often violence, kitchens were reclaimed by black cooks in the late 20th century, only to become places of overabundance and overindulgence. With obesity rates skyrocketing in the African American community, Alice and Caroline advocate a powerful new way forward that honors their cultural and culinary heritage by translating recipes and traditions handed down by generations of black cooks into easy, affordable, and indulgent, but healthful soul food dishes.
CAROLINE RANDALL WILLIAMS, an award-winning published poet, is pursuing her MFA at the University of Mississippi.