If I Can Cook/You Know God Can: African American Food Memories, Meditations, and Recipes: 2 (Celebrating Black Women Writers)

I’ve just finished reading Ntozake Shange’s If I Can Cook/ You Know God Can: African American Food Memories, Meditations, and Recipes. I already like the way Shange blurs lines of genre in Sassafrass, Cypress and Indigo, and the choreopoem for colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf, and recommend listening to the author’s recitation rather than reading it yourselfIf I can cook is a personal account of mainly cooking and eating traditions (mainly) in the Americas by African-descended populations. It is largely inspired by Shange’s family’s cooking traditions and her travel experiences from places as far afield as Brixton, Bahia and Barbados. Reading the book is akin to having a history lesson on the whys and wherefores of certain cooking habits and rituals. It’s also a leisurely reading of a recipe book (with little insistence on quantities). I tried out one of the Brazilian dishes (Mungunza), consulting a friend for a few added tips. Although it’s not my favourite, it inspired me to create my own recipe.

The recipes aren’t precise. But the stories are beautiful.

I love Ntozake Shange. She was an amazing writer . This book didn’t disappoint .