|
| Vibration Cooking
ISBN: 9780820339597
Platform/Publisher: Project MUSE / University of Georgia Press
Digital rights: Users: Unlimited; Printing: Chapters; Download: Chapters
Subjects: African Americans; Cooking American; African American cooking.;
Vibration Cooking was first published in 1970, not long after the term "soul food" gained common use. While critics were quick to categorize her as a proponent of soul food, Smart-Grosvenor wanted to keep the discussion of her cookbook/memoir focused on its message of food as a source of pride and validation of black womanhood and black "consciousness raising."
In 1959, at the age of nineteen, Smart-Grosvenor sailed to Europe, "where the bohemians lived and let live." Among the cosmopolites of radical Paris, the Gullah girl from the South Carolina low country quickly realized that the most universal lingua franca is a well-cooked meal. As she recounts a cool cat's nine lives as chanter, dancer, costume designer, and member of the Sun Ra Solar-Myth Arkestra, Smart-Grosvenor introduces us to a rich cast of characters. We meet Estella Smart, Vertamae's grandmother and connoisseur of mountain oysters; Uncle Costen, who lived to be 112 and knew how to make Harriet Tubman Ragout; and Archie Shepp, responsible for Collard Greens à la Shepp, to name a few. She also tells us how poundcake got her a marriage proposal (she didn't accept) and how she perfected omelettes in Paris, enchiladas in New Mexico, biscuits in Mississippi, and feijoida in Brazil. "When I cook, I never measure or weigh anything," writes Smart-Grosvenor. "I cook by vibration."
This edition features a foreword by Psyche Williams-Forson placing the book in historical context and discussing Smart-Grosvenor's approach to food and culture. A new preface by the author details how she came to write Vibration Cooking .
Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor was born in Fairfax, South Carolina on April 4, 1937. Starting in 1980, she became a commentator on NPR. She reported on food, culture, travel, and social issues. She was best known for commending the virtues of the Gullah food and culture of her native South Carolina. She appeared frequently on the NPR series All Things Considered and hosted Seasonings, a series of NPR cooking specials. She briefly hosted Americas' Family Kitchen with Vertamae Grosvenor on public television in the 1990s. She wrote several books during her lifetime including Vibration Cooking or, The Travel Notes of a Geechee Girl. She acted in the movies Daughters of the Dust and Beloved. She died on September 3, 2016 at the age of 79. (Bowker Author Biography) |
