Take everything you thought about the “country, southern, unhealthy, scraps”, and flip it on its head. Speaking of head, get ready to see headcheese, squirrels, grouse, black pot, brains, tongues, and yes, chitlins if you're adventurous.
Chef, food writer, and outstanding voice of African diasporic and Black foodways of the South, Amethyst Ganaway’s FROM THE ROOTA TO THE TOOTA, a collection of 80 recipes for fans of sustainable foodways, butchery, hunting, and land stewardship, to Bryant Terry and Claire Yee at 4 Color Books, at auction, by Sally Ekus at Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency (world).
Charleston Wine and Food Festival x Heritage Radio Interview-Roota to the Toota
Take hundreds of years of the varieties of Southern Black culinary and cultural experiences and try to fit it into one book with recipes, interviews, anecdotes,
illustrations, and brilliant photography. Then take everything you thought about the “country, southern, unhealthy, scraps”, and flip it on its head. Speaking of head, get ready to see headcheese, squirrels, grouse, black pot, brains, tongues, and yes, chitlins if you're adventurous. But you’ll also see stew chicken, biscuits and gravy, greens, and a lot of rice – the food that makes you feel good and you can cook on a weeknight or low and slow on a Sunday morning for supper. There will be old school tips and tricks, instructions for butchering, and how to utilize every part of an animal or ingredient. There’s no possible way I could put the entire breadth of Southern Black foodways into one book, but I hope that it can serve as a guide and as a start to helping people understand and truly respect the complexity and richness of the Black South. From the Roota to the Toota is set to release in 2027. Pre-Order Link will be available in 2026.
Credit: Clay Williams