Currently viewing the category: "Americas"

Emancipation Days

By On August 2, 2012 · Leave a Comment

Back when I started this post, Juneteenth was two days away but didn’t finish because I am in the midst of some major changes and have been kind of busy, so here’s a brief recap of what went on for Juneteenth last month around the the United States. With lots more coverage every year, awareness [...]

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RC Spotlight: The African American Candy Collection

By On March 12, 2012 · Leave a Comment

“Do you like candy?” ten-year old Rosa asked excitedly.

My childhood friend, Ruth and I looked at each other looked at each other over the plate of cold noodles and pork buns we’d been gorging on when Rosa sat down next to me. I smirked, Ruth rolled her eyes and as a master of biting [...]

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2011 – UN International Year for People of African Descent

By On September 26, 2011 · 2 Comments

I am late with this, at least here on the site. I’ve been talking up the 2011 International Year for People of African Descent since late 2010 with friends, on Twitter and on Facebook but haven’t done anything special to commemorate it with Roots Cuisine, for various reasons. Most of them logistical and [...]

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Juneteenth

By On June 19, 2011 · 1 Comment

Today people around the country (and the world) will celebrate Juneteenth, which is a celebration of the end of slavery…an emancipation day of sorts. I may even fry some chicken or bake a cake, or something, or maybe I will just have a glass of wine.

Here in the United States [...]

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Yams

On Yams (Part I)

By On May 5, 2011 · 1 Comment

Yam, igname, ñame, inhame… all rooted in various West African words: nyam, iyan that not only refer to the tuber itself, but can also mean food, or even to eat reflecting the importance of the vegetable to cultures throughout the region . In Jamaican the word for eat is nyam. No coincidences here. I have [...]

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On the Bookshelf: The Food, Folklore, and Art of Lowcountry Cooking

By On September 18, 2010 · Leave a Comment

The Food, Folklore, and Art of Lowcountry Cooking: A Celebration of the Foods, History, and Romance Handed Down From England, Africa, The Caribbean, France, Germany, and Scotland (Joseph E. Dabney – Cumberland House/Sourcebooks, Inc., 2010)

The book’s subtitle, “A Celebration of the Foods, History, and Romance Handed Down from Africa, The Caribbean, France, [...]

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A Closer Look: The Lowcountry & Gullah/Geechee Culture -Part I

By On August 2, 2010 · 2 Comments

Part I in a series on the Lowcountry and Gullah/Geechee Culture and Food.

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Diaspora’s Kitchen – Part I

By On January 6, 2010 · 3 Comments

Indespensible ingredients in the diasporal pantry.

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Big Mama's House?

By On March 4, 2009 · 2 Comments

So, I was doing a search for websites on African American food, using that search term specifically, and essentially came up with nothing. Most of the entries ended up being redirected to sites about soul food, which while encompassed under the umbrella of African American food is really, it seems, more of a [...]

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Feijoada Completa

By On January 26, 2009 · Leave a Comment

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mUVUSPb8Cc]

(Embedding has been disabled for this video. Want to see it? Click here.)

I love this video. It’s a day spent preparing and eating feijoada completa in the company of family and friends set to Chico Buarque’s song of the same title.

Feijoada completa is the Brazilian national dish and [...]

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