‘The Jemima Code’ reveals little-known culinary legacies of Black men and women

One of the nation's most distinctive and varied regional cuisines comes from the American South. Yet, of the 100,000 recipe collections published over the last two centuries, only 200 or so have been properly credited to African American cooks and writers.

Toni Tipton-Martin is a culinary journalist and founding member of the Southern Foodways Alliance. In 2015, Evan Kleiman spoke with her about her groundbreaking book, “The Jemima Code: Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks.” The book reaches beyond the figure of “Jemima” — a smiling Black woman with an apron and headscarf — to reveal the culinary legacies of the real men and women pushed aside by history.