Lewis writes lovingly of her childhood in Freetown, a small Virginia hamlet founded by the formerly enslaved, and proudly shares the history and recipes her family and other Freetown residents enjoyed through the years. This is a love story to Freetown, the people who built it, and the power of good food prepared with care.

The late, beloved NPR essayist and contributor grew up on the Georgia Sea Islands in that lap of what’d now called Gullah-Geechee culture, and was a proponent of that culture (and its cuisine) well before hipsters discovered the joy of okra. The title comes from Grosvenor’s process: “I don’t measure things,” she tells readers; “I cook by vibration.”

When it was first published in the 70s, Fashionistas and foodies alike fell for this charming recipe-laced memoir from former model turned caterer Norma Jean and her realtor-turned-caterer sister, Carole. Their stories of traveling each summer from their Newark, NJ hometown to visit their relatives in Wilson, NC were rich in family history and treasured recipes. The book was reissued in 2016 as a 25th anniversary edition.

This cookbook comes from the kitchens of the famed Tuskegee Institute, which taught its students pragmatic life-skills that would allow them to support themselves upon graduation. Shots of Tuskegee through the years are scattered throughout, as well a some of its founder’s favorites, including the ginger cakes that made Tuskegee president Booker T Washington vow to become free when he was a child—just so he could taste one.

Food historian Twitty travels to West Africa to trace the route so many of our enslaved ancestors were forced to travel, bringing foods from home they then cultivated in the New World. Twitty was awarded a coveted James Beard medal for The Cooking Gene; shows how so much of what we cherish as Southern American food actually had its origins across the water.

Harris has spent decades tracing the skeins that connect the African continent to the American one. Harris travels the diaspora and tells the story of how Africa deliciously imbues many of our favorite American dishes. She shows that at table, we are all cousins. (Also: be sure to see her 4-part series of the same name streaming now on Netflix.)

To many, the term “soul food” immediately evokes images of mouth-watering, slow-cooked meat. But Bryant Terry’s Vegan Soul Kitchen explores the literal “roots” (and leaves and fruits) of Black cooking by dreaming up traditional Black Southern recipes that are plant-based, and no less delicious than the originals.

Tipton-Martin made a big splash a few years ago with The Jemima Code, a stunning history of often-overlooked Black women chefs and cooks. Jubilee! Continues her expertise with history and a slew of recipes that will make you want to cook while you’re reading them. (Which is how I fell down the Buttermilk Biscuit rabbit hole….)