Shame its not a cook book. But, I found this book very interesting with lots of history of African American cookbooks from the 19th century to the present. There were a few old recipes which was reprints from old recipes book s of their past. This book is more of a encyclopaedia / resource type book about African American cookbooks. But I found this fascinating to see what the cookbooks looked like and read how African Americans, specifically women, and the ingredients that they used shaped the food history of America.
This book would be a good table reference book.

Review on Amazon uk and Goodreads Blog

Filled with research and analysis, this is essentially an exhaustive annotated bibliography. While it's a bit dense for casual reading, it would be valuable to anyone doing research (personal or scholarly) on the culinary impact and history of the African diaspora in the US and the evolving attitudes towards them.

While not a cookbook itself, The Jemima Code is an amazing resource which compiles the history of African American cookbooks from the 19th century to the present. I wasn't really sure how interesting a encyclopedia/resource type book would be, but it was fascinating to see what the cookbooks looked like and read how African Americans, specifically women, and the ingredients that they used shaped the food history of America. I initially thought this would include some recipes but it does not other than some reprinted pictures of recipes which are not easy to read.

decline as I cannot download ARC on my kindle. Thank you for the opportunity.

It wasn't exactly what I thought it was going to be, but it was in a way, if that makes sense. So informative. Well researched and interesting. I remember seeing some of the later books discussed in this book in bookstores growing up! But it's more than a trip down memory lane, It was interesting to read about each of the books and some of the cooks behind them. It even had some recipes I might try- I want to make this clear tho', it is not a recipe book! It only has a few from the many books it references.

I collect cookbooks and I used to collect cookbooks with my grandmother .I continue to go to cookbooks because even though they never measured a lot in there cooking ,because they were taught to do that ,She always looked at cookbooks and she would tweak the recipes in them . It just brought me close to her and taught me so much about culture and food and people .This book does for the same for African-American culture and cuisine and dispels a lot of myths and misconceptions.

The Jemima Code is more of a resource book, and not an actual cookbook, that provides a chronological compilation of the history of African American cooking beginning in the 19th century to 2000's. Although the book wasn't what I was expecting, the sheer wealth of information the author dispensed was fascinating. The presentation was a little on the dry side, but the sections were spaced in such a way that I never felt overwhelmed while reading.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received from the publisher via NetGalley.

I enjoyed this book on learned so much on the history of African-American culture in the American food history landscape.

What a fantastic tour of black history through food, all in one compendium. An amazing addition to any kitchen or library bookshelf--this belongs on both!

I went in thinking that this book would have more recipes than it does. The history of cookbooks and their authors was interesting in places, but fell flat in others. Really liked seeing the old cookbooks from way back when. This would not be a keep in the kitchen book, but a nightstand stack book.