Believe it or not, there’s more to barbecue than firing up the grill and throwing meat on top. Barbecue, or BBQ if you will, is a finely-tuned skill. ‘Cueing became so fiercely popular thanks to African-Americans that foraged the path of this long-beloved method of cooking.
Now with these two black-authored BBQ cookbooks, you’re in for a real treat that takes you through history to present with plenty of delicious recipes to try in between. Discover juicy recipes along with a rich tapestry of history woven in through impeccable story-telling and imagery that make these books a must-have for any barbecue enthusiast’s collection.
Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue – By Adrian Miller
This BBQ cookbook is more than a collection of recipes with beautiful illustrations. It takes you on a journey through time as American barbecue cooking grew into its own segment. Focusing on the perseverance of black lives along with culinary innovations, this influence is directly responsible for the BBQ creations everyone loves getting their fingers sticky with today.
Rodney Scott's World of BBQ: Every Day Is a Good Day: A Cookbook – By Rodney Scott
If Rodney Scott sounds familiar, that’s because he’s a James Beard award winner. Telling his life story with family traditions, he discusses the history of BBQ in relation to African-American history. Born to barbecue, this pitmaster began his journey with South Carolina barbecue at the age of 11 where he cooked for his family’s barbecue spot, Scott’s Bar-B-Q. Yes, that’s the same place that has been there for four decades. Going on to run Rodney Scott’s Whole Hog BBQ in Charleston which has received countless awards and accolades, he’s certainly an expert in this category.
This cookbook is co-written by Lolis Eric Elie, an award-winner in writing, the story unfolds and the secrets behind those barbecue favorites are revealed along with splendid photography to bring it to life. Treasured recipes that people have traveled miles upon miles for like barbecued spare ribs, pit-smoked turkey, and Ella’s Banana Puddin’, plus that whole hog recipe are broken down to simplify them even for the novice cook.