“Ever since I can remember, I knew I was different,” Alexander Smalls says. The chef, who grew up in a Gullah-Geechee household in Spartanburg, North Carolina, said he was aware of what these differences meant in appearance, history and cuisine. “I realized early on that my friends weren’t eating the food that I ate. My food was more West African-like and that was very noticeable,” he says. . It wasn’t until he moved to New York as an adult that he assimilated the value of discrete connective tissue. “Food was a big part of the cultural expression and identity of the African diaspora,” he says.
For the past 30 years, the chef and restaurateur has traveled the world studying the foodways and cooking techniques of the African diaspora. Along the way, he wrote an award-winning book and opened several restaurants in New York, including Café Beulah, serving South Carolina lowland cuisine, and a Southern-style bakery called Sweet Ophelia’s. When Smalls opened The Cecil on St. Nicholas Avenue in Harlem in 2013, an Esquire article called it “America’s best new restaurant” and called it thrilling and unique. It’s a journey of taste that has taken us from West Africa to India, the Caribbean, America, China and back again. ”
Contemporary African Kitchen includes 120 recipes from the most relevant voices in contemporary African cuisine.
Phaidon Press Co., Ltd.
It’s easy to forget that in a previous life, Smalls was also a Grammy and Tony Award-winning opera singer.
After decades of giving African diaspora cuisine a voice on the global culinary scene, Smalls, now in his third act, heads straight to the source of his exploration. On October 15th, Smalls’ latest book, The Contemporary African Kitchen: Home Cooking Recipes from the Leading Chefs of Africa, was released. The book was co-authored with Nina Odul, an inclusion expert and author based in Washington, DC. Featuring 120 recipes from food’s most relevant voices, this cookbook takes readers on a soaring journey across the continent, from the shores of Alexandria to the hustle and bustle of Rwanda to the mountains of South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal. I’ll take you there. Featuring dishes such as Mohamed Kamal’s Sheriya, the Golden Land, an important Nubian breakfast, and Pierre Thiam’s chicken stew with cassava leaves and peanut butter from Casamance in southern Senegal, the recipes have a historical feel. It also has a modern flair. Some of the stories that come with them are personal. Mostafa Seif’s Egyptian okra stew reminds her of her mother’s balcony, where she hung vegetables to dry to show off their greenness to the neighbors. Others emphasize the interconnectedness of history and culture, like Zain Abdullah’s chicken biryani, which celebrates the Swahili culture up and down Africa’s east coast and the Arab influence on African cuisine. All recipes celebrate the continent’s forests, farms and oceans. “For too long, we have downplayed the value of African things and failed to acknowledge their place in contemporary conversations about excellence,” Smalls says. He hopes this book will change that.
