Padma Shares Her Favorite Cookbooks That "Delve into Black Culinary Traditions"
The Bravo's Top Chef host called one of the books her "first introduction to Southern food."
As she is spending more time than ever cooking at home, Padma Lakshmi is sharing some of her favorite cookbooks that highlight Black culinary traditions.
“'The Taste of Country Cooking' by Edna Lewis was my first introduction to Southern food. I didn’t realize how lucky I was at the time to have found her writing," the Bravo's Top Chef host wrote on Instagram. "Years later I was proud to do a tribute dinner for Edna Lewis on [Top Chef] at Middleton Place in Charleston." (For more details on the dishes prepared during that episode, click here.)
"At that dinner was also the wonderful food writer, scholar and historian [Toni Tipton-Martin]," she continued. "Toni just won a much-deserved [James Beard Foundation] award for this new cookbook 'Jubilee,' (which my girlfriend and hairdresser [Jeanie Syfu] gifted me, thx Jeanie!). You should also read her other book: 'The Jemima Code.'”
Padma also took a moment to highlight A Real Southern Cook by Dora Charles, Vibration Cooking by Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor, and The Cooking Gene by Michael W. Twitty, noting: "These are some other incredible books that delve into the Black culinary traditions that make up our American food landscape."
In the comments section of the post, Tipton-Martin wrote: "Thank you Padma for your thoughtful words of support, especially now during these heart-breaking times."
Want more Top Chef? New episodes air every Thursday at 10/9c or catch up on this season through the Bravo app. And tune in to watch the Top Chef All-Stars finalists live on TODAY on Thursday, June 18.
