Vibration Cooking

or, The Travel Notes of a Geechee Girl

Nonfiction, Food & Drink, International, USA, Biography & Memoir
Cover of the book Vibration Cooking by Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor, Psyche Williams-Forson, University of Georgia Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor, Psyche Williams-Forson ISBN: 9780820339597
Publisher: University of Georgia Press Publication: April 15, 2011
Imprint: University of Georgia Press Language: English
Author: Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor, Psyche Williams-Forson
ISBN: 9780820339597
Publisher: University of Georgia Press
Publication: April 15, 2011
Imprint: University of Georgia Press
Language: English

Vibration Cooking was first published in 1970, not long after the term “soul food” gained common use. While critics were quick to categorize her as a proponent of soul food, Smart-Grosvenor wanted to keep the discussion of her cookbook/memoir focused on its message of food as a source of pride and validation of black womanhood and black “consciousness raising.”

In 1959, at the age of nineteen, Smart-Grosvenor sailed to Europe, “where the bohemians lived and let live.” Among the cosmopolites of radical Paris, the Gullah girl from the South Carolina low country quickly realized that the most universal lingua franca is a well-cooked meal. As she recounts a cool cat’s nine lives as chanter, dancer, costume designer, and member of the Sun Ra Solar-Myth Arkestra, Smart-Grosvenor introduces us to a rich cast of characters. We meet Estella Smart, Vertamae’s grandmother and connoisseur of mountain oysters; Uncle Costen, who lived to be 112 and knew how to make Harriet Tubman Ragout; and Archie Shepp, responsible for Collard Greens à la Shepp, to name a few. She also tells us how poundcake got her a marriage proposal (she didn’t accept) and how she perfected omelettes in Paris, enchiladas in New Mexico, biscuits in Mississippi, and feijoida in Brazil. “When I cook, I never measure or weigh anything,” writes Smart-Grosvenor. “I cook by vibration.”

This edition features a foreword by Psyche Williams-Forson placing the book in historical context and discussing Smart-Grosvenor’s approach to food and culture. A new preface by the author details how she came to write Vibration Cooking.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Vibration Cooking was first published in 1970, not long after the term “soul food” gained common use. While critics were quick to categorize her as a proponent of soul food, Smart-Grosvenor wanted to keep the discussion of her cookbook/memoir focused on its message of food as a source of pride and validation of black womanhood and black “consciousness raising.”

In 1959, at the age of nineteen, Smart-Grosvenor sailed to Europe, “where the bohemians lived and let live.” Among the cosmopolites of radical Paris, the Gullah girl from the South Carolina low country quickly realized that the most universal lingua franca is a well-cooked meal. As she recounts a cool cat’s nine lives as chanter, dancer, costume designer, and member of the Sun Ra Solar-Myth Arkestra, Smart-Grosvenor introduces us to a rich cast of characters. We meet Estella Smart, Vertamae’s grandmother and connoisseur of mountain oysters; Uncle Costen, who lived to be 112 and knew how to make Harriet Tubman Ragout; and Archie Shepp, responsible for Collard Greens à la Shepp, to name a few. She also tells us how poundcake got her a marriage proposal (she didn’t accept) and how she perfected omelettes in Paris, enchiladas in New Mexico, biscuits in Mississippi, and feijoida in Brazil. “When I cook, I never measure or weigh anything,” writes Smart-Grosvenor. “I cook by vibration.”

This edition features a foreword by Psyche Williams-Forson placing the book in historical context and discussing Smart-Grosvenor’s approach to food and culture. A new preface by the author details how she came to write Vibration Cooking.

More books from University of Georgia Press

Cover of the book Phillis Wheatley by Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor, Psyche Williams-Forson
Cover of the book Solitary Goose by Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor, Psyche Williams-Forson
Cover of the book This Is My Century by Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor, Psyche Williams-Forson
Cover of the book The Current That Carries by Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor, Psyche Williams-Forson
Cover of the book The Quarry by Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor, Psyche Williams-Forson
Cover of the book The Pale of Settlement by Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor, Psyche Williams-Forson
Cover of the book Natchez Country by Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor, Psyche Williams-Forson
Cover of the book The Invention of Flight by Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor, Psyche Williams-Forson
Cover of the book Territories of Poverty by Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor, Psyche Williams-Forson
Cover of the book Fields and Streams by Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor, Psyche Williams-Forson
Cover of the book The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys by Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor, Psyche Williams-Forson
Cover of the book Beyond Freedom by Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor, Psyche Williams-Forson
Cover of the book State Behavior and the Nuclear Nonproliferation Regime by Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor, Psyche Williams-Forson
Cover of the book Making Black History by Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor, Psyche Williams-Forson
Cover of the book Becoming Confederates by Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor, Psyche Williams-Forson
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy