Reviews

The Rise: Black Cooks and the Soul of American Food by Marcus Samuelsson

decafjess's review against another edition

4.0

This is hard to judge.

I like the premise, and I learned a lot about ingredients and their history. I found some restaurants I'd like to try when traveling in the future.

A good cookbook for experienced cooks, featuring ingredients uncommon to mainstream American grocery stores.

pvcain's review against another edition

4.0

The recipes are good, but the stories and recognition are better

sookie13's review against another edition

3.0

This isn't really a cookbook, it's a food history book. It is a really wonderful book in terms of the history of black cooks and the cuisine that has resulted from so many different cultures coming together over generations. It offers up a plethora of restaurants to try, the photography is beautiful. And I do like that Samuelsson has always profiled and elevated so many cooks and chefs that you might otherwise never hear of. But as a home cookbook, it's just not. The dishes themselves, while fascinating, all require very unusual ingredients that could be largely inaccessible for most home cooks. And where I live, even in a country with a strong history of South American and Caribbean dishes, I cannot find a single one. So by all means, do check it out from the library and read through it, it's got some amazing information, but don't expect to be able to cook anything from it unless you're fortunate enough to have access to some of the ingredients.

fungivibes's review

informative fast-paced

5.0

suzettra's review against another edition

4.0

Gorgeous. The stories of the cooks and activists and chefs are my favorite part.