Braided Heritage: Recipes and Stories on the Origin of American Cuisine

NATIONAL BESTSELLER - Discover the sweeping story of how Indigenous, European, and African traditions intertwined to form an entirely new cuisine, with over 90 recipes for the modern home cook--from the James Beard Cookbook Hall of Famer and star of the Netflix docuseries High on the Hog.

One of our preeminent culinary historians, Dr. Jessica B. Harris has conducted decades of research throughout the Americas, the Caribbean, and Africa. In this telling of the origins of American food, though, she gets more personal. As heritage is history, she intertwines the larger sweeping past with stories and recipes from friends she's made over the years--friends from all three threads of the braid, descended from Native peoples, Europeans, and Africans, whose family dishes speak to the crucial era when each thread formed a trinity, and the origins of American food.

Through this mix, we learn that Clear Broth Clam Chowder has both Indigenous and European roots; the same, too, with Enchiladas Suizas, tomatillo-smothered tortillas made "Swiss" with cheese and dairy; and that the hallmarks of African American food through the centuries have been evolution based on region, migration, and innovation, resulting in classics like Red Beans and Rice and Peach Bread Pudding Cupcakes with Bourbon Glaze.

With recipes ranging from everyday meals to festive spreads, Braided Heritage offers a new, in-depth, delicious look at American culinary history.

Author: Jessica B. Harris
Publisher: Clarkson Potter Publishers
Published: 06/10/2025
Pages: 272
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 2.55lbs
Size: 10.10h x 8.20w x 1.00d
ISBN: 9780593139776


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 05/01/2025 pg. 106

About the Author
Jessica B. Harris is the author, editor, and translator of seventeen books, including twelve cookbooks documenting the foods and foodways of the African diaspora. Her IACP Award-winning book High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey from Africa to America has been adapted into a Netflix series. Harris is a professor emerita at Queens College/CUNY in New York and has written extensively for scholarly and popular publications. She served as the culinary consultant for the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture and their lauded restaurant, the Sweet Home Café. She holds lifetime achievement awards from the Southern Foodways Alliance, the Soul Summit, and the James Beard Foundation, which also inducted Harris into the Cookbook Hall of Fame.