Celebrate National Cooking Day With Black Women Cookbooks
From Ayesha Curry To Tia Mowry — 7 Cookbooks To Devour On National Cooking Day
Ayesha Curry gives a cooking demo on stage at Goya Foods’ Grand Tasting Village on February 25, 2017 in Miami Beach, Florida. Source: Gustavo Caballero / Getty
It’s officially National Cooking Day (September 25), the perfect time to bond over a good home-cooked meal.
Whether it’s soul food, Mexican, Italian, or any cuisine in between, the opportunities are endless on a day like this. The occasion even calls for trying something new, and what better way to do so than by picking up a new cookbook?
While love for cooking is gender-neutral, since the beginning of time, women, and specifically Black women, have been known to get in the kitchen and go to work, making home-cooked meals for their loved ones to gather around the table whether it was for weekly Sunday dinners or to ensure that their families had dinner on the table every night during a busy week of work and school.
Cooking has always been a form of therapy for generations of Black women, and if you’re lucky, acquiring family recipes from those who came before you improves the practice. Cooking helps to heal and connect people from all stages of life.
In honor of National Cooking Day, MadameNoire has you covered with seven Black-women-led cookbooks by Black chefs, celebrities, cooking enthusiasts, and everyone in between!
1. Whole New You: How Real Food Transforms Your Life, for a Healthier, More Gorgeous You: A Cookbook — Tia Mowry
Source: John Parra / Getty
Tia Mowry openly shares her truth, especially about her health journey. This recipe book offers dishes that show you can watch what you eat without sacrificing your love for flavor! After an endometriosis diagnosis, the Sister, Sister actress took life back into her own hands, ditching dairy, refined sugars, and processed foods and now she’s helping others do the same with more than 100 recipes, including a ten-day menu plan to help those wanting to incorporate a healthier diet into their lifestyle.
2. The Taste of Country Cooking: The 30th Anniversary Edition of a Great Southern Classic Cookbook — Edna Lewis
Chef and author Edna Lewis (1916 – 2006) with American restaurant critic Gael Greene, circa 1996. Source: Rose Hartman / Getty
Edna Lewis, the “first lady of Southern cooking,” made this classic Southern cookbook possible. It features seasonal recipes from her childhood in Freetown, Virginia, the town her grandfather founded in 1916. The book reflects her deep admiration for farm-grown recipes passed down through generations of her family after they were freed from slavery.
3. Grandbaby Cakes: Modern Recipes, Vintage Charm, Soulful Memories — Jocelyn Delk Adams
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This debut cookbook from renowned food writer Jocelyn Delk Adams includes 50 various cake recipes handed down to her from her mother, aunt, and Big Mama. Inspired by her popular recipe blog, Grandbaby Cakes, which launched in 2012, Adams continues to share her love for putting her own fresh twists on old favorites.
4. A Confident Cook: Recipes for Joyous, No-Pressure Fun in the Kitchen — Tamron Hall
Source: Michael Simon / Getty
Alongside former ballerina and renowned Chef Lish Steiling, award-winning journalist Tamron Hall showcases her cooking chops in a new cookbook released in early September 2024. As previously reported by MadameNoire, Hall calls the project a love letter to her late father, Clarence Newton, Sr., whom she says she feels closest to whenever she’s in the kitchen due to his love for prepping meals for his loved ones.
6. The Full Plate: Flavor-filled, Easy Recipes For Families With No Time and a Lot To Do — Ayesha Curry
Source: MediaNews Group/Bay Area News via Getty Images / Getty
As a mother of three children alongside her NBA hubby, Steph Curry, Ayesha Curry is a busy woman who often has to cut time in the kitchen short. In this recipe book, Curry offers her take on easy recipes to keep your family happy and fed during the busy work week.
