Across America, the pure love and popularity of barbecue cookery have gone through the roof. Prepared in one regional style or another, in the South and beyond, barbecue is one of the nation's most distinctive culinary arts. And people aren't just eating it; they're also reading books and articles and watching TV shows about it. But why is it, asks Adrian Miller--admitted 'cuehead and longtime certified barbecue judge--that in today's barbecue culture African Americans don't get much love?
In Black Smoke, Miller chronicles how Black barbecuers, pitmasters, and restauranteurs helped develop this cornerstone of American foodways and how they are coming into their own today. It's a smoke-filled story of Black perseverance, culinary innovation, and entrepreneurship. Though often pushed to the margins, African Americans have enriched a barbecue culture that has come to be embraced by all. Miller celebrates and restores the faces and stories of the men and women who have influenced this American cuisine. This beautifully illustrated chronicle also features 22 barbecue recipes collected just for this book.
BIO
Adrian Miller is a certified Kansas City Barbecue Society judge and recipient of a James Beard Foundation Book Award for Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine, One Plate at a Time. A consultant on Netflix's Chef's Table BBQ, Miller's most recent book is The President's Kitchen Cabinet: The Story of the African Americans Who Have Fed Our First Families, from the Washingtons to the Obamas.
REVIEWS
"Black Smoke, a well-researched and engaging offering from Adrian Miller, certified barbecue judge and 'cue maven, sets the record straight about the importance of Black hands at the spits and pits of American barbecue traditions. This much needed book not only recounts the growth of the art and influences of experts past, but also offers interviews with the current masters and mistresses of the flame, a selection of recipes, and a listing of Miller's favorite barbecue restaurants." --Jessica B. Harris, author of My Soul Looks Back: A Memoir and High on the Hog
"Black folks and barbecue have long been synonymous. Perhaps better than anyone before, Adrian Miller has discovered people, places, and stories that even most barbecue experts haven't heard of and weaves them into a compelling alternative narrative about how American barbecue came to be. Their stories demonstrate why the Black hand in the pit has been essential to the development of this much loved food." --Lolis Eric Elie, author of Treme: Stories and Recipes from the Heart of New Orleans
"An engaging storyteller, Miller brings his subjects to vivid life, as in the chapter on Black barbecue entrepreneurship, which predates Emancipation, with enslaved men and women using their business proceeds to buy freedom. He explores what makes the Black barbecue aesthetic exceptional and the many complexities of etiquette. . . . [and] provides plenty of mouthwatering recipes by Black barbecue artists for sauce, meat and fish, and side dishes as well as profiles of unsung Black barbecue trailblazers across three centuries. . . . A highly entertaining, celebratory, and essential reader for history buffs and barbecue lovers alike." --Kirkus Reviews, starred
University of North Carolina Press / April 27, 2021
1.1" H x 10.2" L x 7.7" W (1.8 lbs) 328 pages