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Ghetto Gastro Presents Black Power Kitchen
Named a Best Cookbook of 2022 by Barnes & Noble
Named a Best Cookbook of Fall 2022 by Food & Wine, Forbes, Philadelphia Inquirer, Publishers Weekly, The Takeout , and more
An American Library Association CODES Essential Cookbook of the Year Shortlisted for The Art of Eating Prize
“This year’s most important cookbook.”
— Vogue
“Every recipe comes with an immersive story, bringing you closer to the intent behind the dish.”
—The Strategist, The Year’s Most Giftable Coffee-Table Books
“Featuring vibrant recipes, interviews, art, and photography, this is a compelling culinary manifesto about the nature of Black food. . . . Ghetto Gastro offers an awakening of what Black food was, is, and can become while demonstrating the sheer joy and creativity Black communities generate. With waves of crunch, heat, flavor, and umami, this Bronx culinary collective also inspires discussions about race, history, and long-standing food inequality.”
— Food & Wine
Knowledge Is Power
Part cookbook. Part manifesto. Created with big Bronx energy, Black Power Kitchen combines 75 mostly plant-based, layered-with-flavor recipes with immersive storytelling, diverse voices, and striking images and photographs that celebrate Black food and Black culture, and inspire larger conversations about race, history, food inequality, and how eating well can be a pathway to personal freedom and self-empowerment.
Ghetto Gastro Presents Black Power Kitchen is the first book from the Bronx-based culinary collective, and it does for the cookbook what Ghetto Gastro has been doing for the food world in general—disrupt, expand, reinvent, and stamp it with their unique point of view. Ghetto Gastro sits at the intersection of food, music, fashion, visual arts, and social activism. They’ve partnered with Nike and Beats by Dre, designed cookware sold through Williams-Sonoma and Target, and won a Future of Gastronomy award from the World’s 50 Best. Now they bring their multidisciplinary approach to a cookbook, with nourishing recipes that are layered with waves of crunch, heat, flavor, and umami. They are born of the authors’ cultural heritage and travels—from riffs on family dishes like Strong Back Stew and memories of Uptown with Red Velvet Cake to neighborhood icons like Triboro Tres Leches and Chopped Stease (their take on the classic bodega chopped cheese) to recipes redolent of the African diaspora like Banana Leaf Fish and King Jaffe Jollof. All made with a sense of swag.
Named a Best Cookbook of Fall 2022 by Food & Wine, Forbes, Philadelphia Inquirer, Publishers Weekly, The Takeout , and more
An American Library Association CODES Essential Cookbook of the Year Shortlisted for The Art of Eating Prize
“This year’s most important cookbook.”
— Vogue
“Every recipe comes with an immersive story, bringing you closer to the intent behind the dish.”
—The Strategist, The Year’s Most Giftable Coffee-Table Books
“Featuring vibrant recipes, interviews, art, and photography, this is a compelling culinary manifesto about the nature of Black food. . . . Ghetto Gastro offers an awakening of what Black food was, is, and can become while demonstrating the sheer joy and creativity Black communities generate. With waves of crunch, heat, flavor, and umami, this Bronx culinary collective also inspires discussions about race, history, and long-standing food inequality.”
— Food & Wine
Knowledge Is Power
Part cookbook. Part manifesto. Created with big Bronx energy, Black Power Kitchen combines 75 mostly plant-based, layered-with-flavor recipes with immersive storytelling, diverse voices, and striking images and photographs that celebrate Black food and Black culture, and inspire larger conversations about race, history, food inequality, and how eating well can be a pathway to personal freedom and self-empowerment.
Ghetto Gastro Presents Black Power Kitchen is the first book from the Bronx-based culinary collective, and it does for the cookbook what Ghetto Gastro has been doing for the food world in general—disrupt, expand, reinvent, and stamp it with their unique point of view. Ghetto Gastro sits at the intersection of food, music, fashion, visual arts, and social activism. They’ve partnered with Nike and Beats by Dre, designed cookware sold through Williams-Sonoma and Target, and won a Future of Gastronomy award from the World’s 50 Best. Now they bring their multidisciplinary approach to a cookbook, with nourishing recipes that are layered with waves of crunch, heat, flavor, and umami. They are born of the authors’ cultural heritage and travels—from riffs on family dishes like Strong Back Stew and memories of Uptown with Red Velvet Cake to neighborhood icons like Triboro Tres Leches and Chopped Stease (their take on the classic bodega chopped cheese) to recipes redolent of the African diaspora like Banana Leaf Fish and King Jaffe Jollof. All made with a sense of swag.
304 pages, Hardcover
Published October 25, 2022
39 people are currently reading
529 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
February 9, 2023
4.5 stars. This book is overall a cookbook but it is also a history book filled with stories of the Bronx and American/world history, how people moved around the world (many not by their choosing) to get to the beautiful mix of people and cultures that now live in the Bronx. This is all through the vision Ghetto Gastro who are chefs but also work towards social justice within their community. This is paired with catchy visuals, great artwork and interviews. You could use this book in your kitchen or it could serve as a coffee table book. I found it transporting me to a whole new world of ideas and flavors. So enjoyed the journey!
July 26, 2023
I've never read a cookbook cover to cover before but this one just drew me in. It's full of wonderful, wild pictures. Not just pictures of food but drawings, collages and photographs. Interviews with Black artists of all kinds reveal the activist philosophy that drives Ghetto Gastro and this cookbook. Oh, and there are recipes, too.
Cooking my way through the book has sent me to previously unexplored African and Asian markets in search of ingredients like sorrel, plantains, and okra. The recipes seem like a lot of work at first, but the results are consistently delicious. They have expanded my palate and my repertoire of cooking techniques. They have also inspired me to think about my own family's history and the ways in which food has nourished and connected us.
I used the book as the basis for a Juneteenth celebration with my book club. At least one guest has since bought the book. I'm also working my way through most of the recipes with my daughter in a distant state. We compare notes on our experiences and then put our thoughts into a series of essays.
I'm sure you'll find more interesting ways to use these recipes along with the fascinating lessons in history, activism, and art. Go out and cook something nourishing and delicious. Share it with someone you love. Take something delicious across the street to the neighbors you've never met. Let's change the world with delicious food.
Cooking my way through the book has sent me to previously unexplored African and Asian markets in search of ingredients like sorrel, plantains, and okra. The recipes seem like a lot of work at first, but the results are consistently delicious. They have expanded my palate and my repertoire of cooking techniques. They have also inspired me to think about my own family's history and the ways in which food has nourished and connected us.
I used the book as the basis for a Juneteenth celebration with my book club. At least one guest has since bought the book. I'm also working my way through most of the recipes with my daughter in a distant state. We compare notes on our experiences and then put our thoughts into a series of essays.
I'm sure you'll find more interesting ways to use these recipes along with the fascinating lessons in history, activism, and art. Go out and cook something nourishing and delicious. Share it with someone you love. Take something delicious across the street to the neighbors you've never met. Let's change the world with delicious food.
Read
January 1, 2023i got to see the ghetto gastro crew at portland book festival this year and had to pick up their work immediately. i got a digital copy from my library but will definitely be picking up a hard copy if not just for the stellar recipes, then for the beautiful artwork that a computer screen does not do justice! recipes in here are inventive and approachable, and the team introduces you to a lot of very cool black visionaries to boot. recommend!
Read
May 27, 2023A cool collection of art, interviews, and recipes. Some things were a little too involved for me to attempt right now, but I loved the jollof rice and the limonada de coco. I also appreciate the focus on food, culture, migration, liberation, etc.
July 10, 2025
This is much more than a cookbook. The recipes are ambitious for me personally. I appreciate their use of the term “food apartheid” as opposed to a food desert, i.e. a desert is naturally occurring and the prevention of access to food in low SES communities is intentional.
October 25, 2022
This is such an important book. It’s a cookbook but so much more. The artwork is powerful, the writing, thoughtful. The recipes accessible yet completely new (for me at least). I love the fact that it called out that the cookbook industry is so overrun with Eurocentric cookbooks and it’s only just NOW that publishers are finally realizing they’ve fished that lake to oblivion and are FINALLY turning the spotlight to non European/white cuisines. And about damn time, too.
“We say food is a weapon, which is another way to say that food is a means of protest, but good food can also be a tool of liberation.”
“We say food is a weapon, which is another way to say that food is a means of protest, but good food can also be a tool of liberation.”
November 16, 2022
Obviously I enjoy reading cookbooks. BUT this isn’t solely a cookbook in the traditional sense. The recipes are fantastic, mostly plant based, sometimes complex but worthwhile. The backstories are what make this book interesting and worth reading.
December 23, 2022
Ghetto Gastro Presents Black Power Kitchen by Jon Gray
Released October 25, 2022
<3 This truly was a work of art and I found a renewed respect for Food Artists and the labor that goes into mastering the skills and preparing Ethnic Cuisine. I don't have this kind of patience. The history, interviews, photos, artwork the music influence and the elaborate preparation details in the showcased recipes really made this a unique nostalgic experience. <3
#TheBronx #Caribbean #Coquito #RootVegetables #NYC #HipHop #BlackPanthers #PopCulture
Part cookbook. Part manifesto. Created with big Bronx energy, Black Power Kitchen combines 75 mostly plant-based, layered-with-flavor recipes with immersive storytelling, diverse voices, and striking images and photographs that celebrate Black food and Black culture, and inspire larger conversations about race, history, food inequality, and how eating well can be a pathway to personal freedom and self-empowerment.
Ghetto Gastro Presents Black Power Kitchen is the first book from the Bronx-based culinary collective, and it does for the cookbook what Ghetto Gastro has been doing for the food world in general—disrupt, expand, reinvent, and stamp it with their unique point of view. Ghetto Gastro sits at the intersection of food, music, fashion, visual arts, and social activism. They’ve partnered with Nike and Beats by Dre, designed cookware sold through Williams-Sonoma and Target, and won a Future of Gastronomy award from the World’s 50 Best.
Now they bring their multidisciplinary approach to a cookbook, with nourishing recipes that are layered with waves of crunch, heat, flavor, and umami. They are born of the authors’ cultural heritage and travels—from riffs on family dishes like Strong Back Stew and memories of Uptown with Red Velvet Cake to neighborhood icons like Triboro Tres Leches and Chopped Stease (their take on the classic bodega chopped cheese) to recipes redolent of the African diaspora like Banana Leaf Fish and King Jaffe Jollof. All made with a sense of swag.
Released October 25, 2022
<3 This truly was a work of art and I found a renewed respect for Food Artists and the labor that goes into mastering the skills and preparing Ethnic Cuisine. I don't have this kind of patience. The history, interviews, photos, artwork the music influence and the elaborate preparation details in the showcased recipes really made this a unique nostalgic experience. <3
#TheBronx #Caribbean #Coquito #RootVegetables #NYC #HipHop #BlackPanthers #PopCulture
Part cookbook. Part manifesto. Created with big Bronx energy, Black Power Kitchen combines 75 mostly plant-based, layered-with-flavor recipes with immersive storytelling, diverse voices, and striking images and photographs that celebrate Black food and Black culture, and inspire larger conversations about race, history, food inequality, and how eating well can be a pathway to personal freedom and self-empowerment.
Ghetto Gastro Presents Black Power Kitchen is the first book from the Bronx-based culinary collective, and it does for the cookbook what Ghetto Gastro has been doing for the food world in general—disrupt, expand, reinvent, and stamp it with their unique point of view. Ghetto Gastro sits at the intersection of food, music, fashion, visual arts, and social activism. They’ve partnered with Nike and Beats by Dre, designed cookware sold through Williams-Sonoma and Target, and won a Future of Gastronomy award from the World’s 50 Best.
Now they bring their multidisciplinary approach to a cookbook, with nourishing recipes that are layered with waves of crunch, heat, flavor, and umami. They are born of the authors’ cultural heritage and travels—from riffs on family dishes like Strong Back Stew and memories of Uptown with Red Velvet Cake to neighborhood icons like Triboro Tres Leches and Chopped Stease (their take on the classic bodega chopped cheese) to recipes redolent of the African diaspora like Banana Leaf Fish and King Jaffe Jollof. All made with a sense of swag.
July 27, 2023
First of all, as a chef, I generally treat recipes in cookbooks as polite suggestions. This is not a book like that. Every recipe I've tried so far is flawless as written down to the amount of salt. Every time I thought "eh, I'll add a little more of this and less of that," I've regretted it. It is hands-down the best tested cookbook I have ever encountered.
Second, it's WAY more than a cookbook. It's a celebration of Black culture, particularly Bronx culture. The commentary, artwork and background in the book add a lot, and it's a great read even if you never cook a single recipe. (but please cook some of these amazing recipes!)
Third, I love the variety and breadth of recipes offered. From the absolute luxury of the "3 Cs" to a simple callaloo with mustard greens, this is not a one-dimensional look at Black food.
Lastly, on a personal note, this book has brought me closer to my family and my history. I'm not Black, but reading some of the ways the authors and contributors talked about food and culture has made me take a second look at some of the foodways I was raised with and that of my ancestors. I'm also collaborating on an essay project with my mom (hi, Betsy!) about our experience of cooking through this book together and connecting it to our ideas about race, culture, food, history and family, both blood and chosen.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough for any cook of any background, and especially anyone interested in both contemporary and historical Black foodways.
Second, it's WAY more than a cookbook. It's a celebration of Black culture, particularly Bronx culture. The commentary, artwork and background in the book add a lot, and it's a great read even if you never cook a single recipe. (but please cook some of these amazing recipes!)
Third, I love the variety and breadth of recipes offered. From the absolute luxury of the "3 Cs" to a simple callaloo with mustard greens, this is not a one-dimensional look at Black food.
Lastly, on a personal note, this book has brought me closer to my family and my history. I'm not Black, but reading some of the ways the authors and contributors talked about food and culture has made me take a second look at some of the foodways I was raised with and that of my ancestors. I'm also collaborating on an essay project with my mom (hi, Betsy!) about our experience of cooking through this book together and connecting it to our ideas about race, culture, food, history and family, both blood and chosen.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough for any cook of any background, and especially anyone interested in both contemporary and historical Black foodways.
September 16, 2023
I forgot how I found out about this book but I was curious to read about how it was not only a cookbook but also a discussion of Black food, Black culture, Black history and more. Like with so many other things food can and often is politicized, weaponized, etc. While I am unfamiliar with the authors and their work, this still seemed like an interesting read.
It is what has been advertised: part cookbook, part manifesto, part history, part social commentary, etc. there is art, essays, pictures, etc. all interwoven between recipes. The food tends to lean more towards plant-based, but you can certainly find meat and fish and animal ingredients used here.
Be forewarned, while there are recipes and it could qualify as a cookbook, it is not only that. So if you're looking for a straight-up "traditional" cookbook with lots of recipes and some pictures/commentary, this isn't your book. In some ways it would probably be better as more as coffee table book or book to have but as a cookbook it might be difficult (the binding will probably wear out with enough use, etc.).
So your mileage may vary. I did not try any of the recipes since I saw that it was not really a cookbook but I did enjoy reading through it and reading up on the commentary. For the right person I'll bet this make for a great gift, though.
Bought as a bargain buy and that was best for me. Thumb through at the library or at the bookstore if you're unsure about making a purchase.
It is what has been advertised: part cookbook, part manifesto, part history, part social commentary, etc. there is art, essays, pictures, etc. all interwoven between recipes. The food tends to lean more towards plant-based, but you can certainly find meat and fish and animal ingredients used here.
Be forewarned, while there are recipes and it could qualify as a cookbook, it is not only that. So if you're looking for a straight-up "traditional" cookbook with lots of recipes and some pictures/commentary, this isn't your book. In some ways it would probably be better as more as coffee table book or book to have but as a cookbook it might be difficult (the binding will probably wear out with enough use, etc.).
So your mileage may vary. I did not try any of the recipes since I saw that it was not really a cookbook but I did enjoy reading through it and reading up on the commentary. For the right person I'll bet this make for a great gift, though.
Bought as a bargain buy and that was best for me. Thumb through at the library or at the bookstore if you're unsure about making a purchase.
Read
June 29, 2023everyday recipes from different cultures prepared with pretentious ingredients. interviews with unknown people with attitudes, lots of pictures of "real life" people and locations, introductions to the book and different sections that present what is clearly an alternate view of history and motives. Interesting but exhausting to read. the recipes all have much longer lists of ingredients than their everyday counterparts, and while the instructions are detailed, they are not the easiest to follow to create a smooth flow to the job at hand. This is not a basic cookbook to learn more about "Black" cuisine, rather it is more of a fanciful flight into the minds of the authors. It might be interesting to find restaurants who prepare this food and simply taste it as imagined by these chefs.
October 29, 2022
great read. plan to try the jollof rice and the mustard green callaloo. would give anything to eat the Black Power waffles! sounds amazing! its a bit beyond my kitchen equipment though. possibly I could do them as pancakes--I'll have to think about that... the overnight oats I have actually tried except I didnt do the final cooking. just added the coconut milk etc and ate like muesli. was delicious ;-)
December 30, 2022
This book has two components, a collection of stories of the huge influence that African-Americans had on American cuisine along with other historical tidbits. Included with that is a generous amount of art, not all of which is cooking related. It's an excellent read.
The recipes look good but many are deep fried or cooked over flames and I don't deep fry and I can't cook with fire, so not as useful for me.
The recipes look good but many are deep fried or cooked over flames and I don't deep fry and I can't cook with fire, so not as useful for me.
May 4, 2023
A celebration of self with an explicit and warm invitation to join in and be a part of the community and respect. I appreciated not only the well crafted recipes, but the unwavering message of food is people - past, present, and future manifested and shared to give nourishment. I learned a lot and am glad this book exists.
June 4, 2023
4 stars, finished
a love letter to (and yet also a history lesson on) the bronx, black culture, and the food that has stemmed from generations. though i’m not sure how many of these recipes i would confidently attempt, i definitely wanted to eat all of them. mayhaps a trip to nyc is in order…
a love letter to (and yet also a history lesson on) the bronx, black culture, and the food that has stemmed from generations. though i’m not sure how many of these recipes i would confidently attempt, i definitely wanted to eat all of them. mayhaps a trip to nyc is in order…
November 20, 2022
Solid messaging and interesting looking (mostly unfamiliar) recipes to this Midwestern white kid. Some ingredients seem like they might be tough to get outside of a city but I’m going to try a few of the easier looking ones.
December 12, 2022
Featured: food-art, artistic food hood classics and all variations of neighborhood culinary swag are the highlights! This is a visually unique, well conceptualized and wonderfully written love letter to community via food.
January 3, 2023
While reading, all I could think was, "I don't get it; what's the substance behind all the style?" The book has lots of energy, which it expends all over the place: Revolution! Marketing and branding! Self-aggrandizement! Bronx! Meat Alternatives! I found myself craving a centering concept.
January 30, 2023
Beautifully curated combination cookbook, travel guide, artwork, interviews and history lessons. The layout is inventive, but the font is difficult to read with the formatting of so much text on the page. Then again, maybe I should just put on my reading glasses!
March 3, 2023
Picked this book up at the Target Black History Month area. Originally, I thought it was a cookbook but it is so much more. The artwork is phenomenal and so interesting. Most of the recipes were new to me and I loved checking the ingredients. Get this book.
August 8, 2023
Great American cookbook with influences from the Caribbean, African, Latin, Asian, Middle Eastern cultures. Lots of fun ways to incorporate vegan/vegetarian ingredients in ways we usually don’t think of.
March 6, 2024
More than a cookbook of recipes and ingredients from the African Diaspora - written from the perspective of the revolutionary power of food. This book contains great interviews of important Black Power movement figures. I also enjoyed the stories behind the recipes and the art work.
January 7, 2023
4 stars for the text and gorgeous photos but 3 for recipes which often call for ingredients which are not easily accessible and complicated techniques
January 10, 2023
So thoughtfully crafted. Fascinating interviews interspersed with artwork and largely plant-based recipes. Love this juxtaposition of food, culture and politics.
February 11, 2023
I kept trying to figure what the point was before I had to DNF it. It was a self-congratulatory book that lacked substance.
February 22, 2023
Beautiful well put together book that embodies the culture.
March 13, 2023
All cookbooks should be manifestos celebrating culture, revolution, and love like Ghetto Gastro.
May 28, 2023
Cross-genre, contextualizing, and current.
A++
A++
May 29, 2023
Way more than a cookbook. Incredible stories of history and culture.
June 8, 2023
Great history, art, social activism and....... food. Food with African diaspora influences. I love this "cookbook" and the men who make it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews