Come Cook With Us! Kitchn’s February Cookbook Club Pick is “Jubilee” by Toni Tipton-Martin.
Hello friends, family, and fellow Cookbook Club-ers! I hope you’ve had a great first month of the new year. I know coming off the holidays and into the cold weather and trying to keep with all the resolutions and intentions can be a struggle. But I hope you’re all taking care of yourself and that cooking from Plenty last month was a bright spot – I know it was for me! I especially fell in love with the pasta and zucchini salad and will be making it again soon.
Well, let’s close the book on January and get into February. I’m so, so thrilled to say that Jubilee by Toni-Tipton Martin is our pick for this month. I’m glad there’s an extra day in February this year because I’m certainly going to need it to throughly enjoy this book! Read on to see how you can join our club if you’re new (hi!) and why we chose Jubilee.
Kitchn’s cookbook club is a digital one (although we encourage people to get together IRL as well!). Here’s how it all works.
- Get the book! You can buy the book here or look for it at your local library.
- Join Kitchn Cookbook Club Facebook group. This is our private space for all of you to talk about the book, ask questions, and chat about what you’re cooking. Click here to join! It’s very active.
- Share a recipe review on Instagram and tag with #kitchncookbookclub. Make a recipe from Jubilee. Post a photo of your dish on Instagram, with a short review of the recipe in the caption.
Why Jubilee Is Our January Cookbook Club Pick
Last year when we put together our fall cookbook preview, there was one book in particular that just kept coming up: Jubilee. Julia Turshen said she had “been eagerly looking forward to Toni Tipton-Martin’s follow-up to The Jemima Code,” and that the book was “major and important.”
Nik Sharma said he couldn’t wait to get his hands on Jubilee. “This book is going to be a spectacular treasure trove of recipes. And for someone like me who is eager to learn more about African American culinary traditions and its history, it’s high up on my wish list of cookbooks.”
But wait: Let’s back up for a second. What exactly is Jubilee about? Like the name of the book suggests, the book is about celebration. The book has over 100 recipes and stories that explore the last two centuries of African American cooking in the United States. Tipton-Martin says in the intro of the book that she “tried to honor the kid of joyous cooking that would have turned yesterday’s enslaved and free cooks into today’s celebrity chef’s with glittering reputations grounded in restaurant fare and cookbook publishing.”
The book is laid out in seven sections. There’s “appetizers” which is also dubbed “food for company” and then “beverages” which is called “liquified soul.” Every detail feels so thoughtful and purposeful. The photos — done by Jerrelle Guy — are gorgeous (and hey, we featured her awhile back on Kitchn!). It’s a cookbook that I’ve wanted to cook out of since I saw the cover.
Get the Book
The entire book is gorgeous so I’m struggling to figure out where I’m going to start. I think I’m going to do some serious reading before I jump into any recipe. Our Editor-in-Chief, Faith Durand, recently cooked out of the book for her own cookbook club and said she loved everything she ate. She made the rice muffins which she described as ” a cross between a muffin, a popover, and cornbread.” She also made the coconut red beans and rice, and the braised celery. She also recommends the peanut soup and the pineapple upside-down cake. I mean, how great does that all sound?
Looking forward to seeing what you all make!
— Ariel Knutson, Features Director