Appalachian Comfort Food Tastes Like Home: Honoring Ancestors and Kitchen Ghosts with Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts by Crystal W.

People are always surprised that Black people reside in the hills of Appalachia. Those not surprised that we were there, are surprised that we stayed. – Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts

There are ghosts in most kitchens, but food lovers are lucky that Crystal Wilkinson had five generations of ancestors to look to while developing this masterpiece of a collection. While baking a jam cake years ago, Wilkinson clearly felt her grandmother’s presence in her kitchen. She realized that her ancestors were chopping, mixing, and frying along with her, the stories of the dishes part of the fabric of her family.

The writer and 2021 Poet Laureate of Kentucky considers the recipes in Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts to be a kind of inheritance.

Part cookbook, part family memoir, this lovely walk down a culinary memory lane stars five generations of Black women who made a life in Appalachia and developed a form of cuisine that sticks to your ribs and your emotions. Stunning full-color photos will have your mouth watering and your shopping list exploding as you explore classics like chicken and dumplings and corn pudding and discover new favorites like the delicious Praisesong Biscuits. You’ll definitely need a tall glass of sweet tea to wash them down, but don’t worry. There’s a recipe for that!

“With Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts, Crystal Wilkinson cements herself as one of the most dynamic book makers in our generation and a literary giant. Utter genius tastes like this.”–Kiese Laymon, author of the Carnegie Medal-winning Heavy

Since the lauded debut of Blackberries, Blackberries in 2001, Wilkinson has published many woks and has received a wide variety of awards and fellowships. The Birds of Opulence was the 2016 Appalachian Book of the Year in Fiction. Wilkinson has held a variety of teaching positions and was the Writer in Residence for the Appalachian College Association, where she led advanced classes and provided students with one-on-one instruction. She is currently an associate professor at  University of Kentucky in the Department of English, the Program in African American and Africana Studies. Wilkinson also works with the UK Appalachian Center and the Gaines Center for the Humanities at the University of Kentucky. She is currently working on a research project focusing on Black culture in Appalachia.

Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks

by Crystal Wilkinson

People are always surprised that Black people reside in the hills of Appalachia. Those not surprised that we were there, are surprised that we stayed.

Years ago, when O. Henry Prize-winning writer Crystal Wilkinson was baking a jam cake, she felt her late grandmother’s presence. She soon realized that she was not the only cook in her kitchen. There were her ancestors, too, stirring, measuring, and braising alongside her. These are her kitchen ghosts, five generations of Black women who settled in Appalachia and made a life, a legacy, and a cuisine.

An expert cook, Wilkinson shares nearly forty family recipes rooted deep in the past. Full of flavor–delicious favorites including Corn Pudding, Chicken and Dumplings. Also, Granny Christine’s Jam Cake, and Praisesong Biscuits, brought to vivid life through stunning photography. Together, Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts honors the mothers who came before. The land that provided for generations of her family, and the untold heritage of Black Appalachia.

More From Author Crystal Wilkinson 

Perfect Black

by Crystal Wilkinson – Nikky Finney – Ronald W Davis

Crystal Wilkinson combines a deep love for her rural roots with a passion for language and storytelling in this compelling collection of poetry and prose about girlhood, racism, and political awakening, imbued with vivid imagery of growing up in Southern Appalachia. In Perfect Black, the acclaimed writer muses on such topics as motherhood. The politics of her Black body, lost fathers, mental illness, sexual abuse, and religion. It is a captivating conversation about life, love, loss, and pain, by her long-time partner, Ronald W. Davis.

Motherland 

Witness

The Creek