Afro-Vegan : Farm-Fresh African, Caribbean & Southern Flavors Remixed

I was so excited to try the recipes in this book, having been a vegetarian for 25 years. Every week, I try to make 3 new recipes from different cultures. Had I known the book was endorsed by Oprah, I would never have bought it, and here's why...it's not practical. It's written for an "elite" audience, but is hypocritical because it talks about wanting to address the health problems of African Americans who have gotten away from eating foods that their ancestors originally ate. I am not sure what kind of life Mr. Terry leads, but in low-middle income communities, most people surely do not have access to/extra money for $16 cardamom pods or $15 saffron threads...oh yeah, and 1 TBSP of bourbon and unsulfured molasses...??? He assumes an audience that has access to and money for these things, yet claims that these recipes are for that community. I am a retired low-middle income teacher--and yet one recipe alone would cost me $31+ in spices. I could purchase a whole week's worth of groceries for that. In addition, the author complains (rightfully so) that certain communities lack access to fresh produce, and he recommends planting a garden that goes back to African roots. That's a great idea...but where will I plant my garden if I live in a 1-bedroom condo that overlooks a parking lot? It's just not do-able for some, though an admirable goal. In a perfect world, we'd all have access to the foods we need. This is not a perfect world. Is it Bryant Terry's job to fix income disparity? No. But as an activist, I believe he should be aware of his own hypocrisy. He criticized Thug Kitchen because it was put out by white people, and it's a different form of blackface (agreed), but at the same time, he claims to be a food activist and writes a book with recipes that aren't practical for working class people with health issues. The recipes are probably great for Oprah's million dollar chef though! The other thing that bothers me is that he suggests roasting and making your own spice blends...actually roasting cardamom pods and grinding them, etc. I guess I'll get to that after I come home from my second weekend job at a grocery store, right? If you want people to eat healthy--provide recipes that have easily accessible and affordable ingredients that don't take over an hour to prepare. Pretty simple? Maybe not. Another thing--I am disturbed by the foreword of the book, written by the black female former travel editor from Essence magazine, Jessica B. Harris. It was titled by Bryant Terry as "Permission to Speak." Had I been Ms. Harris, I would've told him where to shove his "permission." No woman, especially an editor from Essence magazine who has traveled the world, needs a man's "permission" to speak about a cookbook. What was the point of that? Finally--many white people are criticized for using their black friends as tokens to avoid being called racist...I am calling this author out for using his non-black friends to avoid being called ethno-centric. He goes on about how people should be eating from an "African Heritage Diet Food Pyramid," and how African Americans suffer from diabetes and other health problems. And as a disclaimer towards the end, says, "To be clear, Afro-Vegan is for everyone. I love feeding my diverse circle of family, friends, etc." It couldn't be more clear though who his audience is. To throw the "diversity" of his family and friends in at the last second is just not cool. Enough said. The intention of the book is why I bought it in the first place. I appreciate the desire to educate people about the history and culture of food from the African diaspora. I agree with other reviewers that EVERY recipe needs a picture, not every 5th recipe. These days, cookbooks need to be topnotch if they want to compete with all of the free online recipes (especially the ones with photos!) When I first came to amazon, it was to buy Rachel Ama's Vegan Eats cookbook, because she offered free youtube recipes for a protein-rich Caribbean feast that was easy to prepare. None of her ingredients are unavailable in the local grocery store. Her book wasn't out yet, so I ended up choosing Afro-Vegan. Will I try the recipes? Yes--the ones I can afford to make. Will I listen to the songs that Mr. Terry creatively pairs with the recipes? Yes. But I'm waiting for Rachel Ama's book! PS--after reading more of the book, I also notice the glaring lack of nutritional information in the recipes. If you are concerned with addressing health issues, it's really important, especially because of the high prevalance of diabetes in the African American community, to be aware of basic info like how many carbs and grams of sugar are in the recipes, etc. I assume that because the recipes are vegan, the author thought he didn't need to include that information because "it's healthy", but a lot of the recipes have very little protein--I can see that just based on the ingredients. For example, there's a soup with spinach and hominy; a recipe for smashed potatoes; tomato, onion, and chili pepper salad...barely any protein there. To wrap this LONG review up--it's a seemingly well-intentioned book by a well-known food activist. However, he's lost sight of his audience because he's not addressing issues of food poverty, not assessing the actual nutritional value of his recipes, being dismissive of a female African-American author and other races who might be interested in the book.

BUY it! Great recipes with lots of flavour.I have been disappointed by so many vegan books, as the food is always really bland. This book is full of recipes inspired by the American deep south, Caribbean and various parts of Africa.This is exactly what I needed! It gives me inspiration when trying out my own recipes and had opened me up to spices I hadn't thought of trying.Absolutely brilliant. You even get song, book and film recommendations. It's the same length as a normal cookbook, but I wish it were longer.If you love flavour, you will not regret this purchase.

As my first vegan cook book this indeed had to be the choice. Afro Vegan is a well written, approachable book that shines a strong soulful light on Soul Food with an African American food way trail of Terry's influences and chefs whom he admires. I was pleasantly surprsied at the Groundnut stew recipe that was similar to a West African dish that is traditionally eaten with Chicken. There are many dishes that I will be cooking for families and friends. With beautiful book binding, images and do-able recipes, I'm glad to have this on my shelf, Although the only downside I would say is there are so many ingredients in some of the recipes and so you'd have to be well stocked up and that's an added expense.

Recipe aren’t so Afro vegan. Not what I expected. Recipes are a bit dull. And not many pictures.

This cookbook is amazing. Presented very well. Easy to follow with accurate instructions. A great range of food WITHOUT soy and other tofu-like ingredients. Tasty recipes. Perfect. Value for money. Thank you, Bryant Terry!!