Wisdom Found
When speaking at events, Toni Tipton-Martin engages her audiences with historical images depicting African American women cooks, many of them demeaning “mammy” stereotypes. “For years, I have opened my presentations with this question: What wisdom can be learned from Aunt Jemima besides how to tie a bandana or prepare her own recipe for pancakes?” Tipton-Martin says.
It’s a question the Baltimore-based chef, food writer, and historian has explored in two books: 2015’s The Jemima Code: Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks; and 2019’s Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African American Cooking. Each book won an award from the James Beard Foundation, a nonprofit that recognizes the most prestigious accomplishments in American food culture.
Born and and later joined the in Cleveland, where she was the first African American to serve as food editor of a major metro newspaper. In 2000, Tipton-Martin moved with her family to Austin, where they lived for 18 years. Though she refers to her occupation in Austin as “stay-at-home mother,” it’s where she began the extensive research that led to the creation of her two books, including collecting more than 475 African American cookbooks dating to 1827. During her time in Texas, Tipton-Martin also served as president of Southern Foodways Alliance and helped establish Foodways Texas, which celebrates and preserves the state’s diverse food cultures.
