This is a beautifully-written book. Part memoir, part cookbook, very introspective. It's the kind of book you want to savor.

This is the revised edition of Shange's work, but what I wrote in my review of the original still stands.

Not really a cookbook, though it does contain some delicious recipes, this is about food as cultural glue and family history, as the memory and spirit of a people. A showing that while there is no single "African-American" culture, there is sharing: fritters are acaraje are akara are hushpuppies.

Cook and eat the food, and fill your body and soul with goodness.

The revisions consist of suggestions for substitutions for the pork called for in some recipes, as well as a new epilogue that contains four additional recipes, two of which are vegan (including a vegan chocolate torte!).

A series of essays on Pan-African experiences, shared mainly through the language of food. Ntozake Shange was an playwright and author who passed away in 2018. In If I Can Cook/You Know God Can , she shares her thoughts on not just America but also the African-descent experiences in places such as Brazil and Cuba. Very interesting and the recipes in here are shared as if a friend were verbally instructing you how to make something. As I'm a vegetarian, there's just a few I‘ll actually plan to try or adapt, such as her dad‘s BBQ sauce recipe. A lot is packed into this slim volume; a worthy read. ( )

This is like spending a wonderful afternoon with a smart funny interesting friend who's read all kinds of interesting books, has the coolest friends, and has traveled around the world. And she cooks you something yummy. Delicious and enlightening. This was an Early reviewers book - many thanks to Library Thing for the opportunity. ( )

If I Can Cook/You Know God Can: African American Food Memories, Meditations, and Recipes
By Ntozake Shange
1998, Epilogue 2019

An Early Reviewers book.

Using memories of food, Ntozake Shange,takes the reader on a trip through time and around the world. On this trip, we visit Canada, all over the U.S. (the North, the South, the Midwest, Texas and the wild west), Mexico, Central America, South America, the American Islands, and even Africa - any where African people have made their homes - or the African -American Diaspora. Not one to shy away from the subjects of slavery and racism, the author, using first hand experience, as well as stories from family and friends, explains how and why the people are there and what foods are important and why in a scholarly and poetic manner. Recipes of many of the foods mentioned are included in the book.

I found this slim tome to be riveting and extremely interesting. As a non-African-American, I did not grow up with a lot of the food mentioned, or a detailed understanding that the enslavement of Africans was not just a North American evil, but was all over the Americas. This was a truly enlightening read.

3 1/2 stars ( )