Lil-Tofu Po-Boys with Creamy Red Pepper Sauce, Verdant Vegetable Couscous with Spicy Mustard Greens, Cumin-Pickled Onions, Pumpkin-Peanut Fritters, Date-Almond Cornbread Muffins, Fig Preserves with Thyme -- that's just a sampling of Afro-Vegan's fare. Along with Cocoa-Spiced Cake with Crystallized Ginger and Coconut-Chocolate Ganache or Date, Nut, and Cranberry Balls for dessert. The recipe inspirations are creatively detailed and interspersed with African, African-American and Afro-Caribbean historical and culinary context. Like the Congo Square, concocted from coconut milk and coconut water, dark rum, nutmeg and cinnamon -- this unique cocktail came to mind via Terry's musings on the many Haitians who fled revolution and immigrated to New Orleans during the late 18th century, and how they brought their tastes and traditions with them. And one of my favorite recipes is the simple basil sea salt mixture, which quickly becomes part of your own cooking repertoire and which has a musical recommendation of Jelly Roll Morton's "Salty Dog."
All told, Afro-Vegan is really a must-own cookbook if you want to try a spicier, sweeter, creamier or more satisfying vegan lifestyle, bolstered by Bryant Terry's sage philosophy, i.e., “start with the visceral, move to the cerebral, and end at the political.” While sipping some Ginger-Lemongrass Tonic along the way.
