From Library Journal
With lyrical originality and musical patois, playwright, novelist, and poet Shange (Liliane: Resurrection of the Daughter, LJ 11/15/94) intertwines the history and food of the "African Diaspora" into a beautiful little book in the tradition of M.F.K. Fisher. This collection of essays?conversations might be more accurate?takes the reader to the tables of African Americans; the kitchens of Nicaragua, London, Barbados, and Brazil; and the feasts of Africa. Proud tradition plays an important role here, but don't overlook the book's value for the chef. Easy-to-follow recipes for "collards to bring you money," rack of lamb, hominy, feijoada, barbecue, gumbo, okra, and couscous are among the 34 exotic dishes, and most of the ingredients?except maybe turtle eggs?are readily available. Herein is also contained the coveted secret of determining a watermelon's ripeness! An inexpensive cookbook with a lot of class.?Wendy Miller, Lexington P.L., Ky.Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Entertainment Weekly, Carmela Ciuraru
...as valuable for its inspirational and factual nuggets as it is for its unusual recipes...


From Booklist
Perhaps best known for her play . . . for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf (1977), Shange in her new book interweaves recipes with memories in a generous banquet celebrating the cultural significance of certain foods. In recollecting places lived or visited, Shange questions the derivation and preparation of various comestibles, while observing the way traditions vary from state to state. Recalling impressions of countries such as Nicaragua, England, and Cuba, Shange paints a fervent, richly impassioned chronicle of African American experience, at the same time making note of political situations and discord among the peoples of these nations and recording how connections are made beyond issues of class or skin color. Recipes serve as savory, nourishing garnishes--at once enhancing and adding a qualified zest to Shange's potent commentaries. Alice Joyce


Book Description
Ntozake Shange offers this personal culinary memoir, with dashes of literature and pinches of music, in her rousing tribute to black cuisine as a food of life that reflects the spirit and history of a people. With recipes such as "Collard Greens to Bring You Money," Shange introduces us to 'Afro-Atlantic foodways:' a cuisine born on the slave ships of the Middle Passage, and shared by all members of the African Diaspora. If I Can Cook/You Know God Can is a vivid story of the migration of a people that opens our hearts and minds to what it means for "black folks in the Western Hemisphere to be full."

ANNOTATION

"...as in all her brilliant works, Ntozake Shange stirs and simmers the soul and moves the reader/eater/cook to rethink every morsel of Pan-African history, personal celebration, and global pain which enter our lives when we gather around her magical hearth to laugh, to cry--but most indispensably--to eat." --Edwidge Danticat

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Ntozake Shange offers this eclectic tribute to black cuisine as a true food of life, one that reflects the tenacious spirit and powerful history of a people. With recipes that include everything from Cousin Eddie's Shark with Breadfruit to Collard Greens to Bring You Money, Shange instructs us in the nuances of a cuisine born on the slave ships of the Middle Passage, spiced by the jazz of Duke Ellington, and shared by all members of the African Diaspora. From the flyin' fish controversy (yes, that's right, flyin' fish) between Trinidad and Tobago, to a union of spirits in the once-divided nation of Nicaragua, we enter a world where adaptation and experimentation are a matter of course, where history and pain have forged nations, but food has founded culture.

FROM THE CRITICS

Kathy Martin - Miami Herald

A captivating collection of African-American food memories, meditations and recipes.

Library Journal

With lyrical originality and musical patois, playwright, novelist, and poet Shange intertwines the history and food of the "African Diaspora" into a beautiful little book in the tradition of M.F.K. Fisher. This collection of essays -- conversations might be more accurate -- takes the reader to the tables of African-Americans; the kitchens of Nicaragua, London, Barbados, and Brazil; and the feasts of Africa. Proud tradition plays an important role here, but don't overlook the book's value for the chef. Easy-to-follow recipes for "collards to bring you money," rack of lamb, hominy, feijoada, barbecue, gumbo, okra, and couscous are among the 34 exotic dishes, and most of the ingredientsexcept maybe turtle eggsare readily available. Herein is also contained the coveted secret of determining a watermelon's ripeness! An inexpensive cookbook with a lot of class. -- Wendy Miller, Lexington Public Library, Kentucky

Library Journal

With lyrical originality and musical patois, playwright, novelist, and poet Shange intertwines the history and food of the "African Diaspora" into a beautiful little book in the tradition of M.F.K. Fisher. This collection of essays -- conversations might be more accurate -- takes the reader to the tables of African-Americans; the kitchens of Nicaragua, London, Barbados, and Brazil; and the feasts of Africa. Proud tradition plays an important role here, but don't overlook the book's value for the chef. Easy-to-follow recipes for "collards to bring you money," rack of lamb, hominy, feijoada, barbecue, gumbo, okra, and couscous are among the 34 exotic dishes, and most of the ingredientsexcept maybe turtle eggsare readily available. Herein is also contained the coveted secret of determining a watermelon's ripeness! An inexpensive cookbook with a lot of class. -- Wendy Miller, Lexington Public Library, Kentucky

Kathy Martin

A captivating collection of African-American food memories, meditations and recipes. -- Miami Herald

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

...as in all her brilliant works, Ntozake Shange stirs and simmers the soul and moves the reader/eater/cook to rethink every morsel of Pan-African history, personal celebration, and global pain which enter our lives when we gather around her magical hearth to laugh, to cry—but most indispensably—to eat. (Edwidge Danticat, author of Krik? Krak!)  — Edwidge Danticat