Ebook: Vibration Cooking

<p>Vibration Cooking was first published in 1970, not long after the term &ldquo;soul food&rdquo; gained common use. While critics were quick to categorize her as a proponent of soul food, Smart-Grosvenor wanted to keep the discussion of her cookbook/memoir focused on its message of food as a source of pride and validation of black womanhood and black &ldquo;consciousness raising.&rdquo;</p><p>In 1959, at the age of nineteen, Smart-Grosvenor sailed to Europe, &ldquo;where the bohemians lived and let live.&rdquo; Among the cosmopolites of radical Paris, the Gullah girl from the South Carolina low country quickly realized that the most universal lingua franca is a well-cooked meal. As she recounts a cool cat&rsquo;s nine lives as chanter, dancer, costume designer, and member of the Sun Ra Solar-Myth Arkestra, Smart-Grosvenor introduces us to a rich cast of characters. We meet Estella Smart, Vertamae&rsquo;s grandmother and connoisseur of mountain oysters; Uncle Costen, who lived to be 112 and knew how to make Harriet Tubman Ragout; and Archie Shepp, responsible for Collard Greens &agrave; la Shepp, to name a few. She also tells us how poundcake got her a marriage proposal (she didn&rsquo;t accept) and how she perfected omelettes in Paris, enchiladas in New Mexico, biscuits in Mississippi, and feijoida in Brazil. &ldquo;When I cook, I never measure or weigh anything,&rdquo; writes Smart-Grosvenor. &ldquo;I cook by vibration.&rdquo;</p><p>This edition features a foreword by Psyche Williams-Forson placing the book in historical context and discussing Smart-Grosvenor&rsquo;s approach to food and culture. A new preface by the author details how she came to write <i>Vibration Cooking</i>.</p>