As an NYU grad student committed to social issues, Bryant Terry also
was devoted to food. How to combine the two? By becoming an eco-chef,
saving the Earth, and feeding its people — and teaching them to
feed themselves well. In 2002 he founded b-healthy!, a project aimed at
helping young Americans foster sustainable food systems. The following
year, invited to contribute a recipe to an anthology, Terry wanted his
creation to have “the texture of an autobiography.” So he “dug deep to
come up with a dish that had some Memphis Soul (my past) mixed with
Brooklyn Boom-Bap (my present) finished off with a squeeze of Oakland
Free-Range Funk (my soon-to-be future).” The result was a “bright,
bold, and sexy … modern and chic” collard-green “confetti” with olive
oil, orange juice, and raisins. This inspired a book of his own, this
year’s Vegan Soul Kitchen. “I do realize that veganism —
the avoidance of meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, dairy products, and
honey — is antithetical to the way that African American and
Southern cooking has been constructed in the popular imagination over
the last four decades,” Terry admits. But his Coconut-Ginger Creamed
Corn, Red Beans with Simmered Seitan, Pan-Fried Grit Cakes with
Caramelized Spring Onions, and hundred-plus other recipes make a strong
case for forgetting bacon.
TRENDING:
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Vegan Soul Kitchen by Bryant Terry