Who wrote The Jemima Code, a 2015 history of African American cookbooks and food writers?

Toni Tipton-Martin wrote The Jemima Code, a 2015 history of African American cookbooks and food writers.

The book examines how Black cooks and cookbook authors have been represented in American food culture. Tipton-Martin highlights the expertise, professionalism, and creativity of African American culinary figures, challenging the narrow stereotypes often attached to Black cooking in popular culture.

Its title refers to Aunt Jemima imagery and the way commercial representations reduced Black women’s culinary identities to a servant stereotype. The book counters that history by documenting cookbooks and authors who recorded sophisticated techniques, menus, and food knowledge.

The Jemima Code is a historical study, not a single traditional soul food recipe collection. Tipton-Martin later wrote Jubilee, a cookbook celebrating African American cooking across generations. Jessica B. Harris is another leading scholar of African American and African diaspora foodways, but she did not write The Jemima Code.