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Tanya Holland's California Soul: Recipes from a Culinary Journey West [A Cookbook]
80+ comfort-filled recipes that trace the roots of modern California soul food to the Great Migration-from the acclaimed chef and author of Brown Sugar Kitchen.
"The new California Cuisine is California Soul."-Questlove
"California Soul is a book that will live on my kitchen counter with drips of California olive oil and splats of buttermilk on every page."-Bobby Flay
ONE OF THE TEN BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR: San Francisco Chronicle
ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR: Saveur, Food & Wine, Epicurious, Library Journal
Through more than 80 seasonally inspired recipes, Tanya Holland's California Soul showcases modern soul food from the acclaimed chef of Brown Sugar Kitchen and host of Tanya's Kitchen Table. Tanya's inventive cuisine-rooted in a Black Southern cultural repertoire with a twenty-first-century sensibility using local, sustainable, chef-driven, seasonal ingredients-is showcased in recipes for every season, such as Collard Green Tabbouleh, Zucchini–Scallion Waffles with Toasted Pecan Romesco, Grilled Shrimp and Corn with Avocado White BBQ Sauce, Fried Chicken Paillards with Arugula and Pea Shoots Salad, Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake, and Honey Lavender Chess Pie.
The recipes-influenced by the historical migration of African American families, including Tanya's own-reveal the key ingredients, techniques, and traditions that African Americans brought with them as they left the South for California, creating a beloved version of soul food. Beyond recipes, Tanya spotlights fifteen contemporary Black Californian foodmakers-farmers, coffee roasters, and other talented artisans-whose work help defines California soul food, with stunning portraiture and stories. Filtered through the rich history of African American migration that brought her own family from the Deep South to the West Coast, Tanya's recipes are as comforting and delicious as they are steeped in history.
"The new California Cuisine is California Soul."-Questlove
"California Soul is a book that will live on my kitchen counter with drips of California olive oil and splats of buttermilk on every page."-Bobby Flay
ONE OF THE TEN BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR: San Francisco Chronicle
ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR: Saveur, Food & Wine, Epicurious, Library Journal
Through more than 80 seasonally inspired recipes, Tanya Holland's California Soul showcases modern soul food from the acclaimed chef of Brown Sugar Kitchen and host of Tanya's Kitchen Table. Tanya's inventive cuisine-rooted in a Black Southern cultural repertoire with a twenty-first-century sensibility using local, sustainable, chef-driven, seasonal ingredients-is showcased in recipes for every season, such as Collard Green Tabbouleh, Zucchini–Scallion Waffles with Toasted Pecan Romesco, Grilled Shrimp and Corn with Avocado White BBQ Sauce, Fried Chicken Paillards with Arugula and Pea Shoots Salad, Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake, and Honey Lavender Chess Pie.
The recipes-influenced by the historical migration of African American families, including Tanya's own-reveal the key ingredients, techniques, and traditions that African Americans brought with them as they left the South for California, creating a beloved version of soul food. Beyond recipes, Tanya spotlights fifteen contemporary Black Californian foodmakers-farmers, coffee roasters, and other talented artisans-whose work help defines California soul food, with stunning portraiture and stories. Filtered through the rich history of African American migration that brought her own family from the Deep South to the West Coast, Tanya's recipes are as comforting and delicious as they are steeped in history.
Editorial Reviews
"California Soul is a book that will live on my kitchen counter with drips of California olive oil and splats of buttermilk on every page."-Bobby Flay
"Organized by season, California Soul by Tanya Holland takes a creative approach to recipes, marrying unexpected ingredients with established traditions. . . . With this gorgeously photographed book, Holland, the chef and owner of the now closed Brown Sugar Kitchen in Oakland, shows how intertwined the story of California food is with that of the migration of Black folk out of the South to the West."-Bon Appétit
"The cookbook deserves a spot on your bookshelf for the recipes alone, but you should save room for it on your nightstand-California Soul is a work of journalism and history as well."-Food & Wine
"When Alice Walker writes in the foreword, ‘California Soul is the most beautiful cookbook I've ever read,' the rest of us writers can just sit down because she said it best. The lyrical writing tells the story of the Great Migration of Black Southerners to the rest of the country through the lens of chef Tanya Holland's own family, foodways, and recipes."-Garden & Gun
"California Soul is a book to savor-both literally, with its recipes, and figuratively, as you absorb its beautiful and informative prose."-Robb Report
"The new California Cuisine is California Soul. Tanya Holland's cookbook spotlights seasonal recipes featuring California's finest ingredients, along with a guide to Black-owned food businesses operated by entrepreneurs who are bringing innovation to agriculture on the West Coast."-Questlove
"If there is a person who defines California Soul it is Chef Tanya Holland. . . .
she lives and breathes the lexicon of African American cuisine into her craft and graciously into this work of art."-Kwame Onwuachi, James Beard award–winning chef and author
"In California Soul, Tanya masterfully weaves the history (and lore) of Black American farmers, businesses, and culinary legends in Cal...
"Organized by season, California Soul by Tanya Holland takes a creative approach to recipes, marrying unexpected ingredients with established traditions. . . . With this gorgeously photographed book, Holland, the chef and owner of the now closed Brown Sugar Kitchen in Oakland, shows how intertwined the story of California food is with that of the migration of Black folk out of the South to the West."-Bon Appétit
"The cookbook deserves a spot on your bookshelf for the recipes alone, but you should save room for it on your nightstand-California Soul is a work of journalism and history as well."-Food & Wine
"When Alice Walker writes in the foreword, ‘California Soul is the most beautiful cookbook I've ever read,' the rest of us writers can just sit down because she said it best. The lyrical writing tells the story of the Great Migration of Black Southerners to the rest of the country through the lens of chef Tanya Holland's own family, foodways, and recipes."-Garden & Gun
"California Soul is a book to savor-both literally, with its recipes, and figuratively, as you absorb its beautiful and informative prose."-Robb Report
"The new California Cuisine is California Soul. Tanya Holland's cookbook spotlights seasonal recipes featuring California's finest ingredients, along with a guide to Black-owned food businesses operated by entrepreneurs who are bringing innovation to agriculture on the West Coast."-Questlove
"If there is a person who defines California Soul it is Chef Tanya Holland. . . .
she lives and breathes the lexicon of African American cuisine into her craft and graciously into this work of art."-Kwame Onwuachi, James Beard award–winning chef and author
"In California Soul, Tanya masterfully weaves the history (and lore) of Black American farmers, businesses, and culinary legends in Cal...
Readers Top Reviews
Ross WieserCeceli
Great collection of inspired recipes. Once you start working with her unique combinations you will not stop. Great addition to any collection.
dailywaffledailyw
If you're the kind of person who usually skips over the front matter in a cookbook to get right to the recipes, you don't want to skip it with California Soul. This book stakes a claim for Black culinary artisans, farmers, and maker/entrepreneurs, past and present, honoring their contributions to the American West. Between Alice Walker's foreword, Tanya Holland's introduction, and the personal stories and history woven between the recipes, this is a book to savor before you even get in the kitchen. But what about the food? Holland breaks it down by season, though it's sometimes arguable whether California actually has seasons, compared to the rest of the country. Many of the recipes have California flair built on African diaspora or Black Southern roots. Standouts in my cooking so far: the Red Beans with Farro and Poblano Red Onion relish (you won't even miss the andouille!); the Sweet Potato Buttermilk Pull Apart rolls (perfect for your holiday table); and Collard Green tabbouleh (super simple but holds up better longer because of those collards). On my to do: Butternut & Acorn Squash, Pear and Goat Cheese Gratin; Honey Lavender Chess Pie, Sorghum and Cinnamon Glazed Pork Loin. Finally, the graphic design of this book deserves a mention. No standard black print on stark white pages here. It's really striking with a warm color palette reminiscent of some of its ingredients and reverse print black pages for the historical interstitials. It's gorgeous and just adds to the overall reading & cooking experience.
Laura Gracedailyw
This book is a joy. I love a cookbook that's organized seasonally, and this one does just that. It's divided into Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. Literally the only downside to using this cookbook is that I wish I lived somewhere warm where the earth wasn't frozen for 4-5 months out of the year. The Historical Detours and Maker Profiles were also a lovely and unique addition to the book. Again, only made me wish that I lived in California even more.
PQPantryLaura Gra
A beautiful cookbook, photography, stories, recipes that speak to the soul. There is much to love about this book. It appealed to me not just for the excellent recipes but for the well written stories tracing the history, challenges and contributions of African Americans in the food industry. The photography is gorgeous and inspired. The recipes-seasonal, delicious, with a clear California influence. I loved the Rice-Flour-Fried Chicken Paillards with Arugula and Pea Shoot Salad, Honey-Kumquat-Glazed Fresh Ham, Smothered Warm Grilled Tri-Tip with Spinach, Coconut Granola with Dried Tropical Fruits, Blueberry, Cornmeal, and Candied Lemon Tea Cakes with Olive Oil and the Coconut Creamed Dinosaur Kale. There are so many more recipes that I want to try. The recipes are full of nuanced flavor and delicious. This is a book that will become stained with use! We are fortunate to have Tonya Holland share her expertise with us! I rarely give 5 stars, this cookbook is the exception. I received a free copy of this book from Ten Speed Press.
HollycePQPantryLa
One of the most beautiful cookbooks known. Loving it so far and highly recommend to ANYONE who loves the historical context behind what we cook and eat
Short Excerpt Teaser
Introduction
I am Black and I am African American. I use these terms interchangeably. Both are accurate descriptors. My skin is dark brown and my ancestors are from the African diaspora. I live in California and I am a Californian. I claim it all. Black belongs to the diaspora and African American is specific to my experience in the United States as a descendant of the enslaved people brought to this country from Africa by Europeans. Americans have been and still are all on the journey together. And as an African American woman, the contribution that my ancestors made to what Americans eat and how we eat is significant. No matter where we migrated from or ended up, our food comes with us and tells our story. I am contributing and this is my story. I have a California Soul.
I'm not from the South, but that's really where my family's story as I know it begins. My dad, Hollis, is from Virginia, and my mom, Annette, was born and raised in Louisiana. I spent many alternating summers visiting my grandparents in their respective homes. In Virginia, they raised chickens and vegetables. My Louisiana grandparents had a small vegetable garden with fruit trees, and my maternal grandfather had a little corner store that sold pickles, pralines, penny candy, and other goodies. Many of my grandparents' siblings left the South during the Great Migration, and most of my parents' siblings left as soon as they graduated from high school.
My parents met one summer in Oakland, and I like to think that destined my life to be there. Once married, my parents settled on the East Coast, where my dad attended college. I was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and I was just two years old when we moved to Rochester, New York, where he accepted a position as an industrial engineer with Eastman Kodak.
He and my mother found themselves building a life in this new city at the height of the Civil Rights era when reports about protests, marches, and riots across the country filled the nightly news broadcasts. At this same time, my parents founded The Gourmet Club, a dinner club they shared with five other couples, all ethnically and racially diverse friends and coworkers. Throughout this national upheaval, they were hosting and communing over food and beverages. Everyone cooked together and ate together. Everyone got along. I saw early on how sharing a meal could bring people together.
My parents were grateful for their new home, but they still longed for the family, friends, and familiar flavors they enjoyed in Louisiana and Virginia. They both cooked often, filling our home with tempting scents. My mother introduced her new friends to her gumbo, cornbread, and fried chicken. My dad made home fries for breakfast, fried apples, and baked cakes from scratch, just like his mother. These foods satisfied their nostalgia for home and gave me a sensory connection to the South.
The Great Migration took all my maternal great-aunts and great-uncles to the West Coast. My great-aunts Lottie and Susie, left Shreveport, Louisiana, and started a restaurant in Portland, Oregon, in the 1940s. Lottie and Susie's Place had live music, and the kitchen never closed, so they served chicken dinners, barbecue, and chitlins anytime you wanted. It seems like chicken dinners and 24-7 hospitality run in my blood. Two of my other great-aunts landed in Southern California, and I still have distant cousins in the San Francisco Bay Area, where I planned to host the biannual family reunion in 2021, but obviously that was postponed!
For my first trip to California, my parents drove their green Chrysler Satellite Sebring cross-country to visit my great-aunt Vera, my maternal greatuncle's wife. She was a schoolteacher in Oakland, California, with a hairdresser side hustle that allowed her luxuries like an eye-catching Mercedes-Benz sedan. She was impressive in many ways and, standing nearly six feet tall, spoke with a deep East Texas drawl; she was as dark and savory as the roux she created for her signature gumbo.
Aunt Vera was irreverent, a fierce multitasker, and easily our favorite auntie. I may have learned a thing or two from her. Aunt Vera moved through her kitchen like a professional chef, cooking and tasting her dishes in progress and adjusting seasonings until the flavors met her standard. She'd draft anyone standing nearby as a prep cook, doling out commands softened only by her distinctive accent that still echoes in my ear.
After that first trip, many years went by before I returned to California. But the Golden State was always on my mind-especially during the winters in Brooklyn, New York, where I last lived on the East Coast...
I am Black and I am African American. I use these terms interchangeably. Both are accurate descriptors. My skin is dark brown and my ancestors are from the African diaspora. I live in California and I am a Californian. I claim it all. Black belongs to the diaspora and African American is specific to my experience in the United States as a descendant of the enslaved people brought to this country from Africa by Europeans. Americans have been and still are all on the journey together. And as an African American woman, the contribution that my ancestors made to what Americans eat and how we eat is significant. No matter where we migrated from or ended up, our food comes with us and tells our story. I am contributing and this is my story. I have a California Soul.
I'm not from the South, but that's really where my family's story as I know it begins. My dad, Hollis, is from Virginia, and my mom, Annette, was born and raised in Louisiana. I spent many alternating summers visiting my grandparents in their respective homes. In Virginia, they raised chickens and vegetables. My Louisiana grandparents had a small vegetable garden with fruit trees, and my maternal grandfather had a little corner store that sold pickles, pralines, penny candy, and other goodies. Many of my grandparents' siblings left the South during the Great Migration, and most of my parents' siblings left as soon as they graduated from high school.
My parents met one summer in Oakland, and I like to think that destined my life to be there. Once married, my parents settled on the East Coast, where my dad attended college. I was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and I was just two years old when we moved to Rochester, New York, where he accepted a position as an industrial engineer with Eastman Kodak.
He and my mother found themselves building a life in this new city at the height of the Civil Rights era when reports about protests, marches, and riots across the country filled the nightly news broadcasts. At this same time, my parents founded The Gourmet Club, a dinner club they shared with five other couples, all ethnically and racially diverse friends and coworkers. Throughout this national upheaval, they were hosting and communing over food and beverages. Everyone cooked together and ate together. Everyone got along. I saw early on how sharing a meal could bring people together.
My parents were grateful for their new home, but they still longed for the family, friends, and familiar flavors they enjoyed in Louisiana and Virginia. They both cooked often, filling our home with tempting scents. My mother introduced her new friends to her gumbo, cornbread, and fried chicken. My dad made home fries for breakfast, fried apples, and baked cakes from scratch, just like his mother. These foods satisfied their nostalgia for home and gave me a sensory connection to the South.
The Great Migration took all my maternal great-aunts and great-uncles to the West Coast. My great-aunts Lottie and Susie, left Shreveport, Louisiana, and started a restaurant in Portland, Oregon, in the 1940s. Lottie and Susie's Place had live music, and the kitchen never closed, so they served chicken dinners, barbecue, and chitlins anytime you wanted. It seems like chicken dinners and 24-7 hospitality run in my blood. Two of my other great-aunts landed in Southern California, and I still have distant cousins in the San Francisco Bay Area, where I planned to host the biannual family reunion in 2021, but obviously that was postponed!
For my first trip to California, my parents drove their green Chrysler Satellite Sebring cross-country to visit my great-aunt Vera, my maternal greatuncle's wife. She was a schoolteacher in Oakland, California, with a hairdresser side hustle that allowed her luxuries like an eye-catching Mercedes-Benz sedan. She was impressive in many ways and, standing nearly six feet tall, spoke with a deep East Texas drawl; she was as dark and savory as the roux she created for her signature gumbo.
Aunt Vera was irreverent, a fierce multitasker, and easily our favorite auntie. I may have learned a thing or two from her. Aunt Vera moved through her kitchen like a professional chef, cooking and tasting her dishes in progress and adjusting seasonings until the flavors met her standard. She'd draft anyone standing nearby as a prep cook, doling out commands softened only by her distinctive accent that still echoes in my ear.
After that first trip, many years went by before I returned to California. But the Golden State was always on my mind-especially during the winters in Brooklyn, New York, where I last lived on the East Coast...
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