It was about a decade ago that Carolyn Quick Tillery married two of her passions - history and food - to create a "pick up and go" career for herself.  In 1994, she decided to write a book about the history of her alma mater, Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. And from the beginning, she decided to fold in food stories and recipes. Tillery was influenced by food and a powerful oral tradition as a child. A year and a half after beginning, Tillery published The African-American Heritage Cookbook acclaimed for its lively storytelling and Sweet Potato Soup, Mom's Devilish Catfish Stew, Smothered Yard Bird and more than 200 other recipes, rich in flavor and tradition. 

 

Southern Homecoming Traditions, the fourth installment in Tillery's African-American Heritage Cookbook series is similar in tone and style: each is really two books in one, a collection of regional recipes as well as a detailed examination of a particular facet of African-American history.  Her most recent book is a celebration of the five historic black colleges and one university that comprise the Atlanta University Center: Morehouse, Spelman, and Morris Brown Colleges, Morehouse School of Medicine, Interdenominational Theological Center, and Clark-Atlanta University. Author Carolyn Quick Tillery uses the evocative power of food to take us back to the institutions where so many great African-American leaders were educated, and the region where so many great dishes were created.  

Carolyn Quick Tillery is a wife, mother, prosecuting attorney, former Air Force officer, researcher, and cookbook writer. Her lifelong love of cooking. She and her husband, a career Air Force officer, live at Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas. (http://www.amazon.com)

 Bibliography:
The African-American Heritage Cookbook
At Freedom’s Table
Celebrating Our Equality
Southern Homecoming Traditions
Taste of Freedom