Breaking The Jemima Code

For more than 100 years, the dominant image of an African-American cook was that of Aunt Jemima. Her face appeared on pancake boxes and syrup bottles and carried a message implying that African-American cooks were uneducated, poor, and always working under the direction of white women. Culinary journalist Toni Tipton-Martin’s examination of cookbooks written by African-Americans counters that narrative. Host Frank Stasio speaks with Tipton-Martin about her James Beard award-winning book, “The Jemima Code: Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks,” (University of Texas Press/ 2015) and an exhibit of photographs of African-American cooks on view at Duke University’s Center for Documentary Studies until Saturday, Nov. 5.​