The first-ever Juneteenth cookbook drops today

In 1865, the last remaining enslaved people in the United States were set free from their bonds — two years after President Lincoln formally issued the Emancipation Proclamation. The next year, Black Texans commemorated their freedom, delayed as it was, with the first Juneteenth, with the holiday subsequently spreading among Black communities throughout the country.

Taylor’s book, which is now available in bookstores, is also incredibly timely, coming a year after President Biden signed legislation to establish Juneteenth as a federal holiday in the wake of widespread protests against white supremacy and police violence. It was a bittersweet moment that Taylor notes in the book’s introduction with no lack of irony. But now, with national recognition of Juneteenth at an all-time high, there are likely many out there seeking inspiration on what to cook.

Because like any great holiday, Juneteenth — once known as “Jubilee Day” or “Emancipation Day” — has an established, ritualized feasting. Red food and drinks, a celebratory tradition with origins in West Africa, are one part; classic soul food and barbecue are another. In her introduction, Taylor includes a telling line from a 1933 article about the holiday in the Dallas Morning News, which reported that “Watermelon, barbecue and red lemonade will be consumed in quantity.”

But instead of going for traditional takes on the Juneteenth table, Taylor gives them a contemporary spin in her book, finding inspiration in the Juneteenth feasts, splendorous summer festivals and Black culinary innovations that have nourished her. She creates her dishes’ red hues with romesco and harissa; punches up Bloody Mary cocktails with miso; and makes space for vegetarians with hearty, plant-based barbecue dishes. Anyway, holidays naturally lend themselves to playful riffs on tradition, like throwing chopped kimchi into your Hanukkah latkes or turning Thanksgiving into a kamayan feast.

Taylor’s recollections of cookouts of Juneteenths past are scattered throughout the recipe headnotes and chapter introductions. They’re rich with imagery — of revelers dancing to DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, fawning over some auntie’s potato salad, and luxuriating in the sunny warmth of a Brooklyn rooftop terrace. Taylor makes it sound like the best parties are Juneteenth parties, which is probably true.

There’s a touch of wry humor in recipes like Taylor’s barbecue-ready pork chops, which are brined before grilling and garnished with a nutty dukkah. While dukkah is everywhere in trendy cosmopolitan restaurants, she includes it, she writes, as a nod to Shake ‘n Bake mix. A recipe for grilled watermelon kebabs includes an anecdote about Taylor being canceled online for a similar recipe she wrote for Food & Wine magazine, which had shady commentators twisting themselves into knots to accuse her of using stereotypes and minstrelsy to pander to non-Black readers. The title of the book should be enough to tell you her feelings on all that.

There are also plenty of helpful sidebars here that’ll walk you through a few important basics of Juneteenth party planning and cooking in general. Taylor makes sure you’ve assigned someone to bring the potato salad, for instance, and reminds you to watch the color of your corn dogs while they’re frying.

In testing this book, I tried the Super Greens Pesto Salad, a suggested side dish wherein macerated plums and couscous are lain atop an intensely savory pesto of collard greens, Swiss chard and walnuts. The pureed earthy greens are set off by Parmesan, lime juice and soy sauce, and the pesto is so soothing and rich that I found myself stirring dollops of it into bean soups and oatmeal.

I also spent an evening working on her strawberry hand pies, made with an all-butter crust perked up with a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper and a goat cheese frosting. The resulting 10 pies were incredibly, dangerously moreish, and I quickly sought to re-home them to save myself. Following that recipe is a quick one for a pie shake, where you throw one in a blender with honey vanilla ice cream and milk. My heart races like I’m face-to-face with a high school crush every time I look at it.

Most of the recipes are made for a feast and serve 8-10 people, but I found scaling down for a party of two easy enough.

Whether you’re planning a blowout or just hoping to learn more about the holiday, “Watermelon & Red Birds” makes for an informative, and impressive, reference. Let’s hope there are more to come.

“Watermelon & Red Birds.” On sale Tuesday, May 31. (Simon & Schuster; 270 pages; $29.99)

Corn Dogs

Serves 6

The land of liberty, my native country, can’t claim to have invented the hot dog, but we did invent the corn dog. Carl and Neil Fletcher were the first people to deep-fry hot dogs in cornbread batter, a concoction invented and sold as “Fletcher’s CornyDogs” at the Texas state fair in 1942.

2 quarts peanut oil, for frying 6 hot dogs

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup yellow cornmeal

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons sugar

1½ teaspoons fresh thyme

½ teaspoon garlic powder

1½ teaspoons kosher salt

1 large egg

1½ cups light beer

6 wooden skewers

Instructions: In a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot, heat the peanut oil over medium-high heat until it reaches 375 degrees F on an instant-read or deep-fry thermometer.

Line a plate with paper towels and set it nearby.

Insert a skewer halfway into each hot dog. Place the cornstarch in a baking dish and dust each hot dog with the cornstarch, shaking off any excess. Set aside.

To make the corn dog batter: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, thyme, garlic powder, and salt until well combined. Add the egg and the beer to the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth and combined; the batter should be thicker than pancake batter, more like a thin cake batter.

Pour the batter into a tall glass and dip each hot dog into the batter to fully coat, allowing the excess to drip off. Immediately place the hot dog in the hot oil and fry until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Use metal tongs to flip the corn dog over to brown the other side. When the corn dog is golden, use the tongs to grab the end of the skewer and transfer it to the paper towel-lined plate.

Repeat with the remaining hot dogs. Serve immediately.

Excerpted from “Watermelon & Red Birds” by Nicole A. Taylor. Copyright © 2022 by Nicole A. Taylor. Reprinted by permission of Simon & Schuster Inc. All rights reserved.