Page "Soul food" Paragraph 14

At the center of Black American food celebrations is the value of sharing.

Therefore, African American cookbooks often have a common theme of family and family gatherings.

Usher boards and Women's Day committees of various religious congregations large and small, and even public service and social welfare organizations such as the National Council of Negro Women ( NCNW ) have produced cookbooks to fund their operations and charitable enterprises.

The NCNW produced its first cookbook, The Historical Cookbook of the American Negro, in 1958, and revived the practice in 1993, producing a popular series of cookbooks featuring recipes by famous African Americans, among them: The Black Family Reunion Cookbook ( 1991 ), Celebrating Our Mothers ' Kitchens: Treasured Memories and Tested Recipes ( 1994 ), and Mother Africa's Table: A Chronicle of Celebration ( 1998 ).

The NCNW also recently reissued The Historical Cookbook.