Princess Pamela’s Soul Food Cookbook: A Mouth-Watering Treasury of Afro-American Recipes

When it comes to soul food, there is an elite pantheon of grand dame authors: Patti Labelle, Sylvia Woods, and Edna Lewis. For their fans, who crave authentic African-American recipes, this publication marks a major rediscovery: the original soul diva, Princess Pamela, who paved the way for all the others with this 1969 cult classic.

This lost classic cookbook was treasured by past generations as a bible of soul cooking and is now back in print after more than a quarter century. As the national trend for Southern cuisine continues, this book offers a sure line to authenticity. It represents the cookbook of the Great Migration, the recipes that black people who had left the South held on to as a way to preserve their heritage and memories.

Pamela Strobel was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where she learned to cook from her mother, Beauty. Orphaned at age 13, Strobel came to New York, finding work in restaurants while nurturing her love of jazz by catching performances of Louis Armstrong and Sarah Vaughan. In 1965, Strobel opened her own restaurant in the East Village neighborhood, serving the soul food of her childhood while entertaining guests alongside a band that once included Lewis Nash, John Hicks, and Roy Eldridge.

Matt Lee and Ted Lee are siblings who grew up in Charleston, South Carolina, and after moving to New York City founded The Lee Bros. Boiled Peanuts Catalogue, a mail-order service for southern pantry staples. The brothers have gone on to become some of the most respected food journalists in the country, authoring three books including most recently The Lee Bros. Charleston Kitchen. They are contributing editors at Travel and Leisure and frequently write stories for Bon Appetit, The New York Times, Fine Cooking, and Food and Wine.