for immediate release
soul
food
odyssey
by Stephanie L. Tyson
JULY 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-89587-646-1
BIO 026000
$19.95, Paperback
6” x 8.5”
175 pages, 70 color photos
Also available as an eBook
Media contact: Sally Johnson
[email protected]
(800) 222-9796
John F. Blair, Publisher
1406 Plaza Drive
Winston-Salem, NC 27103
blairpub.com
soul food odyssey
“Everything about this book is correct except the title. Anyone with a taste bud in their
mouth should follow these recipes and open their mouth.”
—Maya Angelou, on Stephanie L. Tyson’s first book, Well, Shut My Mouth!
Winston-Salem, NC—Even after the success of her first cookbook,
Well, Shut My Mouth! Stephanie Tyson says, “I don’t consider myself a writer; I
consider myself a cook.” Anyone who has visited her restaurant, Sweet Potatoes
in Winston-Salem, NC, would find that point hard to argue. But Chef Tyson
knows how to turn a phrase and how to showcase her food for readers as well
as eaters. Soul Food Odyssey, her new cookbook, shares eight more chapters of
down-home cooking—or, as the award-winning restaurant owner likes to call
it, “Southern food with a side of soul.” In addition to recipes from “the rooter
to the tooter” and sinful desserts, Chef Tyson explains her culinary journey to
embrace the food she’s become famous for.
In the introduction to Soul Food Odyssey, Chef Tyson describes her early
feelings when people assumed Sweet Potatoes was a soul food establishment:
“Soul food was like the fighter George Foreman, who would stand there
flatfooted and go toe to toe. The way he fought wasn’t pretty or fancy, but
he got the job done. On the other hand, my vision of Southern food was like
Muhammad Ali—a little prettier, with fancier footwork. But the results were
the same. I missed the connection that they were both great fighters. Once I got
off my high horse, I started wanting to expand my culinary point of view. But
how do you make what is essentially castoff food into a ‘cuisine’?”
In Soul Food Odyssey, Tyson takes readers on her journey as she ventures
back to find the food her grandmother called “sump’n-ta-eat.” The recipes she
shares will instruct readers how to cook various parts of the pig; other meat
dishes ranging from Smothered Turkey Wings to Stephanie’s Slow Cooker Pot
Roast to Low Country Boil; what Tyson calls “Stone Soul Sides,” including, of
course, different kinds of greens; Crackling Cornbread and Hoecakes; soups
and stews including Oxtail and Butter Bean Stew, Catfish Stew, and Everythingin-It Vegetable Soup; and “desserts to sell your soul for.”
Soul Food Odyssey is a book for home cooks to place in their kitchens and
for all self-respecting Southerners to enjoy on their porches, the better to relish
Chef Tyson’s wit and memories over iced tea.
STEPHANIE L. TYSON has turned growing up in the South into the soul of her
restaurant, Sweet Potatoes. Born in North Carolina, Chef Tyson spent countless
hours dreaming of the bright lights of anywhere else. But once she left to travel
around the world, she could not believe what a relief it was to come home again.
Trained in culinary arts at Baltimore International College, Chef Tyson opened her
award-winning restaurant with her partner, Vivián Joiner, in 2003 in the downtown
Arts District of Winston-Salem, where they live. Chef Tyson and her famous food
have been featured by the New York Times, Southern Living, UNC-TV, NPR, and more.
JOHN F. BLAIR, PUBLISHER, has been publishing books on the southeastern
United States since 1954 and distributes books for nearly 25 independent
presses, including Lookout Books, Hub City Press, and NewSouth Books. Based
in Winston-Salem, NC, this independent, family-owned company specializes
in history, travel, folklore, biography, and fiction. Learn more at blairpub.com.
soul
food
odyssey
by Stephanie L. Tyson
JULY 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-89587-646-1
BIO 026000
$19.95, Paperback
6” x 8.5”
175 pages, 70 color photos
meet the author
“Right after high school, I left home for college at East Carolina—far away enough not to
smell the collard greens and neck bones from my grandmother’s kitchen but close enough
for care packages and frequent visits home.”
—Stephanie L. Tyson in Soul Food Odyssey
Growing up, Stephanie L. Tyson dreamed of life in the big city; little
did she know she’d find the brightest spotlight right in her hometown of
Winston-Salem, NC. In fact, the New York Times recently featured her oneand-only Sweet Potato Biscuits as the staple for a proper North Carolinian
Thanksgiving.
After hopping around the North, Chef Tyson moved back down south.
“Eventually, my partner, Vivián, and I came back to Winston-Salem.” But
living elsewhere had changed more than just Tyson’s accent; even though
she was back where she grew up, she still wanted to shuck what she thought
was expected of her. “We wanted to open a place that offered great food
celebrating our Southern heritage,” she says in Soul Food Odyssey. “But it
bothered us that people naturally assumed that when two African-American
women opened a restaurant—especially one called Sweet Potatoes—it had
to be a soul food place. I had a picture of what soul food restaurants looked
like—the cafés and diners of my childhood—and that was not our vision.
We wanted a restaurant, not a café. We wanted to serve Southern food, not
soul food.”
As she explains in her new book, her journey involved coming to terms
with what soul food really is and what it means to her. Eventually, Sweet
Potatoes became what the pair had always wanted, while serving up soulful
dishes, too. The way Tyson sees it, the restaurant offers Southern food with
a side of soul.
Also available as an eBook
“I had a picture of what soul food restaurants looked like—
the cafés and diners of my childhood—and that was not our
vision. We wanted a restaurant, not a café. We wanted to
serve Southern food, not soul food.”
Media contact: Sally Johnson
[email protected]
(800) 222-9796
John F. Blair, Publisher
1406 Plaza Drive
Winston-Salem, NC 27103
blairpub.com
The author of one previous cookbook, Well, Shut My Mouth!,
Stephanie L. Tyson is a creative chef who has turned growing up in the
South into the soul of her beloved restaurant, Sweet Potatoes. Born in
North Carolina, Chef Tyson spent countless hours dreaming of the bright
lights of anywhere else. But once she left to travel and cook around the
world, she could not believe what a relief it was to come home again.
Trained in culinary arts at Baltimore International College, Chef Tyson
opened her award-winning restaurant with her partner, Vivián Joiner, in
2003 in the downtown Arts District of Winston-Salem, where they live.
Chef Tyson and her famous food have been featured by the New York
Times, Southern Living, UNC-TV, NPR, and more.
soul
food
odyssey
for immediate release
media angles
by Stephanie L. Tyson
Soul Food, Huh?
Originally, Chef Stephanie L. Tyson didn’t want to be known for
soul food. But over the years, she embraced that style of cooking.
In Soul Food Odyssey, readers will learn how to make both
Southern staples and soul food classics. Chef Tyson’s humor is on
display throughout the book. Home cooks and lovers of Southern
cuisine alike will find recipes to savor and words to cherish.
JULY 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-89587-646-1
BIO 026000
$19.95, Paperback
6” x 8.5”
175 pages, 70 color photos
Also available as an eBook
Media contact: Sally Johnson
[email protected]
(800) 222-9796
John F. Blair, Publisher
1406 Plaza Drive
Winston-Salem, NC 27103
blairpub.com
A Beloved Restaurant, Locally and Nationally
Sweet Potatoes has been in Winston-Salem since Stephanie and
Vivián opened it in 2003. Reservations are not accepted, but regulars
don’t ever mind the wait. Complete with a bar and a “community
table” concept, the restaurant offers a welcoming vibe to customers
new and old. And it’s not well known just to Winston-Salem
residents. Tyson’s food has been recognized by Southern Living,
NPR, and most recently the New York Times. Plenty of the recipes
in Soul Food Odyssey can be ordered and enjoyed at Sweet Potatoes.
Above All Else: The Food
Soul Food Odyssey is about Chef Tyson’s journey to call soul
food her own. But the star is the food itself. Including chapters
such as “Veggie Soul” and “Humble Bread, Feed My Soul,” plus
a section on how to pair recipes to make perfect celebratory
menus, Soul Food Odyssey is a cookbook for both beginning
Southern chefs and hosts hoping to spice up their repertoire.
Chef Tyson in the Spotlight
Even if you’ve never been to Chef Tyson’s restaurant, you may
already know her name. A humble woman who refers to herself
as a cook, Tyson’s recipes have been celebrated in a parade of
lifestyle magazines, radio programs, and newspapers locally and
nationally. She and her partner Vivián Joiner have also been on a
host of local news programs cooking up their most beloved dishes.
soul
food
odyssey
by Stephanie L. Tyson
questions for
interviewers
1. When did you start cooking? Did you always want to be a chef?
2. The new book has eight chapters and is full of recipes. How did you
decide which dishes to include?
3. Can you speak about the title (Soul Food Odyssey) and your journey to
embracing soul food?
4. Why “Sweet Potatoes”?
JULY 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-89587-646-1
BIO 026000
$19.95, Paperback
6” x 8.5”
175 pages, 70 color photos
5. The title of your first cookbook is the same as the tagline for your
restaurant: “Well, shut my mouth!” There’s got to be a story there.
6. Soul Food Odyssey is dedicated to your late mother and mentions your
grandmother’s cooking throughout. How important is family for you as a
chef?
Also available as an eBook
7. If you could make something for anyone in the world, what would you
cook and who would it be for?
8. Where can people buy Soul Food Odyssey? [Wherever books are sold
and online at blairpub.com.]
Media contact: Sally Johnson
[email protected]
(800) 222-9796
John F. Blair, Publisher
1406 Plaza Drive
Winston-Salem, NC 27103
blairpub.com