Barbecue has a way of pulling people together.
Smoke curls through a backyard. A grill lid lifts. Someone argues about sauce. Another person insists that real barbecue takes all day. Plates get passed, stories begin, and suddenly dinner has become something closer to community.
But behind that familiar American ritual is a history many of us were never taught.
In Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue, Denver-based food writer and historian Adrian Miller takes readers deep into the story of Black barbecue traditions and the people whose contributions have too often been pushed to the edges of American food history.
Miller, a longtime certified barbecue judge and self-described barbecue enthusiast, follows the story from early American foodways through slavery, emancipation, migration, entrepreneurship, restaurant culture, and the modern barbecue boom. Along the way, he introduces readers to Black pitmasters and cooks who helped develop regional techniques, build businesses, feed communities, and turn barbecue into one of the country’s most recognizable culinary traditions. The University of North Carolina Press
That makes Black Smoke much more than a book about meat and smoke.
It is also about memory.
Who gets remembered as an innovator? Whose recipes become “traditional”? Whose names disappear even when their techniques remain?
Miller brings those questions to the table without draining the joy out of the food itself. The book celebrates barbecue while also restoring people and stories that deserve a more prominent place in its history. It even includes 22 barbecue recipes collected for the book, giving adventurous readers a chance to move from history lesson to dinner plate. The University of North Carolina Press
For Centennial readers, the Colorado connection makes this one especially fun.
Miller is based in Denver and has become one of the country’s best-known voices on African American foodways. Black Smoke won the 2022 James Beard Foundation Book Award for Reference, History, and Scholarship, as well as the 2022 Colorado Book Award for History. James Beard Foundation
And while much of the book looks beyond Colorado, its larger message travels beautifully into our own community.
Food tells stories.
The restaurants we support, the recipes families pass down, the dishes served at neighborhood gatherings, and even the techniques used over a backyard grill all carry pieces of history with them. Learning where those traditions came from can make something familiar suddenly look richer.
Black Smoke invites readers to do exactly that.
The next time barbecue appears on the table, Miller gives us reason to notice more than the sauce, smoke ring, or perfectly charred edge.
There is history on that plate.
And some of the people who helped create it are finally getting their names back into the story.
Purchase Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue by Adrian Miller on Amazon.
27 Comments
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Curious what makes Colorado barbecue different from the rest. Anyone know if Miller covers this in the book?
Never thought I’d see food writing win a history award! Goes to show how powerful food stories can be.
Not sure we need more books on barbecue, but happy for the recognition for Black cooks. That part is overdue.
I love that Miller found a way to bring joy and history together. It doesn’t have to be just one or the other.
Honestly, I just want those recipes. My pulled pork game could use some historical upgrading.
You’re in luck, there are 22 recipes inside, and learning the stories behind them makes pulled pork (and plenty more) that much tastier.
Nice to see history and food celebrated together. Sometimes we forget who made traditions possible.
Barbecue is serious business in my house. Curious to try a few of these new recipes and see which ones the kids like best.
We love that energy, let us know which recipes are the family favorites. The book’s collection has plenty of kid-friendly hits and some regional surprises too.
Some of my best memories are around the grill with family. I never stopped to wonder where the recipes or methods came from. Need to check out this book.
Congrats to Adrian for winning those awards! That’s huge. Makes me proud to see Colorado folks doing big things.
I wish we learned more of this in school. We got the basics but the real stories and recipes were missing.
Real barbecue DOES take all day. My grandpa taught me that and he learned from his neighbors down south. Cool to see it’s bigger than just one region.
I met Adrian Miller at a book event once. Super friendly and knows so much about barbecue. Highly recommend his writing.
I never really thought about what makes something ‘authentic’ barbecue. This makes it sound a lot more complicated.
It’s about time more names and faces are included in food stories. Feels like so much gets left out in the history books.
Love learning about food history. Plus, 22 recipes? Sold. That’s a whole summer’s worth of grilling right there.
Gabe McIntyreSame here, Gabe! I’m not even a serious grillmaster but 22 new recipes is a challenge I’ll take on. Curious which one you’ll try first?
Thank you! The recipes really do make it perfect for summertime, and each one comes with a story, so your cookouts get a little history along with the flavor.
Wow, I always thought barbecue’s history started in Texas or the South. Didn’t know Colorado had a connection too.
People always fight over what’s “real” barbecue, but sounds like the whole culture is a mix anyway. This gives some perspective.
Exactly, barbecue’s diversity is one of its strengths, and Adrian Miller’s book does a wonderful job tracing the roots of all those regional debates.
Makes me wonder whose recipes were at our old family cookouts. Probably borrowed and adapted over decades. Gonna ask my dad!
Glad to see Black pitmasters getting recognition. Too many times those stories get forgotten. Good to know there’s a book correcting the record.
Did not realize Denver had someone this famous in the food world. Adding this to my summer reading list!
I love Adrian Miller’s work! His show on food history made me appreciate my grandmother’s cooking even more. Can’t wait to try some of these recipes.
It’s wild how much history we’re actually eating every time we have a BBQ. I never thought about the stories behind who made it a tradition. Gonna look into this book for sure.