"My" Official Georgia Geechee Cookbook

About the Book

THE GEECHEE COOKBOOK “My” Official Geechee Cookbook highlights Geechee low-country cooking and food preparations that were popularized on the Georgia’s barrier sea islands from the early 1700s until up to the end-of-the Civil War. A special effort has been made to include the similarities of possible African culture and slaves’ tradition on each island. Recorded history has been included about each area. Although much of the history has been lost, the slaves made do with what they were able to simulate from their culture. The efforts in this cookbook have been dedicated to the impact of the “Geechee” contributions to the state of Georgia. Some people in Georgia call themselves “Gullah”. However, my grandmother was a “Geechee”. The research honors her heritage. “Gullahs” are popular in the low country areas of the Carolinas. “My” Official Geechee Cookbook is a result of my research with certain people who said they were Geechee and collected recipes from these people. The cookbook is not comprehensive of all Geeches’ recipes. Historical influences surrounding the Geechees’ survival on the Georgia sea coastline from slavery until present day have been examined.

About the Author

Sharon Hunt is a freelance writer. She is a registered dietitian. Ms. Hunt is a granddaughter of a “Geechee”, Ida Frazier Hunt. She writes cookbooks about African-American heritage and plantation cooking. Ms. Hunt has written eight cookbooks. She sold many of her cookbooks -Bread from Heaven -three times on the QVC Home Shopping Network. In 1997, she was selected as an Artist-in-Residence at the Georgia National Fair in Perry, Georgia. For the Peach Festival held in Fort Valley, Georgia, she created the original recipe for the World Largest Peach Cobbler. At the 1996 Summer Olympics, she demonstrated and showcased her “World Famous Sweet Potato Pie” on stage at the “Georgia on my Plate” celebrity showcase held in Macon, Georgia. Also, she showcased “ World Famous Sweet Potato Pie” at a festival held in St. Simons, Georgia held at famous Lutheran Church. For more than thirty years, Ms. Hunt taught food preparation and recipe analysis methods classes at two Historically Black College and Universities(HBCU) in Georgia and Oklahoma. She has studied the food preparation methods and menus for all occasions that were popular on plantations and foods eaten by slaves. Ms. Hunt was the charter president of the Warner Robins Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Currently, she is a Diamond Life Member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.