This sexy food publication with NC roots is definitely not your grandma’s cookbook.
North Carolina native Andreas Carver’s new cookbook zine, “The Aphrodisiac Kitchen, Volume 1: Departure of Youth,” is more than just a compilation of recipes — it is a tribute to his roots combined with a cathartic journey of self-acceptance.
Growing up queer and mixed raced in the South and struggling with anxiety and depression, Carver reconciles his life struggles through a combination of essays, vegan recipes and photo editorials.
Carver’s love of food began at a young age. He struggled with nightmares as a child and would fall asleep watching the Food Network. “It was literally the only thing that soothed me,” Carver told CharlotteFive. “Cooking has always been something I’ve loved. I would make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the kitchen as a kid and pretend I was hosting a cooking show.”
That passion for cooking and the emotions it evokes in him is evident from the first pages of The Aphrodisiac’s Kitchen. “Cooking has power. The power to cure, to gather, to slow our minds down ... It’s our mothers and fathers and great-grandparents. It’s first dates and graduations. It is milestones and grievances. Food is legacy.”
Carver’s legacy is a complicated one. He spent part of his childhood in Fayetteville in a conservative, Southern Baptist family where he was gifted a new Bible every year for Christmas. While he valued his religious upbringing, he also came to resent its teachings. “I was told over and over again that choosing to be gay was a lifestyle choice God would never be OK with … God became a stalker to which I was his moving target, waiting to be captured and dragged to hell.”
It wasn’t until Carver moved to Hawaii in high school that he was able to accept his sexuality and come out to his family. His return to Fayetteville in his later teen years was not as welcoming. “There is still so much work to be done, both in the South and in my family. But they are evolving, and I am trying to be patient,” Carver said.
Layered with the struggle of being gay is the fact that Carver’s father is Black and his mother is white. “When I was little, I never thought of the two having separate stories, green beans vs. collard greens or fried chicken vs. turkey, for they were both part of me,” he said in the zine.
In later years, as Carver began exploring the history of Southern food, he discovered the systemic inequities and the lost stories of his Black ancestors who taught “white folk” how to create these modern day staples.
All of these experiences began to come together five years ago, as Carver started assembling the unique parts of his personal story and heritage, and compiling it into essays, recipes and photos for “The Aphrodisiac Kitchen.”
“There was a lot of anxiety and fear around putting this together,” Carver told CharlotteFive. “It’s really been a slow burn. I always wanted to approach food differently, to take a more visceral approach.”
The 100-page zine is not your typical cookbook. It is riddled with stories of romance and heartache, confusion and clarity, triumph and loss. Carver tells the story of the “Legacy Cake” — a coconut cake that elicits a lifetime of memories with his late grandmother, who was a major influence in his life and passed away from cancer.
“I don’t remember the first time I ate the cake. I assume I had it at an age that some may call inappropriate for ‘baby’s first sugar.’ … And although she isn’t here in this temporal state, on this finite plane, I know she will live on through this cake. She will be present for my gatherings, my celebrations and for my milestones because our coconut cake will be the centerpiece.”
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The response to the cookbook from Carver’s family, particularly his mom, has been positive. “My mom thinks it’s beautiful. She is proud and excited for me,” Carver said. “It’s cathartic. Even this interview is cathartic. I always felt like an outsider. I would go to the mall and people would just stop and stare at me. I don’t know if they were interested or uncomfortable, but it made me feel weird and different. I hope through this project that I can help others who are queer or mixed or just struggling with feeling different. If I can do that, it’s worth it.”
“The Aphrodisiac Kitchen, Volume 1: Departure of Youth” is $40 and is available online.
