fancy feast

Broken and burned out, Jerrelle Guy didn’t want to cook anymore. After her first cookbook came out, Black Girl Baking, she was nominated for a James Beard award. She had built a business for herself writing recipes and photographing food, and she said yes to every opportunity that came her way. But after too many days with long hours working and some issues beyond her control (Covid, the Texas blizzard that left them without power for days), she just couldn’t keep going. She had pushed herself too far.

In recovering from that burnout and trying to find a more balanced way to live, she made some rules for herself for cooking. And she found a new way of looking at dinner. With inner work that she put in on her soul and the play she discovered in her kitchen, she has found healing and delicious meals as she crafted a new way to live.

We Fancy is the cookbook where Guy teaches cooks to find their own joy and refuge in their own kitchen. She defines being “fancy” as being imaginative and unafraid. It’s about being resourceful, bringing magic back to the kitchen, and living a vibrant and fulfilled life. It’s a mindset, and being fancy involves turning your kitchen into a place where you can express yourself playfully and mindfully to create food that is delicious, beautiful, intentional, and often simple.

She is a big believer in shortcuts and offers many recipes that are versatile and easy, perfect for weeknights. Lots of her recipes are meatless or seafood-based, but she includes flavor bombs and garnish ideas to add sparkle and texture to the dishes. There are recipes for drinks, like her Smoky Mango Kombucha Spritz or All-Nighter Dragon Iced Lattes. There are Dinner Snacks, like Sour Cream and Onion Edamame, Peanut Butter Cracker Brittle, or Hot Pickle Dip.

For quick dinners, she offers up Black Garlic Risotto, Five-Spice Maple-Glazed Salmon, and Gnocchi with Clams and Leeks. For windows of longer cooking, she has Eggplant Parm Ravioli with her Effortless Marinara, Salisbury Steak with Berbere Gravy and Sage with Parsnip Puree, Double Stacked Smash-Bean Burgers with Sweet Corn Crema, and Mahi Sliders with Island Achiote Dressing. There are three types of Jazzy Rice as well as Elegant Sides, like Caramelized Onion Green Beans, Shiny Almond and Peach Cornbread, Gochujang Cabbage and Carrots, and Crispy Buffalo Brussels Sprouts.

There are recipes for her inner child (Walnut Chili Cheese Dawgs and Beans and Hasselbeck Sausages) as well as ideas for breakfast for dinner (Pearl Sugar Cornbread Waffles and Sheet Pan Rosemary French Toast Bites). If you’re flying solo, there are ideas for being fancy by yourself, like Creamy Coconut Ramen or BYO Burger Bowl. Or if you have to do something with your leftovers, there are ideas like Tomato and Ginger Curry, Mango and Miso Salmon Grain Bowls, and Shakshuka Bolognese.

There is a chapter on weeknight desserts, like a “Fried” Banana Split, Olive Oil Brownie Pudding, or Overnight Tiramisu Cheesecake. And there is an entire chapter on toppings, so you can make your own Venusian Ketchup, Salted Black Sesame Fudge Sauce, Frazzled Onions, Garlic Chips, Pizza Butter, Rosemary Truffle Aioli, and Basil Oil.

We Fancy is a cookbook that blends together playfulness with sophisticated flavors. It’s about finding your place in the kitchen, but with the help of a woman with a master’s degree in gastronomy and a head start in approaching her kitchen with a fancy mindset. Guy even includes a list of the books that helped her recover from her burnout and find her joy at cooking again. And of course the photography is phenomenal throughout the book.

I found We Fancy inspiring. I know I’ve been struggling with inspiration in the kitchen in the last few months, and I like the idea of making the kitchen my own again. Turning it into a refuge and cooking for my inner child will help me get more excited about spending time cooking and creating nourishing recipes and thinking through time savers and flavor bombs. And while I’m not sure all the flavors of these recipes will work for all families, I think the idea and inspiration behind the cookbook can help heal and encourage cooks to take back their kitchens and learn to be fancy.

Egalleys for We Fancy were provided by S&S/Simon Element through Edelweiss, with many thanks, but the opinions are mine.