Preserving the Culinary Continuum
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HistoryMaker Leah "Dooky" Chase with her dish, Gumbo Z'Herbes
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In Chef
Therese Nelson’s
website “Black Culinary History,” she writes that “
Black people from all over the African Diaspora have come here, by force and by choice, since the birth of this nation and literally built what we call American cuisine
.”[1]
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Transnational similarities among cuisines is a physical reminder of our history. Educator and culinary historian, HistoryMaker
Jessica B. Harris
, recalls her inspiration to study culinary history:
“I was very fortunate to have been perhaps eating with a family in Senegal one day and then, two or three months later be in South Carolina and have a bell go off that goes, wait a minute, you've tasted this before…the whole idea was to start talking about the connections between the food of Africa, and the food of this hemisphere, and that was the beginning of a tracing of what I call a culinary continuum.”
[2] She adds, “
One of the dishes that you can eat today if you go to Senegal is a dish called thiebou niebe, ain't nothing but Hoppin' John… It's black-eyed peas and rice and throughout the [African] Diaspora some kind of legume, black-eyed pea, gunga [sic. gungo] pea, Congo pea, gandules, what have you, certainly that Gunga, Congo, gandules give us the African sonority that even hints at its name, and rice being eaten for good luck at the holiday season. So we've got all of these things. It's just about playing connect the dots and that's part of what I do as I try to play connect the dots.
”[3]
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Harris uses chilies to demonstrate the “culinary continuum.” Chilies originated in what Harris calls The Chili Belt:
“So many degrees above and so many degrees below the equator…the area in which chilies grow naturally and the area in which they're eaten naturally.”
She explains that
“chilies act as a natural thermostat. They say in Ghana, ‘A good pepper will make you sweat,’ that's what you wanna do if you're hot, 'cause if you don't sweat your body doesn't regulate its temperature.”
[4] She continues, “
Peppers are all new world, before what we food historians call the Columbian Exchange, which is to say before Columbus got here and unleashed the foods from this part of the world to the rest of the world, there were no chilies anywhere else. So there were no chilies in Thai food, there were no chilies in Africa, there were no chilies in Indian food.”
Now
, “we're all eating chilies…Reliable Market [Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts] up the street here--and this is uber-WASP territory--sells jalapenos fresh.”
[5]
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Depiction of enslaved African Americans cooking outdoors
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The particular conditions of colonization and enslavement shaped the culinary continuum. In her interview, Harris added,
“one of the ways that the food of Africa has survived in this hemisphere is in the various ritual meals of the various African religions that survive in the hemisphere be it Vodun, be it Candomble, be it arguably Macumba.”
[6] Furthermore, the survival of those religions was affected by the religion of the colonizer. Harris explains that
“the Caribbean and Brazil were, in many ways, colonized by Roman Catholics who did different things. Most Protestants didn't baptize their slaves because baptizing them would acknowledge them as human beings and that then creates a whole 'nother set of problems, the Roman Catholics baptized, and so you have two different kinds of things going on…the survival of traditional religions, happened in another way in places that were Roman Catholic from the way that it happened in places that were Protestant, and if you start to think about that and look at that, the only place that was largely Roman Catholic, and that in fact was a part of the Caribbean for much of its history, is New Orleans, and in New Orleans we have the food. We don't necessarily have it specific or particular to each Loa or Orisha, but we have a lot of the surviving food in a different kind of way.”
[7]
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In a National Geographic article,
Cornelia Walker Bailey
adds that
“slave owners sent back and got seeds for what the slaves were used to eating, because they weren't used to the food here in America. That meant the slaves could plant for themselves.”
[8] Harris says,
“The bottom line is arguably all of us who are blacks in this hemisphere share that whole notion of enslavement. I always somehow or other end up quoting this which is Nicolas Guillen said, you know, ‘And we will know each other by the fragments of chain in our eyes,’ and I think we do. I mean I think that whole notion of that's what we share. Now the food on the plate and the importance of the food on the plate is very directly related to those fragments of chains.”
[9]
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Harris warns scholars about “[hopping]
over the quilt to get to the kente
,” or overlooking elements of the culinary continuum that connect enslaved Africans and present day African Americans. She says,
“Your grandma wore a quilt, she didn't have kente…the food of the American South and that's a whole 'nother step on the continuum; it's another area, another way, another possibility…That is how it winds and how it wanders.”
[10] Many of the chefs interviewed by The HistoryMakers were inspired by those before them, those that make up the “quilt.”
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HistoryMaker
Leah "Dooky" Chase
was proprietor of the Dooky Chase Restaurant in New Orleans. She describes the restaurant’s gumbo:
“You will go in any creole of color, as we call 'em, the creoles de couleur; in every home, that gumbo will be exactly like what you find here. We use crab, shrimp, veal stew, ham, chicken, two kinds of sausage--all of that is in that gumbo, and they take great pains in making that gumbo.”
[11] She adds that people visit her restaurant
“for what my culture's all about, like stewed okra, string beans, gumbos, beans and rice if you will, or shrimp creole--that kind of thing; they don't look for all the other trendy things, they come here to get a good meal and when they tell you, ‘That's just like my grandma,’ I love it because I know I've done well; if I can cook as good as your grandmother, I have done well.”
[12]
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Chase continues to be an inspiration to Black chefs, including HistoryMaker
Marcus Samuelsson
, who recognized Chase as his hero during his interview:
“She owned a restaurant from the '40s to now--through Katrina, through integration and segregation; being a woman, owning her business, I'm sure a lot of people told Leah it's not possible. If she would listen to any of that, we wouldn't have that, right?”
[13]
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HistoryMaker and chef,
Daryl Shular
, was first inspired to start cooking after observing his family members:
“I've always been fascinated with cooking. I was fascinated watching my mom cook, I was fascinated a few times I was able to go and visit my father watching my stepbrother cook.”
[14] These experiences moved him to enroll in a restaurant class in high school. He remembers:
“I wanted to get into this restaurant class that we had in high school. It was kind of a step up from a typical Home Ec class and I went to the teacher Ms. Hinegarner [ph.] and asked her if I can be in her class. She looked at me and she probably didn't think I was serious but I was like, ‘Really can I be in your class.’ And she was like, ‘You better work hard,’ and I said, ‘I will.’ So she let me in and from that point on it just took off. My passion grew from that moment on and I remember we had a restaurant that we used to serve food to the teachers and I remember my week came up where I had to prepare the meal and it was such a nice meal that she voted my meal the best the whole entire year. And that was one of my most inspiring moments with her and she always encouraged me that I really need to push hard and really, really the work. So I must say she was the one teacher that really stuck out the most for me.”
[15] The high school course was just the beginning. Chef Shular went on to attend The Art Institute of Atlanta, where he now teaches.
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Other chefs learned the rules of the kitchen in less traditional settings. HistoryMaker chef
Jeff Henderson
learned to cook while incarcerated at Nellis Federal Prison Camp. His “chef cook mentor” was Friendly Womack, Jr, the eldest brother of singer Bobby Womack. Henderson remembers:
“He's the one who really, really taught me the fundamentals of cooking…He taught me everything. He taught me how to work the equipment and the steamers, the kettles and the ovens; and how sometimes the ovens cooked at a certain heat temperatures, certain areas of the oven; had to turn and rotate the cornbread and different things like that.”
[16] These lessons carried on once he was released: “
Friendly taught me one of my first signature dishes that I learned was fried chicken…And right today, you can find that fried chicken at my cafe [Cafe Bellagio] at the Bellagio [Bellagio Resort and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada]. And I nicknamed it after him, Friendly fried chicken.”
[17]
Chefs of today are shaped and inspired by their culinary history. Those recipes and techniques, passed down from grandparents, teachers, and friends ensure that the culinary continuum continues to progress. It is important that we also continue to connect to the dots.
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[1] Therese Nelson. "Home,"
blackculinaryhistory.com.
[2] Jessica B. Harris (The HistoryMakers A2004.133), interviewed by Larry Crowe, August 18, 2004, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 6, story 3, Jessica B. Harris talks about her cookbook, 'Iron Pots & Wooden Spoons' and the connection between food and the African Diaspora.
[3] Jessica B. Harris (The HistoryMakers A2004.133), interviewed by Larry Crowe, August 18, 2004, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 6, story 6, Jessica B. Harris describes the influence of the African Diaspora upon North American culture and cuisine.
[4] Jessica B. Harris (The HistoryMakers A2004.133), interviewed by Larry Crowe, August 18, 2004, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 6, story 1, Jessica B. Harris recalls learning about the culinary history of chilies for her first book 'Hot Stuff: A Cookbook in Praise of the Piquant'.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Jessica B. Harris (The HistoryMakers A2004.133), interviewed by Larry Crowe, August 18, 2004, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 6, story 4, Jessica B. Harris talks about her cookbooks 'Sky Juice and Flying Fish' and 'Tasting Brazil'.
[7] Jessica B. Harris (The HistoryMakers A2004.133), interviewed by Larry Crowe, August 18, 2004, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 6, story 5, Jessica B. Harris describes connections between food, religion and culture in the Caribbean and Brazil.
[8] Karen Pinchin. "How Slavery and African Food Traditions Shaped American Cooking,"
National Geographic
. March 1, 2014.
[9] Jessica B. Harris (The HistoryMakers A2004.133), interviewed by Larry Crowe, August 18, 2004, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 7, story 4, Jessica B. Harris reflects upon the symbolism of the table for African American culture.
[10] Jessica B. Harris. Session 1, tape 6, story 6.
[11] Leah "Dooky" Chase (The HistoryMakers A2002.199), interviewed by Larry Crowe, November 15, 2002, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 3, story 6, Leah Chase talks about popular menu items and the hours of operation at Dooky Chase's Restaurant.
[12] Leah "Dooky" Chase (The HistoryMakers A2002.199), interviewed by Larry Crowe, November 15, 2002, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 3, story 4, Leah Chase describes her food and the chef community in New Orleans.
[13] Marcus Samuelsson (The HistoryMakers A2014.166), interviewed by Harriette Cole, July 18, 2014, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 6, story 6, Marcus Samuelsson talks about the history of African American restaurant ownership.
[14] Daryl Shular (The HistoryMakers A2006.109), interviewed by Larry Crowe, October 9, 2006, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 1, story 12, Daryl Shular talks about taking his first cooking class in Auburndale High School.
[15] Ibid.
[16] Jeff Henderson (The HistoryMakers A2007.128), interviewed by Paul Brock, April 7, 2007, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 4, story 4, Jeff Henderson remembers the mentorship of Friendly Womack, Jr.
[17] Ibid.
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Within the last week, three of our HistoryMakers have passed on, but leave behind an impactful and lasting legacy that will surely stand the test of time.
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Civil rights leader
Reverend Joseph Lowery
was 98 years old when he passed away on Friday, March 27th. A native of Huntsville, Alabama, Lowery became an ordained Methodist minister following his graduation from Payne College. As the co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), his legacy is rooted in the fight for Civil Rights. He helped lead the Selma March to Montgomery, co-founded the Black Leadership Forum, preached at the pulpit until 1997, and served as president of SCLC until his retirement in 1998.
When asked about how he would like to be remembered, Lowery replied: "
I would like to be remembered as a preacher who tried his best to apply the moral imperatives and to help people apply the moral imperatives of the faith to the practical problems of our time, that being loving is being a good neighbor, is being a good citizen, is being a good Samaritan to whoever needs your help, irrespective of race, color or creed; that being faithful is, is not letting people make you compromise on principle for what you believe in, in terms of justice and righteousness and parity. I, I'd like to be remembered as a preacher who tried to, to preach that kind of a gospel, and to practice it in his leadership and in his, and in his life. I don't think you can be loving without being just. I don't think you can be faithful without refusing to compromise on your principles regarding justice and morality and equity
."[1]
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Jazz pianist and professor
Ellis Marsalis
was called home on Wednesday, April 1 at age 85. He spent most of his life in New Orleans, and first played clarinet around age eleven. He later started playing piano after his expulsion from the Xavier Junior School of Music, which proved a turning point in his piano career: "
The nun who had been teaching the orchestra and who had been teaching me, she expelled me from the school and she told my mother point blank that the reason why she expelled me was because my mother sent me to an atheist school, Gilbert Academy. So my mother took my sister out of the school and it was that particular situation was like the adage of somebody gives you a lemon you make lemonade. I was able to begin studying piano with the two best piano teachers that I ever had because I was no longer at the Xavier Junior School of Music. Had I stayed there, I wouldn't have been able to do that
."[2] Those beloved teachers were Ms. Geneva Handy and Ms. Jean Coston Maloney, who was also the former teacher of Handy.
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In 1974, Marsalis joined the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts where he worked for the next twelve years training young musicians. Continuing with his passion of teaching, Marsalis briefly taught at Virginia Commonwealth University before joining University of New Orleans where he served as head of Jazz Studies until his retirement in 2001. He founded the ELM Music Company; and, long after his retirement, he continued to play two 75 minutes sets every Friday night at the small club Snug Harbor. Up until his death, Marsalis worked hard to support the dreams of his six sons, for of which are successful musicians as well. With that, Marsalis exits as a legendary musician, dedicated teacher, and loving father.
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Artist and scholar
David Driskell
also passed on Wednesday, April 1 at age 89. Born in Eatonton, Georgia, Driskell spent most of his early life as a passionate student. He attended North Carolina’s public schools, earned his B.A. degree at Howard University and his M.F.A. degree from Catholic University. Driskell also pursued post-graduate studies at the Netherlands Institute for the History of Art, and independent studies in Europe, Africa, and South America. Driskell opened his groundbreaking exhibition, "Two Centuries of Black American Art", at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1976. In 1977, Driskell became cultural advisor to Camille and Bill Cosby and curator of the Cosby Collection of Fine Arts.
During his interview with The HistoryMakers, Driskell reflected on what he hoped for his legacy: "
I think perhaps the larger issue of trying to show that people of all races are endowed with the same creative abilities to rise beyond the narrowness of culture, ethnicity, and race and just be beautiful human beings expressing their creative souls. And I hope that if it hasn't happened through the expression in my own art making that certainly my attempting to define and redefine history as a revisionist, particularly American art history, that it will be revealing there that people will, in years to come, look back and say this was a good thing to have happened, that it was not done in vain
."[3]
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[1] Reverend Dr. Joseph Lowery (The HistoryMakers A2003.185), interviewed by Larry Crowe, August 13, 2003, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 6, story 3, Joseph Lowery considers his legacy.
[2] Ellis Marsalis, Jr. (The HistoryMakers A2010.048), interviewed by Denise Gines, June 10, 2010, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 3, story 5, Ellis Marsalis, Jr. describes his early musical instruction, pt. 1.
[3] David Driskell (The HistoryMakers A2001.022), interviewed by Julieanna L. Richardson, June 23, 2001, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 7, story 6, David Driskell reflects on his mentors and considers his legacy.
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Welcome, Dartmouth College
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The HistoryMakers would like to welcome and thank their newest subscribing institution, Dartmouth College! Dartmouth has been added to the list of sixty nine other subscribing institutions benefiting from full access to
The HistoryMakers Digital Archive
Collection
, including access from home.
Of note, Dartmouth College was one of the first colleges to enroll and graduate a Black student. His name was
Caleb Watts
, and he
was born to an English mother and African American father, but was later classed as a Native American. Raised by his enslaved grandfather, for a long time was never taught to read. However, by age twenty five Watts was a member of the Dartmouth Class of 1775 having studied rhetoric, logic, geography, ethics, and divinity in preparation to be a missionary in the West Indies. He preached for one year, but what came of him after that is unknown. While the enrollment of Black students did not improve for centuries to come, Dartmouth students and faculty now have access to the richness of
The HistoryMakes Digital Archive
.
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“
Living Well Is The Best Revenge.
"
Monroe Anderson
Magazine Editor, Television Producer
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