Black Chefs

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Day 4 - 30 Day Food Blog Challenge - Favorite Chef

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My favorite chef is Marcus Samuelsson.If you don't know the name you may know him from popular food competition shows such as Chopped and Top Chef Masters.He's a brilliant chef and I appreciate him because he's heavily involved in preserving and celebrating black culinary history.It seems like every other culture has food that's proudly celebrated but its seems like black food isn't celebrated as much as Italian or even Mexican food. I feel Marcus is doing a great job representing for us and showing the culinary world the importance and sophistication of black food.I've had the pleasure of eating at Red Rooster which is one of Marcus' restaurants here in Harlem - New York City. Harlem is a historically black neighborhood so I can see the significance of why he chose to open the restaurant there. Once you step into Red Rooster it's like a party. The people are friendly, the bar is lively, there's a band playing live music and the smell of delicious food hits you as soon as you walk in.While I was at the restaurant I had a chance to meet Marcus. I completely fangirled and as you can see from my photo I was really excited to meet him. He was extremely humble. He was even open to suggestions about the food. Which I thought was really thoughtful and just plain real. He made sure he went to every table and checked to see if everyone was happy with the menu and the dishes they ordered.A few years back I started reading his James Beard Foundation award winning memoir titled Yes Chef. It's a great read about his life growing up Ethiopian in Sweden, his family and how his passion for food made him who he is today. I highly recommend it if you like good memoirs or foodie related books.To keep up with Marcus I now follow him on Instagram and you should too!

Black Food H(er)story : Edna Lewis

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It's Black History Month (my favorite time of the year).I decided to write this post about a black woman who made culinary history. A woman who is still being celebrated to this day for her contributions to the food world.The majestic black woman you see above is Edna Lewis.Edna was born in a farm settlement in Orange County Virginia in 1916. Her grandfather was an emancipated slave. I'm sure she learned a lot about food, race, freedom, and culture from her family in Virginia during those years. It's been reported that in Edna's late teen years (18/19) she moved to New York City and worked various jobs until she was finally able to get in the kitchen and develop her passion. People close to Edna said she was very soft spoken but very passionate about educating others on fresh farm grown foods as well as preserving the authentic taste of Southern food. No wonder she was crowned in 1999 as the "Dame of Southern Cooking."Once Edna made it her goal to preserve the authentic tastes of Southern food, she stood strong and made herself known in the food world even when little to no blacks were represented.During her years on this earth she accomplished so much!Edna's story hit home for me because I grew up eating Southern (along with West Indian) food. I was always in the kitchen with my grandmothers while they cooked and I can appreciate the essence and pride of cooking southern cuisine. It's the food of a certain type of prideful people. Edna is aspiring for all black female chefs or any black female in the food industry period.She broke barriers for all of us!ednalewiscookbookEdna Lewis published (4) cookbooks throughout her life time:

She also received multiple James Beard Awards. If you know anything about the culinary world, you know that's a HUGE achievement. In 1995 she received the James Beard Living Legend Award (the first award of its kind) and in 2003 Edna was inducted into the KitchenAid Cook Hall of Fame which is associated with James Beard as well.Her first cook book was published in 1972 but she's still relevant in 2017. Edna's recipes are even being talked about on popular food shows like Top Chef.Edna Lewis was a culinary legend and that should be known to all! She is not the "black Julia Childs", she is EDNA LEWIS -- "The Dame of Southern Cooking"If you would like to know more on the Dame Edna Lewis here are a few links I've come across: