Podcast appearances and mentions of james hemings

In this compelling episode, I sit down with podcaster and writer Deb Freeman to explore the vibrant history and ongoing evolution of Black foodways in America. Together, we dive into stories of pioneering figures like Lena Richard — the first Black woman to host a cooking show in 1949 New Orleans — and Thomas Downing, the "New York Oyster King," who elevated oysters in fine dining while advocating for abolition. We also discuss James Hemings, the first American-trained chef in France who rose from slavery to culinary prominence and currently trending Edna Lewis. Beyond history, the conversation covers how Black food culture continues to inspire America today, from grassroots efforts like how oysters and lobster were for poor people and prisoners, to reflections on Juneteenth — what Deb calls the “most American holiday.” We talk about the celebraton of legends like Edna Lewis who Deb Freeman produced "Finding Edna Lewis".  Tune in for a thoughtful, flavorful journey through history, culture, and the powerful stories behind the food that brings us together.      

In this episode, I discuss America's culinary founding father James Hemings. #treystablepodcasthttps://youtu.be/65ibzdA-I5Y?s...https://youtu.be/NhUYu6u7MWc?s...

In this episode of Fabulously Delicious, The French Food Podcast, host Andrew Prior takes us on an enlightening journey through the rich history of French cuisine, focusing on the lives and legacies of influential French chefs. We begin with James Hemings a slave to an American president who was sent to Paris to learn to cook French food. Lea Bidaut one of the wonderful meres lyonnaise, Marie Antoine Caraeme who made Napoleons wedding cake, Jaen Anthelme Brillat-Savarin a lawyer who became a food writer and the wonderful Julia Child who to many French food lovers is the start of their journey into the love of French food and cooking it. Looking to deepen your culinary journey beyond the podcast? Andrew's latest book, Paris: A Fabulous Food Guide to the World's Most Delicious City, is your passport to gastronomic delights in the City of Lights. Packed with recommendations for boulangeries, patisseries, wine bars, and more, this guide ensures you savor the best of Parisian cuisine. Find Andrew's book Paris: A Fabulous Food Guide to the World's Most Delicious City and explore more at www.andrewpriorfabulously.com. For a signed and gift-packaged copy of the book, visit https://www.andrewpriorfabulously.com/book-paris-a-food-guide-to-the-worlds-most-delicious-city Also available on Amazon and Kindle. For those craving an immersive French food experience, join Andrew in Montmorillon for a hands-on cooking adventure. Stay in his charming townhouse and partake in culinary delights straight from the heart of France. Experience French culinary delights firsthand with Andrew's Vienne residencies. Visit https://www.andrewpriorfabulously.com/come-stay-with-me-vienne-residency for more information. Have your own Meadowsweet recipes or stories to share? Connect with Andrew on Instagram @andrewpriorfabulously or via email contact@andrewpriorfabulously.com for a chance to be featured on the podcast or his blog. Tune in to Fabulously Delicious on the Evergreen Podcast Network for more tantalizing tales of French gastronomy. Remember, whatever you do, do it Fabulously! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last time, we looked at Sally's family background and pre-Paris life. This time, we look at her return to Monticello from Paris, and what happened next. 0:00 Intro 04:55 Sally's story begins 45:47 Ads 1:26:44 Extro The image for this episode is from the multimedia installation The Life of Sally Hemings at Thomas Jefferson's plantation home, Monticello. Learn about the exhibit here. — As mentioned in the intro, here is the link for Ancestry's new resource: Articles of Enslavement on Ancestry And here is more information about (and the recipe for) James Hemings's Mac and Cheese — References: The Hemingses of Monticello by Annette Gordon-Reed The Life of Sally Hemings (Monticello.org) — Vulgar History: Black History podcast playlist on Spotify — Get 15% off all the gorgeous jewellery and accessories at common.era.com/vulgar or go to commonera.com and use code VULGAR at checkout — Get Vulgar History merch at vulgarhistory.com/store (best for US shipping) and vulgarhistory.redbubble.com (better for international shipping) — Support Vulgar History on Patreon  — Vulgar History is an affiliate of Bookshop.org, which means that a small percentage of any books you click through and purchase will come back to Vulgar History as a commission. Use this link to shop there and support Vulgar History. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Museum of History and Culture curator Paige Newman and her team spent months diving into the life and cultural impact of celebrity chef and icon Julia Child. Her mission was to season Julia Child: A Recipe for Life, a national touring exhibit, to a Virginia audience. "At first I was like, what are those? But as you delve in, in the exhibit we have five sections and we call them Virginia  à la carte," Newman said. "My first thought was, of course, James Hemings, Thomas Jefferson's enslaved chef. He had to learn the art of French cookery when Jefferson became Minister of France. And that was my first thought, we have to include James Hemings. Then doing a little more research, I'm like, oh, Julia Child was in Richmond in 1976, promoting her fourth book and she did a demo and a book signing down at Thalheimer's department store. Another was, of course, Patrick O'Connell." Learn more about the Julia Child: A Recipe for Life exhibit here. Before the interview with Paige, Scott and Robey discussed new exciting updates involving past guests Keya Wingfield (2:32) and Brittanny Anderson (3:51). Plus we jump into the Eat It, Virginia mailbag to answer your questions (6:20). This episode is sponsored by the Virginia Museum of History & Culture and its new exhibit Julia Child: A Recipe For Life.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

James Hemings is acknowledged for the introduction of culinary delights such as macaroni and cheese, crème brûlée, meringue, whipped cream, and French fries to America. Remarkably, he holds the distinction of being the first American to undergo professional cooking instruction in France. Despite these considerable feats, he accomplished this while enslaved, as the personal chef to Thomas Jefferson.Audio: Onemichistory.comSecond Channel: Historic Eatshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMP3fc9Zag8y5rHluD_WQogFollow me on Instagram: @onemic_historyFollow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/onemichistoryFollow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OnemichistoryPlease support our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=25697914Buy me a Coffee https://www.buymeacoffee.com/Countryboi2mSources:https://www.monticello.org/research-education/thomas-jefferson-encyclopedia/james-hemings/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hemingshttps://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/james-hemings-1765-1801/Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/one-mic-black-history--4557850/support.

A look at the President's kitchen and some of the first cooks to feed the Founding Fathers—Hercules and James Hemings—the enslaved chefs of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Hercules, described as a “dandy,” had eight assistants—stewards, butlers, undercooks, waiters. He cooked in a huge fireplace—hearth cooking. He walked through the streets of Philadelphia in a velvet waistcoat, with a gold-handled cane. When Washington was getting ready to leave Philadelphia to return to Mt. Vernon, Hercules escaped. Washington sent out search parties and offered rewards. Hercules was never found. In 1784, Thomas Jefferson was appointed minister to France. He took with him his body servant, 19-year-old James Hemings (the brother of Sally Hemings), to master the French style of cooking. Hemings apprenticed with well-known French caterers and pastry chefs and assumed the role of chef de cuisine in Jefferson's kitchen on the Champs-Elysees, earning $48 a year. In 1793, Hemings petitioned Jefferson for his freedom. Jefferson consented upon one condition—he must train someone to take his place. After teaching his brother, Peter Hemings, the cooking techniques he had learned in France and at home, James Hemings became a free man. These stories begin a long connection of presidents and their African American cooks, including the story of Zephyr Wright, President Lyndon Johnson's cook who worked for the family for 27 years. Johnson spoke to Zephyr Wright about the Civil Rights Movement and the March on Washington. She attended the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Johnson gave her a pen he used to sign the document. Featuring interviews with: Jessica Harris, Culinary Historian and author of The Welcome Table: African American Heritage Cooking; Historian Willliam Seale, author of The President's House; Chef Joe Randall, founder of African American Chef's Hall of Fame; William Woys Weaver, food historian and author; Sharron Conrad, African American food historian. Special thanks to the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum and Michael L. Gillette for use of Zephyr Wright's oral history. The Kitchen Sisters Present is produced by The Kitchen Sisters (Davia Nelson & Nikki Silva) and Nathan Dalton and Brandi Howell. Part of Radiotopia from PRX, a curated network of podcasts created and owned by independent producers.

Nothing screams American food like macaroni & cheese. The story behind it is something people get wrong a lot of times. I speak on this story as well as pancakes and a few other foods. Please do your own research and enjoy

You have Chef James Hemings, who cooked for Thomas Jefferson, to thank for the macaroni and cheese on your plate this Thanksgiving. Setting the Table's Deb Freeman tells us how the French dish became so baked into American cuisine. And: Across troubled waters, enslaved people carried benne seeds and grew them in a new land. Chef Amethyst Ganaway is snacking on benne wafers while thickening the Thanksgiving stew. Later in the show: The Lowcountry is always cooking. Chef BJ Dennis says the vast rice plantations of the Lowcountry are visible from outer space. The famed Gullah Geechee chef honors the grain with his smoky tomato purloo.

Hola mi gente, welcome to the  “The Aguacate Chronicles”, I'm your host Giraldo Luis Alvaré. Gracias for listening. Last episode, ceviche, mango salad, pineapple, fish and cornbread provided a fresh and wholesome take to comfort food you can enjoy any time of the day. Aguacate, platanos, arroz, tostones, frijoles negros keep making their point to be recognized as staple dishes. Tienes hambre, you hungry? We got you covered. Up next on the menu we got baked mac and cheese, fried bread, blutwurst (bloot-worst), Vish-e-swaz, pernil, black beans and rice, cooked up rice, roast bake, mangu, queso frito, arroz con leche y pudin de pan. Didn't I mention we have plenty of options? Remember to leave room for dessert.  These delicious foods get highlighted on audio clips featuring Founder and CEO of Black Girl Nerds, Jaime Broadnax; Artist, Painter, and Muralist, Albertus Joseph; Artist, Producer and Educator, Keith Salandy aka K Banger; and Vice President of Audience Strategy at AARP, Yvette Peña  So cojelo con take it easy. There's enough to go around. Buen provecho. Enjoy the show. Don't forget to rate, review, follow, subscribe, like and share. Check out my Linktree for more info. Tune in next week. Aguacate!   Siempre Pa'lante! Always Forward - https://linktr.ee/sp.alwaysforward  CONNECT WITH CO-HOSTRenata Sampaio - Renaissance Woman, IG - https://www.instagram.com/renatabhny/ NOTABLE MENTIONS Aguacate Chronicles, Renata Sampaio, Jamie Broadnax, Black Girl Nerds, Albertus Joseph, Keith Salandy, K Banger, Hip-Hop, Yvette Peña, AARP, Baked Mac and Cheese, Serra da Canastra Cheese, Essence Magazine, James Hemings, Spicy food, Fried Bread, Blutwurst, Blood Sausage, Black Beans and Rice, Arroz con Frijoles Negros, Pernil, Pork Roast of Shoulder, Butt, Leg, Vichyssoise, Soup, Gazpacho, Trinidadian Cooked Up Rice, Peas, Chicken, Roast Bake, Roast Beef, Potatoes, Green Beans, Fried Bake, Mangu, Mashed Plantain, Queso Frito, Fried Eggs, Dominican Salami, DR national breakfast, Arroz con Leche, Rice Pudding, Pudin de pan, Bread Pudding with Amaretto, Arroz con Pollo, Chicken and Rice, Hass, Avocados, Aguacate, Platanos, Maduros, Verde, Plantains, Tostones, Plantain Chips, Ismael Rivera, Maelo, Public Enemy, El Sonero Mayor, Cuba, Brasil, Brazil, Puerto Rico,, El Barrio, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, New Orleans, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Dominican Republic, Afro Latina, Dutch, Cuban, Black, Cherokee, Blackfoot, Indigenous, Latina, Asian, Ancestors ORIGINS, FUN FACTS AND VARIETIES Mac and Cheese https://www.essence.com/culture/macaroni-james-hemings-feature/ https://www.monticello.org/jameshemings/  https://www.africanbites.com/baked-mac-cheese/  Vichyssoise Soup https://www.food.com/recipe/anthony-bourdains-les-halles-vichyssoise-136057  Pernil (Pork Shoulder/Leg) https://www.196flavors.com/puerto-rico-pernil-asado/  Trinidad Pelau with Chicken https://insearchofyummyness.com/trinidad-pelau-chicken-and-pigeon-peas/  Mangu https://mydominicankitchen.com/mangu-dominican-mashed-plantains/  Arroz con Leche (Rice Pudding)https://www.dominicancooking.com/arroz-con-leche-rice-pudding --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/spalwaysforward/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/spalwaysforward/support

Fabulously Delicious, The French Food Podcast, is a delectable journey into the world of French cuisine. In this episode, we are continuing the collab with the French History Podcast with James Hemings recipe for mac and cheese. You can check out more fabulous episodes of The French History podcast via the link below. https://evergreenpodcasts.com/the-french-history-podcast Fabulously Delicious on the esteemed Evergreen Podcast network. Join our host Andrew Prior as they guide you through the captivating world of French cuisine, sharing insider tips, delightful anecdotes, and inspiring stories from renowned chefs and food enthusiasts. Tune in to this episode of Fabulously Delicious, The French Food Podcast, and unravel the secrets of garlic, a cherished ingredient that elevates French cuisine to extraordinary heights. Get ready to embark on a mouthwatering journey that will leave you craving for more! If you are planning a trip to France then why not come join me for a cooking experience in Montmorillon or a small group food tour in Lyon and/or Cote D'Azur. Don't want to do a tour or class but want a fabulous holiday here in France, Paris, Nice, Lyon or so many other places then I can help you plan it. Subscribe to my newsletter for updates on new episodes, cooking in France, travel around the French countryside, and recipes from my fab French kitchen via the link here. http://eepurl.com/hj-zFf  Merci beaucoup and bon app! Website: https://www.andrewpriorfabulously.com  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrewpriorfabulously Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AndrewPriorFabulously  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/andrewprior  Fabulously Delicious Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3TrQ6Qf1C6XprVNaMCrEcm?si=ebddaac057594056&pt=dae0ff3d37c7c9b9afbc20bdb6d25b45  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fabulously Delicious, The French Food Podcast, is a delectable journey into the world of French cuisine. In this episode, we are continuing the collab with the French History POdcast with James Hemings recipe for Snow Eggs or Ile Flottante as they are also known. You can check out more fabulous episodes of The French History podcast via the link below. https://evergreenpodcasts.com/the-french-history-podcast Fabulously Delicious on the esteemed Evergreen Podcast network. Join our host Andrew Prior as they guide you through the captivating world of French cuisine, sharing insider tips, delightful anecdotes, and inspiring stories from renowned chefs and food enthusiasts. Tune in to this episode of Fabulously Delicious, The French Food Podcast, and unravel the secrets of garlic, a cherished ingredient that elevates French cuisine to extraordinary heights. Get ready to embark on a mouthwatering journey that will leave you craving for more! If you are planning a trip to France then why not come join me for a cooking experience in Montmorillon or a small group food tour in Lyon and/or Cote D'Azur. Don't want to do a tour or class but want a fabulous holiday here in France, Paris, Nice, Lyon or so many other places then I can help you plan it. Subscribe to my newsletter for updates on new episodes, cooking in France, travel around the French countryside, and recipes from my fab French kitchen via the link here. http://eepurl.com/hj-zFf  Merci beaucoup and bon app! Website: https://www.andrewpriorfabulously.com  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrewpriorfabulously Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AndrewPriorFabulously  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/andrewprior  Fabulously Delicious Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3TrQ6Qf1C6XprVNaMCrEcm?si=ebddaac057594056&pt=dae0ff3d37c7c9b9afbc20bdb6d25b45  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A collaboration with Fabulously Delicious about how French cuisine came to the United States. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fabulously Delicious, The French Food Podcast, is a delectable journey into the world of French cuisine. In this episode, we have a special treat, we are continuing the collaboration with Gary Girod from the French History Podcast with an episode from me on Fabulously Delicious about Thomas Jeffersons slave and cook James Hemings. James Hemings was the inventor of Mac and Cheese and brought to France many French dishes as he was the first American to be trained as a French chef. You can check out more fabulous episodes of The French History podcast via the link below. https://evergreenpodcasts.com/the-french-history-podcast Fabulously Delicious on the esteemed Evergreen Podcast network. Join our host Andrew Prior as they guide you through the captivating world of French cuisine, sharing insider tips, delightful anecdotes, and inspiring stories from renowned chefs and food enthusiasts. Tune in to this episode of Fabulously Delicious, The French Food Podcast, and unravel the secrets of garlic, a cherished ingredient that elevates French cuisine to extraordinary heights. Get ready to embark on a mouthwatering journey that will leave you craving for more! If you are planning a trip to France then why not come join me for a cooking experience in Montmorillon or a small group food tour in Lyon and/or Cote D'Azur. Don't want to do a tour or class but want a fabulous holiday here in France, Paris, Nice, Lyon or so many other places then I can help you plan it. Subscribe to my newsletter for updates on new episodes, cooking in France, travel around the French countryside, and recipes from my fab French kitchen via the link here. http://eepurl.com/hj-zFf  Merci beaucoup and bon app! Website: https://www.andrewpriorfabulously.com  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrewpriorfabulously Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AndrewPriorFabulously  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/andrewprior  Fabulously Delicious Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3TrQ6Qf1C6XprVNaMCrEcm?si=ebddaac057594056&pt=dae0ff3d37c7c9b9afbc20bdb6d25b45  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fabulously Delicious, The French Food Podcast, is a delectable journey into the world of French cuisine. In this episode, we have a special treat, an episode of The French History Podcast with Gary Girod about Thomas Jefferson in a series about his love of France and French food and his personal valet James Hemings who was the first American to be trained as a French chef. You can check out more fabulous episodes of The French History podcast via the link below. https://evergreenpodcasts.com/the-french-history-podcast Fabulously Delicious on the esteemed Evergreen Podcast network. Join our host Andrew Prior as they guide you through the captivating world of French cuisine, sharing insider tips, delightful anecdotes, and inspiring stories from renowned chefs and food enthusiasts. Tune in to this episode of Fabulously Delicious, The French Food Podcast, and unravel the secrets of garlic, a cherished ingredient that elevates French cuisine to extraordinary heights. Get ready to embark on a mouthwatering journey that will leave you craving for more! If you are planning a trip to France then why not come join me for a cooking experience in Montmorillon or a small group food tour in Lyon and/or Cote D'Azur. Don't want to do a tour or class but want a fabulous holiday here in France, Paris, Nice, Lyon or so many other places then I can help you plan it. Click the link below to book your call now. https://www.buymeacoffee.com/andrewprior/e/123498  Subscribe to my newsletter for updates on new episodes, cooking in France, travel around the French countryside, and recipes from my fab French kitchen via the link here. http://eepurl.com/hj-zFf  Merci beaucoup and bon app! Website: https://www.andrewpriorfabulously.com  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrewpriorfabulously Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AndrewPriorFabulously  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/andrewprior  Fabulously Delicious Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3TrQ6Qf1C6XprVNaMCrEcm?si=ebddaac057594056&pt=dae0ff3d37c7c9b9afbc20bdb6d25b45  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week in honor of July 4th, we're exploring an important part of American history – the contributions of enslaved Black chefs, whose work influences American cuisine to this day. In 1784, Thomas Jefferson brought the enslaved chef James Hemings, brother of Sally Hemings, with him to France to train under the French culinary masters of the day. Hemings created a cuisine that was half French, half Virginian, and brought it back to Jefferson's plantation, Monticello. This week, Dan tours the kitchens at Monticello with three descendants of enslaved Virginians: Michael Twitty, culinary historian and historical interpreter; Niya Bates, public historian of slavery and African American life at Monticello; and Gayle Jessup White, community engagement officer at Monticello.This episode originally aired on October 21, 2019, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Anne Saini, and Ngofeen Mputubwele, with editing by Peter Clowney. The Sporkful production team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Nora Ritchie, and Jared O'Connell.Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

Since 2021, June 19th – or Juneteenth as it's popularly known – has been a federal holiday commemorating the end of enslavement in the United States. On this week's show, we celebrate the day with a trio of African American chefs who discuss the inspiration they draw from their spiritual ancestors. First, we hear from Chef Serigne Mbaye of Dakar NOLA about his plans for a grand Juneteenth feast in honor of the holiday. Next, Chef Ashbell McElveen tells the fascinating story of James Hemings, the enslaved man who was the founding father of American fine dining. And finally, chef and cooking school director Dee Lavigne talks with us about African American chef and entrepreneur Lena Richard, who, by the 1940s, had become the Crescent City's premier caterer, a renowned cookbook author, and the first TV food personality. For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.

Since 2021, June 19th – or Juneteenth as it's popularly known – has been a federal holiday commemorating the end of enslavement in the United States. On this week's show, we celebrate the day with a trio of African American chefs who discuss the inspiration they draw from their spiritual ancestors. First, we hear from Chef Serigne Mbaye of Dakar NOLA about his plans for a grand Juneteenth feast in honor of the holiday. Next, Chef Ashbell McElveen tells the fascinating story of James Hemings, the enslaved man who was the founding father of American fine dining. And finally, chef and cooking school director Dee Lavigne talks with us about African American chef and entrepreneur Lena Richard, who, by the 1940s, had become the Crescent City's premier caterer, a renowned cookbook author, and the first TV food personality. For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.

How do you make Southern baked mac and cheese the Black way? On this episode of The Soul Food Pod, host Shaunda Necole introduces her best friend, Teresa Pooler, as they tell the story of when they were young adults first learning how to cook, on a seemingly never-ending quest looking for the ultimate recipe for Southern baked mac and cheese! Shaunda and Teresa explain how they went from cookouts to church events to potlucks rating the best mac and cheese. Listeners will laugh at their saucy tales and hilarious journey through time to deliver you the ultimate Southern soul food baked mac and cheese recipe! Including a quick lesson down history lane with a thank you to James Hemings, the African American chef who created Southern baked mac and cheese. How do you make Southern mac and cheese from scratch? Southern mac and cheese – the Black way – is made from scratch, with elbow noodles boiled in milk, then prepared with a combination of soul food seasonings like salt, pepper, garlic, onion, ground mustard, paprika, flour, milk, and a mix of cheeses. Commonly used are sharp cheddar cheese, mozzarella, and American cheese, baked until creamy on top and golden brown on the edges! What you'll learn in this episode? Two friends' mission to find the ultimate recipe for soul food baked mac and cheese  Tips for making the perfect macaroni and cheese dish, including the importance of sharp cheddar cheese and the soul food seasonings Learn how to make Southern baked mac and cheese the Black way (Black mac and cheese) James Hemings and the origin of baked mac and cheese Netflix soul food docuseries High On The Hog and the story of baked mac and cheese Southern mac and cheese and its place in African American culture and American food history What to serve with soul food baked mac and cheese Links & resources mentioned in the episode: Southern mac and cheese episode recap: https://thesoulfoodpot.com/thesoulfoodpod-ep-9-southern-mac-and-cheese/ Black folks' soul food baked macaroni and cheese: https://thesoulfoodpot.com/baked-mac-and-cheese/ Episode show notes: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thesoulfoodpot.com/podcast/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Podcast featured recipes: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thesoulfoodpot.com/category/soul-food-podcast/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Privacy policy: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thesoulfoodpot.com/privacy-policy/⁠⁠ --------------- CONNECT with Shaunda Necole & The Soul Food Pot: The Soul Food Pot blog: ⁠⁠https://thesoulfoodpot.com⁠⁠ Follow on Instagram: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/shaundanecole/⁠⁠ Cookbooks: ⁠⁠https://shaundanecoleshop.com/collections/soul-food-cookbooks⁠⁠ Seasoning guides: ⁠⁠https://shaundanecoleshop.com/collections/soul-food-seasoning --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thesoulfoodpod/message

We end this month with a celebration of  heroes and barrier breakers in Black History. From Hercules Posey who was the personal cook of George Washington to James Hemings the first American to master cuisine in France and is considered America's First Chef to the courageous men of The Tuskegee Airmen Program, who battled for equality in the U.S. to fight for their country in World War 2 and went on to become one the most highly regarded fighter squadrons of the War. Tune in as we try to do these pioneers justice for their contributions to our world. 

I want to thank Real Dads Network sponsoring pt.2 of my interview with International Master Chef AshbeIl Mcelveen on the documentary film James Heming: Ghost In The Kitchen available now on Amazon Prime. Create memories to last a lifetime at this event for young ladies with their dads, grandpas, uncles, brothers or special escorts. @RealDadsNetwork are hosting  the 11th Annual Daddy Daughter Dance to treat those special little ladies to a lovely evening to get dressed up, dance, have dinner, talk, laugh, be entertained and share a memorable evening together. The Daddy Daughter Dance is one of their signature events. We have been doing the Daddy Daughter Dance since 2008 and over the years we have directly influenced Chicago, Philadelphia, New Jersey and  Virginia to do dances and indirectly influences several other places to do daddy daughter dance Tickets are $150 per pair/ additional tickets are $50 Go to https://DaddyDaughterDance11.eventbrite.com Alhambra Ballroom 2116 Adam Clayton Powell Jr Blvd, New York, NY 10027 Date:  February 18, 2023 Time:  4PM-8PM

James Hemings innovated mac and cheese and brought vanilla ice cream, crème brûlée and french fries to the United States from Paris in the late 18th century. And while most of us don't know Hemings, we do know his brother-in-law and enslaver, the 3rd president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson. Hemings was an American culinary founding father. He and other enslaved chefs invented fine dining in America. So why haven't they gotten a seat at their own table? To learn more, watch Chef Ashbell McElveen's documentary, ‘James Hemings: Ghost in America's Kitchen', available to stream on Amazon Prime. A Sony Music Entertainment and Somethin' Else production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I want to thank Real Dads Network sponsoring pt.1 of my interview with International Master Chef Ashbell Bell on the documentary film James Heming: Ghost In The Kitchen available now on Amazon Prime. Create memories to last a lifetime at this event for young ladies with their dads, grandpas, uncles, brothers or special escorts. @RealDadsNetwork are hosting  the 11th Annual Daddy Daughter Dance to treat those special little ladies to a lovely evening to get dressed up, dance, have dinner, talk, laugh, be entertained and share a memorable evening together. The Daddy Daughter Dance is one of their signature events. We have been doing the Daddy Daughter Dance since 2008 and over the years we have directly influenced Chicago, Philadelphia, New Jersey and  Virginia to do dances and indirectly influences several other places to do daddy daughter dance Tickets are $125 per pair/ additional tickets are $40 and after December 24th tickets will be $150 per pair  and additional tickets will be $50 Go to https://DaddyDaughterDance11.eventbrite.com Alhambra Ballroom 2116 Adam Clayton Powell Jr Blvd, New York, NY 10027 Date:  February 18, 2023 Time:  4PM-8PM

Description: There is so much about American history that we aren't taught in the American school systems. There is so much that isn't exposed. But this episode of the Be the Bridge Podcast reveals America's culinary founding father, James Hemings. Chef Ashbell McElveen and Visual Storyteller Anthony Werhun discuss their new documentary on Hemings with Latasha Morrison. Their conversation is full of untold stories, rich Black history, and collective lament. This is a reminder of the importance of stewarding history well and reclaiming stories that need to be told. This is an episode you do not want to miss. Quotes: “We want to make sure that we're passing on the correct information to the next generation because stories matter, narratives matter, history matters, who has power matters, who tells the story. It all matters.” -Latasha Morrison “Through the making of this documentary with James Hemings, I discovered that literally enslaved Black cooks and chefs created fine dining in America. So James Hemings literally put fine taste in Thomas Jefferson's mouth, not the reverse. And that's the value of this documentary.” -Chef Ashbell McElveen "James Hemings was a big part of this country's formation. And for some reason, that story has been oppressed for a couple 100 years. It's just this little blurb, but it's much bigger.” -Anthony Werhun Resources Mentioned: James Hemings: Ghost in America's Kitchen documentary on Amazon Prime Video James Hemings: Ghost in America's Kitchen Facebook profile James Hemings: Ghost in America's Kitchen Instagram profile James Hemings: Ghost in America's Kitchen website Shannon LaNier Voices of the Civil Rights Movement Black Culinary History Connect with Chef Ashbell McElveen: His Website Facebook Instagram Connect with Anthony Werhun: His Website Facebook Instagram Connect with Be the Bridge: Our Website Facebook Instagram Host & Executive Producer - Latasha Morrison Senior Producer - Lauren C. Brown Producer, Editor, & Music - Travon Potts Transcriber - Sarah Connatser --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

* James Hemings: Ghost In America's Kitchen. A Conversation with Ashbell McElvee on a new film about Sally Hemings' enslaved kin James * Arts Express Playhouse: Selections from the Grammy nominated opera X: The Life And Times Of Malcolm X

You have Chef James Hemings, who cooked for Thomas Jefferson, to thank for the macaroni and cheese on your plate this Thanksgiving. Setting the Table's Deb Freeman tells us how the French dish became so baked into American cuisine. And: Across troubled waters, enslaved people carried benne seeds and grew them in a new land. Chef Amethyst Ganaway is snacking on benne wafers while thickening the Thanksgiving stew. Plus: The Lowcountry is always cooking. Chef BJ Dennis says the vast rice plantations of the Lowcountry are visible from outer space. The famed Gullah Geechee chef honors the grain with his smoky tomato purloo.

Welcome to The Snack Show with Jami Fallon! Who knew that we could thank Thomas Jefferson and more over, his personal chef (and unfortunately, slave) James Hemings for the delicious perfected and popularized dish of macaroni and cheese? Thank you, James! Today, we spend way to much time talking all things cheese and cheese product. Tune in to hear a list of our faves and our hot takes including - ahem - Jami putting WHAT on her mac 'n cheese?! Listen in to find out! And let's give a shout out to gal pals for being the first pioneers into making cheese! Men were too busy plowing those fields so women were the ones to milk to cows and make the cheese. So, women for president? Also, for the FIRST TIME EVER, we decided to film this podcast into a video format and we will be sharing clips on our instagram so be sure to visit @thesnackshowpod & let us know your thoughts!...on mac 'n cheese, snacks, our video, your favorite memory as a child, whatever you want! All Snackers are welcome. Honorable Mentions: Kraft Mac 'n Cheese Cheeto's Bold and Cheesy Mac 'n Cheese Annie's White Cheddar (gluten free) Velveeta Shells + Cheese (22 ingredients) Kraft Shapes (Frozen, Paw Patrol, Sponge Bob) Kraft Easy Mac Daiya Goodles (Shella Good, Cacio e Pepe, Parmesan, Vegan) Trader Joe's Mac 'n Cheese Wisconsin Cheddar Joe's Diner Mac 'n Cheese (frozen) Horizon Organic Stouffer's Cracker Barrel Mac 'N Cheese Baked Mac 'n Cheese with crackers on top Chick-fil-A Mac 'n Cheese Snack of the Week: Jami: Vanderpump a Paris ratatouille frites Fallon: Peach Bellini Gummy Bears ... Follow us on Instagram & join the conversation! @thesnackshowpod Intro music + jingle by Jordy Searcy! Go check out his new album "Daylight" on Spotify now! ... Anchor: It's everything you need to make a podcast all in one place. Download the free Anchor app or go to Anchor.fm to get started. ... #macaroniandcheese #macncheese #kraft #cheese #thomasjefferson #jameshemings #pasta #snacks #snackattack #thesnackdown #snacktime #snacking #snackideas #snackfaves #snackdebate #junkfood #food #snacksonsnacks #foodpics #foodstagram #foodlove #mofome #eatmoresnacks #teamjami #teamfallon

You might think macaroni and cheese is just a quick and easy meal, or a special dish that comes to the holiday table. But Joy and her co-host Buddy are here to tell you that macaroni and cheese is actually a pair of SUPERHEROES! We'll trace the history of the dish back to ancient Rome, through the Elizabethan Age, and all the way to America by way of James Hemings, an enslaved chef who cooked for Thomas Jefferson at Monticello. The modern history of mac & cheese continues with the invention of powdered cheese. And you'll get a chance to guess the historical order of shelf-stable foods including peanut butter, powdered milk, and instant ramen noodles. Spoons up!

Today's episode is with food writer, producer, and media entrepreneur Stephen Satterfield. Stephen is the host of Netflix's critically acclaimed docuseries “High on the Hog” and the founder of Whetstone, a magazine and media company dedicated to food origins and culture from around the world. In this episode, he shares the importance of food origins as a space for reclamation and what it means to examine who and what's being left out of the story.  We explore Stephen's own origin story–growing up in Atlanta in the '80s–along with topics that range from his start as a young sommelier, the implications of citizens being divorced from food culture, and ultimately how being crushed by a series of life events propelled his career forward; leading him from self-doubt to conviction.  Things to read https://maap.columbia.edu/place/1.html (Oysters originated because of a Black man) http://jameshemingssociety.org/james-hemings/ (James Hemings invented baked Mac and Cheese) https://www.whetstonemagazine.com/store/p/whetstone-magazine-volume-08-digital (Whetstone Magazine, Summer 2021) What to check out https://www.whetstonemagazine.com/magazine (Whetstone Media) https://www.riseandrootfarm.com/karen-washington (Kara Washington )and https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/may/15/food-apartheid-food-deserts-racism-inequality-america-karen-washington-interview (food apartheid) Environmental factors that affect a crop - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terroir (Terroir) Stephen Satterfield became a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sommelier (Sommelier) before his 21st birthday What to listen to Episode mentioned by Dario - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-morality-of-meat/id1475800695?i=1000499228439 (The Morality of Meat) https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/point-of-origin/id1475800695 (Point of Origin) Podcast https://www.whetstonemagazine.com/radio (Whetstone Radio Collective) https://open.spotify.com/track/3lecA86POu0jRaFIubASoT (Outkast - Mainstream (1996)) Who to follow Stephen Satterfield on https://www.instagram.com/isawstephen/?hl=en (IG) This conversation was recorded on March 4th, 2022 Host https://www.instagram.com/dario.studio/ (Dario Calmese)  Producer https://www.instagram.com/carmendharris/ (Carmen D. Harris)   Production Assistant: https://www.instagram.com/holly_woodco/ (Coniqua Johnson ) Visual Art Direction and Designs:  http://riverwildmen.com/ (River Wildmen), https://www.instagram.com/afrovisualism/ (AfroVisualism) Original Music composed by http://www.dariocalmese.com/ (Dario Calmese)  Visit us at https://www.blackimagination.com/oral-history (blackimagination.com )

On this week's episode of History Bites - we're going to talk about the most important chef in American history. The man who introduced Americans to mac and cheese, French fries, crème brulée, and more. Also, that man was a slave. It's time to meet James Hemings. Produced by The Podglomerate.  Support this show by supporting our sponsors: Traeger is the world's #1 selling wood-fired grill, perfected by decades of mastering the craft of wood-fired cooking. From June 11th through June 20th, get a FREE ultimate grill bundle loaded with $150 worth of hardwood pellets, rubs, accessories, & more OR get $100 off when you buy select Traeger grills. Got to Traeger.com. Chobani® is good for great mornings. To vote for the next flavor of Chobani® Coffee Creamer flavor go to ChobaniCoffeeCreamer.com and pick your favorite today. Wild Alaskan Company takes the guess work out of buying wild caught seafood. Visit Wildalaskancompany.com/GED for $15 off your first box. Girl & Dug sends a curated produce kit and recipe card to your door. Get 10% any theme box with code DAN10. *** This show is a part of the Podglomerate network, a company that produces, distributes, and monetizes podcasts. We encourage you to visit the website and sign up for our newsletter for more information about our shows, launches, and events. For more information on how The Podglomerate treats data, please see our Privacy Policy.  Since you're listening to Green Eggs & Dan, we'd like to suggest you also try listening to other Podglomerate comedy podcasts like The History of Standup, We Don't Deserve Dogs, or 2 Girls 1 Podcast.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 79 features painter Ronald Jackson. Growing up in the rural South of the Arkansas Delta, Jackson was the youngest of eleven kids born to a farmer and a community organizer. His Mother and Father left a legacy of challenging and reshaping the norms of the racial status quo in their surrounding home communities. Jackson came from a lineage of black landowners farming in the South. In the mid-sixties, his parents led communities in the organization of multiple boycotts against the establishment of local racial injustices. Despite suffering continual threats, harassments, and organized retaliations, efforts eventually led to a successful lawsuit against their local school district and a subsequent US Court of Appeal's decision, ruling in the favor of forcing the area school districts into full desegregation. Jackson studied Architecture at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo CA before joining the US Army. He served 21 plus years in the Army and retired in 2014. Midway his military career, He began a pursuit of becoming a professional artist. With no access to art school, Jackson engaged himself on a journey of self-disciplines and personal discovery to realize this goal as an artist. The military afforded him the experience of living in places such as South Korea, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Iraq, and Kuwait; He believes that his childhood upbringing and the adult experiences of being immersed into other societies has given him an appreciation and broad perspective on life amidst the complex challenges that we all face. Photo credit: Ian Maddox Artist website https://www.ronaldjacksonartworks.com/ Artnet https://news.artnet.com/art-world/renaissance-noir-at-uta-1885608 The Hollywood reporter https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/lifestyle-news/la-art-galleries-sell-works-benefit-black-lives-matter-movement-1298602/ Galerie Magazine https://www.galeriemagazine.com/arkansas-crystal-bridges-momentary/ Bmore Art https://bmoreart.com/2018/07/black-portraiture-fabric-face-and-form.html KC STUDIO https://kcstudio.org/pulse-nerman-museum-of-contemporary-art/?fbclid=IwAR0A6meEwJJB0e5XQRuHzgeBuCiKV7DbDAgS7-ldV_V7u6OY6gw31gW65ek&fbclid=IwAR0A6meEwJJB0e5XQRuHzgeBuCiKV7DbDAgS7-ldV_V7u6OY6gw31gW65ek Hercules and Old Doll https://farmersanddistillers.com/about/artwork/ronald-jackson/ The Spirit of James Hemings https://www.wearefoundingfarmers.com/artist/ronald-jackson/

Session 65: First Taste (with James M.) Chef James M. joins Aazim and Eric for a conversation covering the culinary arts, the concept of 'character,' and the benefits of finding and focusing on your own specific lane. James also discusses his love of collaboration, his early years in Okinawa, and his apprecation for James Hemings, the enslaved Black chef who helped shape American cuisine. TL;DL: Sorta Like Simba → Many Lifetimes → Meet The Chef → Character x Caricatures → James Hemings → Pita Bread → Earning Stripes → Physical vs. Digital → Find Your Lane → Why Not ?! > Jump by Roy C. (@chefroychoi) >> "Make it national, international, global, however far it goes." - James M. (@jamesscookss) >> "I'm surprised we haven't said 'intentional' this episode." - Eric W. (@ericcwilson) >> "If you're really living, all these chapters do feel like lifetimes." - Aazim J. (@iseelucidly) > Payroll Giovanni & Cardo - "Make It Look Easy" > Uno Hype - "Deywun (feat. Rae Khalil)" > Join the conversation at youfree.earth

Stories of Black pioneers, seekers and entrepreneurs — self-made men and self-taught women, neighborhood heroes and visionaries. People who said "yes we can" and then did, hosted by Alfre Woodard. A man tapes the history of his town with a scavenged cassette recorder, a woman fights for social justice with a pie, a DJ ignites his community with a sound. Stories of Georgia Gilmore and the Club from Nowhere, a Secret Civil Rights Kitchen; of Hercules and of James Hemings, enslaved chefs of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson; of Walkin’ Talkin’ Bill Hawkins, Cleveland’s first black disc jockey; and more. A compilation of stories produced by The Kitchen Sisters (Nikki Silva & Davia Nelson) and Roman Mars, with Nathan Dalton and Brandi Howell. The Kitchen Sisters are proud members of PRX’s Radiotopia network.

From the year 1 AD to famed White House chef James Hemings to Condoleezza Rice, we track the long history of the dish mac n'cheese and how it became a staple in Black households. Darryl shares his own family's recipe and Kelly chews too loudly into the microphone.

The President’s Kitchen Cabinet: The Story of the African Americans Who Have Fed Our First Families, from the Washingtons to the Obamas.By Adrian Miller It doesn’t seem right to release a new cookbook episode this week with our country in crisis. As I’m trying to understand the moment I can’t help but think about the past so I’m re-releasing this episode from December 2017. The President’s Kitchen Cabinet: The Story of the African Americans Who Have Fed Our First Families from the Washingtons to the Obamas.Adrian was nice enough to speak with me yesterday to record a current introduction to this replay. I’m here to listen, I’m here to learn.———————Suzy Chase: Welcome to the Cookery By the Book podcast with me, Suzy Chase.Adrian Miller: My name is Adrian Miller. My latest book is the President's Kitchen Cabinet. The Story Of The African Americans Who Have Fed Our First Families From The Washingtons To The Obamas.Suzy Chase: You wrote when you want a personal connection to our Presidents and First Families and we believe that food, what Presidents like to eat or refuse to eat, what they serve their guests, and what they cook can be a leading indicator of Presidential character. Talk about how savvy Presidents use food to show that they're regular everyday people.Adrian Miller: Yeah, so a lot of Presidents have realized that if they are likable by the American public, it helps advance their political agenda. So I think President Obama is a great example because when he would travel, he would often do impromptu stops at burger joints, rib shacks, he loved drinking beer. That's a very relatable thing for a lot of the American public. You know if he was drinking a lot of wine, I think people would be a little suspicious and think that he was aristocratic. Another President who did this well I thought was Reagan by letting people know that he loved jelly beans. And I think Lyndon Johnson was another good example, his love of Southern food and Southwestern food and he was unabashed about praising Texas chili to the whole world. And then FDR, FDR really loved to be with the people, and there are a lot of pictures of him just eating hotdogs or just other kind of very on the street level kind of foods with other people. It shows that they have the common touch.Suzy Chase: The book kicks off with a list of African Americans by Administration who had a hand in Presidential food preparation. A couple of things that jumped out at me for example was John Adams had one African American staff member. Eisenhower had 15, and Lyndon Johnson had 31. Did the size of the staff say anything about that particular President?Adrian Miller: That is really a function of what was available through my research. So it just so happens that the Eisenhower Administration and the Johnson Administration were very good at keeping records of who worked where in the White House. So the staff is pretty much the same after, for the modern Presidencies in the White House kitchen itself anywhere from five to seven people and typically the staff would be the White House Executive Chef, the Pastry Chef and maybe the pastry chef would have an Assistant Pastry Chef. And then there would be anywhere from three to five additional people who are staff cooks, we call them Assistant Chefs now and they're a lot of cooks on loan from the U.S. Navy who cook in the White House kitchen. And so obviously Presidents that had a long tenure would probably have more cooks working for them. But the early years it's, are a lot of a mystery because there were a couple of fires in the White House over time and a lot of records got destroyed. So it really just depended what I found in secondary sources, in primary sources from the Presidential Libraries.Suzy Chase: Starting off with George Washington, his enslaved family cook was named Hercules. Tell us a little bit about him.Adrian Miller: Yes, so Hercules gets purchased as a young man. He's a teenager. And he was actually a boat ferryman but then he, Washington decided to have him made into a cook. So he starts cooking in the Mount Vernon kitchen and he apprentices under a long time enslaved cook named Old Dog. So he learns to cook and then when Washington becomes President and the Executive Residence moves to Philadelphia, Washington at first hired a white woman named Mrs. Reed to do the cooking, but I guess her food was straight nasty because she didn't even last six months. So he has Hercules come up from Mount Vernon and installs him as the Executive Chef there in the Executive Residence. The only problem was is that Philadelphia had, Pennsylvania, excuse me had something called The Gradual Abolition Act of 1780, which meant that if you were an enslaved person on Pennsylvania soil for six months or longer, you were automatically free. And so what Washington did to get around this is that just about the time the six month deadline would toll, he would pack up all of his enslaved people working for him in Philadelphia and send them back to Mount Vernon, leave them there for a couple weeks and then bring them back to start the clock over again.Suzy Chase: Talk about when Hercules left.Adrian Miller: Yes, so towards the end of Washington's second term. You know he was about to retire fully to Mount Vernon, he suspected that Hercules was trying to escape. And the reason he suspected Hercules is that, Hercules's son Richmond who was an assistant cook in the residence was caught with a bunch of money, and it was thought that would finance an escape attempt. Now when confronted by this by Washington, Hercules was like, "Oh, no I would never do that. I can't even believe you would even accuse me of that." But as punishment, Washington sends him back to Mount Vernon but not to the kitchen, but to the fields where he's doing hard labor. So this world renowned chef is suddenly making bricks, and clearing brush, and clearing crops and all that kind of stuff. So on Washington's 65th birthday Hercules escapes and I think it was very shrewd on his part because he knew there would be a lot of birthday festivities being planned, and so people would be distracted. So it's thought that he first goes to Philadelphia and then he maybe went overseas. And the only clues we have of a possible overseas trip is that there's a painting of Hercules, who is believed to be Hercules, sitting in a museum in Madrid Spain. And the painting is titled, A Cook for George Washington, painted by Gilbert Stuart. And the clothing of the African American in that portrait is the clothing of a European chef at that time, not what an American chef would have worn. But we really just don't know what happens because Washington was a very vindictive person. And Hercules knew the great lengths that Washington would go to, to retrieve enslaved people who had escaped through trickery, force, and other things. So Hercules knew that if he was going to make the mad dash he would have to really just disappear.Suzy Chase: I don't know why but I was surprised to read in your book that Washington had a really bad temper. He looks so mellow in all of his portraits. It's so funny.Adrian Miller: Yes he does. He does. He looks like a serene presence. But yeah, I read that in the work of a noted scholar named Thomas Fleming who wrote a lot about Washington. When I saw those passages about Washington's temper and how he would just have these fits of anger, I was really surprised. But then it made sense given what I've read about how he would go to great lengths to retrieve enslaved people if they had escaped, so it just kind of fit that theme.Suzy Chase: Are there any known descendants of Hercules?Adrian Miller: No. Only because, well let me just back up. I don't know if anybody has attempted to trace the descendants, because we do know that Hercules left behind some kids and a wife at Mount Vernon. But I don't think anybody's ever really tried to identify their descendants in the ways that people have tried to with Thomas Jefferson's enslaved community.Suzy Chase: So moving on from Hercules, African American cooks had to know how to make the best French cuisine. Even Jefferson's enslaved chef James Hemings was trained in classic French cooking. There was no Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking cookbook back then. So who taught James Hemings?Adrian Miller: So it's very interesting when Jefferson becomes Minister to France, this was well before his Presidency, he actually brings a teenaged James Hemings with him over to France and he has him apprentice for three years under several accomplished French cooks and that's how James Hemings gets that knowledge. And then once he's done with his training, which was quite extensive, and we have records of Jefferson kind of bemoaning that fact. He installs Hemings as his chef de cuisine at his Paris residence. Not far from I think, I can't remember if it was on the Champs-Elysées, but either very on there or not too far from it. So but what you see through during the Antebellum Period of U.S. history is that a lot of wealthy white families would actually have their enslaved African American cooks apprentice under French chefs because French food was the food of entertaining. And they knew that if they were going to establish their mark as a great host or hostess they needed to have good cooking. Even though they weren't doing the cooking, they needed to have good cooking was there from their kitchen. And so they would often encumber that expense in order to have their enslaved cooks trained.Suzy Chase: Then Hemings was freed and trained the chefs at Monticello and sadly he committed suicide. So only two of his recipes exist today, is that right?Adrian Miller: Yes so far, and as far I know only two of those recipes exist. There maybe some other recipes in some other places and I know that there's some people trying to find all of his recipes. There's an organization called the James Hemings Foundation, which is trying to collect all of this, but as far as I know there's only a couple of recipes existing in his hand.Suzy Chase: And one's for chocolate cream and the other is for snow eggs. What are snow eggs?Adrian Miller: Yeah so snow eggs is kind of a lost dessert, kind of hard to explain because I'm not a trained chef. I've definitely had other people make it, when I'm hosting people. But it's kind of a meringue type desert, I guess is the best way to describe it. It's very light. Very good. Very elegant. So it just shows the skill of this trained chef to pull off that kind of dessert without the modern equipment that we know of today.Suzy Chase: As an aside, James Hemings was Sally Hemings older brother who had a longtime relationship with Thomas Jefferson and he had six kids with her.Adrian Miller: Yeah, so many believe that the forced sexual relationship with Sally Hemings actually started in France because she came over there as a teenage girl with one of Jefferson's daughters. So many believe that, that started happening then and James Hemings would have been very aware of this while he was there because he was apprenticing and cooking at that time. So just a very troubled time for both of them. The interesting thing is people have wondered why they didn't pursue their freedom because similar to that gradual Abolition Act, that Pennsylvania had passed, when the Hemings were in France. France had something a little similar, although a third party had to intercede on their behalf. And some believe they may have used that fact as leverage from Jefferson to get a salary, and to get certain concessions about keeping the family together and other things. Other historians have written about this, but yeah so all of that is in the mix while Hemings is working for Jefferson.Suzy Chase: Do you think Jefferson was the first President who influenced American cuisine especially with the wealthy households?Adrian Miller: I'm not sure about that. I think Jefferson maybe gets more credit than he deserves for some of these things. I mean, he certainly was a foodie, but George Washington was a foodie as well. And people would try to emulate what they served on their tables, but you don't see a lot of records of what Washington served necessarily and you see more about Jefferson. And I think part of it is because some of Jefferson's enemies wanted to highlight the fact that he loved French food. And again it goes back to what we were talking about earlier about trying to cast the President as being maybe aristocratic and not having the common touch. But he certainly loved mac and cheese. He served it in the White House. He was an avid gardener and many would say that towards the end of his life he was really primarily on a vegetarian diet. And had meat more sparingly than anything. So don't have a great answer for that question, but I know that people were paying attention to his table.Suzy Chase: Last Friday as you saw in my Instagram, I made the Baked Macaroni with Cheese recipe on page 90. Now was that James Heming's recipe?Adrian Miller: It likely was something that James Hemings made because we see some elements of French cuisine in that recipe, so I, we don't prescribe it directly to him but I'm almost certain that, that's something he would have made. And I lean on the recipe from Damon Lee Fowler in his book, Dining at Monticello. That's where I got that recipe from.Suzy Chase: It was really bland.Adrian Miller: In fact, the first noted record we have of someone eating Thomas Jefferson's macaroni and cheese recipe, the guy wasn't feeling it either. His name was Representative Manasseh Cutler, he was a Congressman from Massachusetts. And he was a diarist and when he first tasted it he said it was ... He didn't say bland, but he said it was strong and disagreeable.Suzy Chase: Yes, disagreeable.Adrian Miller: I just had to play it straight history. I just had to give people a feel of what the food was like that these people were eating. It was-Suzy Chase: No, I was-Adrian Miller: ... not the goopy mess that we love today.Suzy Chase: I was really excited to make it.Adrian Miller: I understand. I understand.Suzy Chase: So Lincoln's favorite dish was cabbage and potatoes made by Mary Dines. Tell us about her.Adrian Miller: Yeah, she's a fascinating figure who I actually did not know much about before I dove into the research for this book. So she was a formerly enslaved person who was living in a contraband camp either on the board, in D.C., or quite near it. And so Lincoln went off and passed by this contraband camp as he was traveling to the Old Soldiers' Home where he would take a break from the White House. And while at that home, while in the camp, he heard Mary Dines singing spirituals, and was very moved by the music. And I guess somehow they got to talking or connection was made and he invited her to cook for him while he was staying at the Old Soldiers' Home. So she takes up residence there and she cooks for him, and then eventually she actually gets invited to cook in the White House for certain occasions. So her story was very interesting how she emerged from slavery and was trying to make her own stake in the world and she makes this connection to Lincoln.Suzy Chase: One fascinating tidbit in this book is after the Emancipation Presidents were increasingly dependent on their black cooks for advice on things such as race relations. Tell us a little bit about that.Adrian Miller: So once we emerge from Emancipation, it was a time when Republicans were pretty dominant on the political scene. And a lot of African Americans joined the Republican Party because they just felt they were more committed to their civil rights, and economic advancement, and social progress. So the African Americans become an important constituency. So we see Presidents actually taking the time to pay attention to that constituency. Now sometimes, I should say a lot of the times it was lip service, but we start to see Presidents do things that we may not have noticed before and so advisors start to emerge, and probably the most famous is Frederick Douglass. But there were people like James Wormley and others who whenever they could got the President's ear and tried to press for more advancement for African American people. Now because of the code of silence that surrounds the Presidency especially with the people who work for them, we don't have a lot of accounts of these things, but every once in a while we'll get a memoir, or some newspaper reference, or something about an African American trying to make the case for advancing the status of African Americans in the country.Suzy Chase: As a carryover employee from James Buchanan's Presidency Cornelia Mitchell was the first Presidential cook to run the White House kitchen in post-emancipation America.Adrian Miller: Sometimes the status of the White house cook does not depend wholly on the political fortunes of who they're working for. We often see that the cooks may last for several administrations. And so Cornelia Mitchell was definitely somebody who was adept at making those homemade dishes that Lincoln liked. We don't have a lot of information about what President Buchanan particularly liked, but he, evidently she was good enough for him to recommend her to Lincoln. And so the interesting thing about President Lincoln is, if you look at accounts of meals during his Presidency a lot of the formal public meals were quite elaborate, but when you hear about his private dining Lincoln ate very sparingly. He often picked at his food. Often people surrounding him who loved him had to force him to eat something to sustain his strength. I think that's just the weight of what was going on in our country weighing on him. But those times that he was happy with food it was often the food that invoked his childhood and those simple dishes like cabbage, and corn, and potatoes, and ham, and things like that. I guess he was a big fan of lemon pie as well.Suzy Chase: That's interesting because he was from Illinois right?Adrian Miller: Yes.Suzy Chase: The most celebrated African American Presidential cook of the latter 19th century was Laura Dolly Johnson. Describe her.Adrian Miller: Yeah, so she is what I would call a reluctant White House cook. So she comes on the scene because a young Theodore Roosevelt was traveling in Kentucky and he actually has dinner with a Kentucky Colonial, a guy named John Mason Brown. And Dolly Johnson was Brown's cook, and Roosevelt was so impressed with that meal that when Benjamin Harrison becomes President he actually recommends Dolly Johnson to Harrison. And Harrison reaches out or has some of his people reach out to Johnson and she just says look, "I don't want to cook in the White House. I just want to leave my private cooking job with the Colonial and start a catering business." But there was a lot of arm twisting and eventually she accepts the position. The only problem was that there was a French woman already cooking at the White House as the Head Chef and her name was Madame Petronard. And when she saw the headlines of Dolly Johnson getting hired she actually had a very American response. First she starts bad mouthing the Harrison's food habits, chief among their sins was eating pie for breakfast. And then she filed a lawsuit, this is the first example we know of, of a White House employee actually suing the President.Suzy Chase: Oh, wow.Adrian Miller: Everything got ... Yeah. I haven't been able to find out how everything shook out, but obviously it was resolved because it never went to court. But she leaves, Dolly Johnson gets installed as the cook but she only stays there for about six months because her daughter is sick, so she returns back to Lexington Kentucky to care for her daughter. But then when Grover Cleveland becomes President, which was four years later, he actually begs her to come cook in the White house kitchen and she accepts and ends up cooking there. She's one of the few examples we have of an African American White House cook trading on their notoriety after they leave the White House. In my book I show a newspaper ad of the restaurant that she ran in Lexington. And the last we really hear of her in any major sense is that when Alice Roosevelt married Nicholas Longworth, and Alice Roosevelt was the daughter of Theodore Roosevelt, we have Dolly Johnson sending her a pecan pie. I'm sorry, a Pecan cake, which evidently Alice Longworth really loved and that's the last we hear of her.Suzy Chase: In the book there's a photo of Dolly Johnson in the White House kitchen and it looked so dark, and I read that the critters were hard to keep out of the kitchen too.Adrian Miller: Yeah, I don't know if you've heard the recent reports that the White House is overrun with mice and other things. But you know the White House was built on a reclaimed swamp. So having critters around and keeping them out is a full time job. But at that time it was just so bad that Caroline Harrison actually started a campaign to have the White House physically moved to another part of D.C. She just could not deal with it. But yeah, it is a dark looking picture. That's the earliest picture we have of the White House kitchen and interestingly enough, the White House kitchen was moved to that spot by Mary Todd Lincoln in order to get more light into the kitchen.Suzy Chase: Yeah I was happy to see there was a window or two.Adrian Miller: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yeah, when you look at the ... There must have been remodeling or something because when you look at the White House kitchen by the time of Theodore Roosevelt it seems very well lit, by that time. But even today, when you go to the White House kitchen it's pretty much, there's no widows around really in the current one, so thankfully there's electricity to light the way.Suzy Chase: So Daisy Bonner and Lizzie McDuffie loved Franklin Delano Roosevelt and he loved them. What made them a special team?Adrian Miller: I think part of it is that they really cared about the food they were serving to him and they took pride in it, which is not the case back at the White House, at least for some of the culinary team. So First Ladies were usually the ones that took charge of the food service for the President, planning menus just making sure everything was right. Making sure all the dietary restrictions were met and so on. But Eleanor Roosevelt was fundamentally uninterested in food. She was a very cerebral person. She wanted to be in policy and out there advocating for things, so she delegated the food preparation and all of that to a woman named Henrietta Nesbitt who is somebody that she met while Roosevelt was Governor of New York. And they were in the League of Women Voters together, and she just admired Nesbitt's pluck in running a bakery while her husband was unemployed. So she gets involved but evidently Nesbitt wasn't the greatest cook, and even though there was a team of African American cooks preparing the President's food, Nesbitt would come and stand behind them and correct what they did and essentially just messed up the food they were getting. So Roosevelt was pretty miserable when it came to the cuisine he ate in the White House and he would often loudly complain about it. And I think rationing had an effect on what kind of food he got as well. So when he went to Warm Springs Georgia, Daisy Bonner and Lizzie McDuffie would make sure he would get the finest Southern food and really tasty stuff, so I think he really looked forward to it. And so often he was on a diet and was prescribed certain things to eat, so Lizzie McDuffie and Daisy Bonner would make those prescribed dishes and they would look at the President and if they felt he looked peaked as they called it they would as they were serving him the prescribed dish, they would just whisper in his ear, "Don't eat that." And he would act like he wasn't hungry and would just pick at his food. And when everybody would cleared out they'd take him back to the kitchen to hook him up with what he really wanted.Suzy Chase: Pigs feet?Adrian Miller: He loved pig's feet. Yes, he loved pig's feet. And he loved the way that Daisy Bonner made them, which was she would broil, split them, broil them, butter them.Suzy Chase: Oh, my God.Adrian Miller: And he actually ... I know. He actually loved them so much that he served sweet and sour pig's feet to Winston Churchill in the White House. Churchill was not feeling the pig's feet.Suzy Chase: How did he describe them?Adrian Miller: When FDR asked him about it, he said, "They're kind of slimy, and they have an interesting texture." And then FDR said," Oh, okay. Well next time we'll have them fried." And then I guess Churchill's face just said it all. He just said, "I just don't think I'd want them fried."Suzy Chase: Yeah, I'll bet.Adrian Miller: And they started laughing. They started laughing.Suzy Chase: Is it true that President Eisenhower liked to help make his beef stew?Adrian Miller: Oh yeah, Eisenhower was probably the cook, the President who loved to cook the most. So he had this favorite beef stew that he made, it had a lot of vegetables in it. And he was quite famous for this stew. In fact, during the 1956 election the Republican National Committee released a bunch of recipe cards of this stew. And they encouraged housewives to have stew suppers across the country where they would essentially make the stew and invite their neighbors over and talk about Eisenhower, which I think is kind of brilliant. But he made this stew and he was also known for grilling. In fact, he had a grill installed on the roof top of the White House. So imagine you're walking down 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and you see smoke coming out of the White House? Well it's the President up there grilling.Suzy Chase: Just an average day.Adrian Miller: Yes.Suzy Chase: Do you think Ike and Mamie advanced civil rights during their Administration?Adrian Miller: To some extent because the Civil Rights Movement was really gaining momentum during the Presidency. We remember the Little Rock nine, the bus boycott in Montgomery Alabama. There was a lot of significant events happening. Now of course, it was never enough for a lot of people, but there were some things of progress made. And Eisenhower was really the first President to have an African American in his cabinet. A guy named Victor Morrow who worked there. So there was some slight gains, and I think it set the stage for the 60's. But I don't, of course I don't think there was enough because I wanted African Americans full participation in society and they didn't really see a major step for them until the 1960's, but there's been more and more debate about what Eisenhower did during those times to help advance civil rights. And there are quite a few scholars who say that Eisenhower should maybe get more credit for what he did in those times, again under those circumstances.Suzy Chase: LBJ was the last President to bring a lifetime African American personal cook to serve on the White House kitchen staff, and her name was Zephyr Black Wright. What an interesting figure she was.Adrian Miller: Yeah Zephyr Wright is probably the most fascinating person that I encountered during my research. And she's the one person, if I could just pick one person to have dinner with, I think it would be her because of her point in history, and her personality just comes through and I just think it would be fun to talk to her. I could just see us laughing and sharing a lot of Southern food. But she was a longtime cook for the Johnson's, they hired her in the early 1940's and bring her to Washington. And many attribute her cooking to the reason why Johnson was able to rise rapidly in Congress. So I'm about to tell you something that's gonna sound like a fairy tale. But back in the '40's and '50's, members of Congress would have each over at their house for dinner.Suzy Chase: No.Adrian Miller: And they would be collegial, yeah they would be collegial.Suzy Chase: And talk?Adrian Miller: Yeah,Suzy Chase: Wow, that's shocking.Adrian Miller: I know. And so very few people turned down an invitation to the Johnson's because they knew they were going to get Zephyr Wright, Zephyr Wright's food. But she's also in a way a civil right's advocate besides being a great cook. In addition to being a great cook, because during the drives back and forth from the ranch in Central Texas where the Johnsons lived to D.C. they would drive through this integrated South and Zephyr Wright suffered so many indignities that she eventually refused to make the trip. And so she would just stay in D.C. year round. So when Johnson becomes President and he's advocating for the 1964 Civil Rights Act, he actually used Zephyr Wright's Jim Crow experiences to persuade members of Congress to support the legislation and when he signed it into law, he gave her one of the pens and said, "You deserve this as much as anyone else."Suzy Chase: It was interesting to read that while the job was taking a toll on her health, she still had to make low fat meals.Adrian Miller: So as a Senator, Lyndon Johnson had a pretty massive heart attack and so he was on a forced diet. He didn't stick with the diet all the time. But Zephyr Wright was really in charge of keeping him happy and healthy, but making delectable food. And there's one funny exchange where she wrote a note to the President basically saying that you're going to eat what I put in front of you and you're not going to complain. And Johnson happily carried that note around and would show it to people just to prove that he wasn't becoming too arrogant because his cook was talking to him like that. But she says towards the end of her career in the White House she said that she was thinking about writing a low fat cook book, but it never comes to fruition and I just thought that would have been amazing. That time was in the late '50s to write a low fat cook book, that would have been awesome. But it just never happened.Suzy Chase: Tell us how Jackie O changed the cuisine in the White House.Adrian Miller: By the time Jacqueline Kennedy gets to the White House in 1961, she was not impressed with White House food. And she wanted it to become more elegant to take on a more French accent. So she fired the Filipino cook who was working there during the Eisenhower Administration, a guy named Pedro Udo who was essentially a military cook, I believe. And she hires René Verdon a French chef, she christened the head cook position White House Executive Chef, because before that it was just head cook, first cook, White House cook, they didn't say Executive Chef. And so menus started being appearing in French and other things. So there was push back on the French menus, so they eventually were Fonglay a mix of French and English and then eventually all English. But it takes a different turn, and so by emphasizing European cooking by European trained chefs, Jackie Kennedy I not, I wouldn't say intentionally, but undercuts the presence of African Americans in the White House kitchen because they don't have that training. And I don't think it was racism, I think it's just more about elitism than anything and just preferred tastes. But we see the presence of African Americans wane from that point in the kitchen, to the point now where there are few African Americans in the White House kitchen as assistant chefs. But there has not been an Executive Chef except for a short time when Zephyr Wright runs the White House kitchen in between hiring a different Executive Chef. We just haven't had one since.Suzy Chase: So in closing can you briefly describe the cuisines of the Bush's, Clinton's and Obama's?Adrian Miller: So I would call the Clinton's, well also let's start with George W Bush. In the public sphere it was French cooking and it was kind of almost rote French cooking. There was actually articles saying, "Hey, can we have something different for these state dinners?" It was like the same old French dishes. But the Bush's cooking, George H.W. Bush I would say was more of a New England feel. You know the Kennebunkport Maine, if I'm pronouncing that correctly.Suzy Chase: Yeah.Adrian Miller: Let's just say with George H.W. Bush, it was more the cooking of Maine and New England, with some maybe Texas accents here and there. With the Clinton's you've got a mix of Southern food as maybe the foundational cuisine, but Hillary Clinton did a lot to celebrate American regional cooking. And I think the cooking that there's to this day is really a reflection of what she did to move White House cooking in the food persona from French to more American. And then when we get to the George W. Bush definitely Texas was celebrated in the food served in the White House. But still just continuing the celebration of American regional cuisine. And then we definitely see that with the Obama's, especially in the State Dinners. A lot of the approach was to celebrate American Regional foods, but to have a shout-out to the host, the visiting country, you know have a shout-out to the favorite profiles that they were used to in maybe the side dishes or other things. And then in the current White House we don't get a lot of information about what's being served, but I would assume it's a fairly a continuation of what was in the Obama White House only because the White House Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford still works as the Executive Chef under the Trump Administration, and she's been cooking there since the George, the second term of George W. Bush.Suzy Chase: One final thing I'm dying to know and I hope you know the answer. Okay, so you know when Presidents go out to dinner at a restaurant, is there really a guy who tastes everything before it is sent out to him?Adrian Miller: There is a trained chef on the Secret Service who actually observes everything that is being prepared for the President, to make sure that it's not poisoned and that it's safe. So there's somebody watching the food being prepared. And so the chef is usually the last person to taste the food before it actually goes to the President.Suzy Chase: That's scary.Adrian Miller: Yeah, you know you hear about elimination challenges on TV, but to me that's an elimination challenge.Suzy Chase: That's the ultimate elimination challenge.Adrian Miller: Yeah, to have an armed Secret Service person watching everything you do.Suzy Chase: Where can we find you on the web?Adrian Miller: So my, I have a Facebook fanpage called The Soul Food Scholar and then conveniently my Twitter handle and Instagram handle are At Soul Food Scholar and then I have my own website SoulFoodScholar.com So I try to make it easy for people. Now in terms of the President book I do have a separate website for that which is blackchefswhitehouse.com.Suzy Chase: Everyone needs to give this book as a gift this holiday season and I hope, hope, hope, that you win the NAACP image award for this very important book. Thank you so much Adrian for coming on Cookery by the Book podcast.Adrian Miller: Thank you.Suzy Chase: Follow me on Instagram at Cookery by the Book, Twitter's I am Suzy Chase. And download your kitchen mix tapes music to cook by on Spotify at Cookery by the Book and as always subscribe in Apple Podcasts.

Food stories prove that nothing means anything! Fellow podcaster Hadley Meares tells us about Los Angeles history versus Hollywood history then we move on to the nonsense of a “classic” culinary education. Plus, that horrible man, Thomas Jefferson, who did a lot of bad things and not much that was good. His brother-in-law James Hemings was very talented, though. This episode brought to you by Lobster Gram. Go to https://www.lobstergram.com/smartmouth & use promocode SMARTMOUTHHOLIDAY to take 20% off all products. Please subscribe to this podcast in iTunes or any podcast app so you never miss an episode! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/smart-mouth/id1171755407 Sources: https://amzn.to/2LKlteW https://amzn.to/2YJAB1G https://www.saveur.com/article/Kitchen/Creme-Brulee-Origins/ https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1984/07/18/071757.html?pageNumber=49 https://newsletter.lib.utah.edu/book-of-the-week-le-nouveau-cuisinier-royal-et-bourgeois/

On this episode, the dishes go Leslie Knope talking about how Waffles built America, and how Thomas Jefferson owes a lot to a slave named James Hemings. Kate and Aimee continue to not shut up about Hamilton and Melissa laments how not funny this episode is.  Break audio - "It's almost breakfast" from Portlandia Season 8 Outro music - "What'd I Miss" from Hamilton. Performed by Daveed Diggs.

In this episode, we discuss National Ice Cream Day and America’s long love affair with ice cream. To learn more about Thomas Jefferson’s ice cream recipe, brought back from France by his slave chef, James Hemings, click here.

We continue our story of the Founding Fathers and food by taking a deep dive into America’s third President’s very expensive, very European food and drink habits. We discuss Thomas Jefferson’s crazy party-planning skills/booze-purchasing habits. More importantly, we trace the origin story of one of America’s first chefs, James Hemings (brother of Sally) and this … Continue reading Hot Takes and Hot Cakes: The James Hemings Story

Sweet Potato Soul100 Easy Vegan Recipes for the Southern Flavors of Smoke, Sugar, Spice and SoulBy Jenné Claiborne Suzy Chase: Welcome to Cookery by the Book podcast with me, Suzy Chase.Jenné: I'm Jenné Claiborne, and my cookbook is Sweet Potato Soul.Suzy Chase: I'm not even going to ask you the obvious first question, if it's difficult to be a vegan from the south, but I did want to kick things off by asking you about cooking on your own when you were in elementary school. I thought that was so interesting.Jenné: Yeah, well, my mom didn't like to cook, so she got me some cookbooks. I found the recipes that I liked and got started, and it was great for me. I loved it, and my mom, it was good for her, too, because she got to eat well. We didn't have to eat out at restaurants all the time.Suzy Chase: What was the favorite thing you made when you were little?Jenné: It was Szechuan chicken, so long before being vegan, Szechuan chicken, and I loved it, because it had all these different ingredients that, to me, seemed so exotic. We had to go to the specialty grocery store. We went to the Asian grocery store to buy everything, so it was a lot of fun. All the measuring out, a little bit of this, and a little bit of that, and using the wok and making the sauce, and it was just so fun. And really, that was the only recipe that I can even remember making. I don't remember making anything else. That might be the only thing I was into.Suzy Chase: So, my mom passed away a few years ago, and one thing I long for is sitting at our kitchen table talking while she cooks. That, to me, is home. Talk about when your love of food and comfort in the kitchen began.Jenné: Like I said, my mom, she's not a big cook. However, my grandmother is, and so is my dad. So, I have those memories and those moments with those two where they're cooking, and we're sitting having a conversation, prep, and cooking, maybe I'm not. Maybe I'm just watching. So, when I was really little, my first exposure to being in the kitchen was when my grandmother moved down to Georgia and we all lived together. She was the main cook in the house, and just I was always in the kitchen with her, always helping her. Or she would give me little side projects to mix things, or even if it wasn't side projects, she would just let me do my own thing on the side, so I could say, "Oh, I'm gonna mix this flour with this baking powder, with this sugar, with this whatever."Jenné: It would never be edible, ever, but she always let me be creative and let me get my hands dirty and be in the kitchen with her, and the same with my dad. It's funny. My dad actually was raised vegan, and he grew up eating vegan. He was in his 20s when he met my mom. He always blames it on my mom, the fall, he says.Suzy Chase: The fall.Jenné: He's back now, but it took a while. So, the type of cuisine that my dad was making is all plant based, so I learned how to cook that way from him, and I remember hearing stories about ... It was foreign to me eating so many vegetables and tofu and things like that, but he would tell me stories about what he was cooking and about the ingredients, like tumeric, and, "This is the tofu, and this is when I used to work at the vegan restaurant. We would make this ice cream using this."Jenné: So, I've always been surrounded by food and by stories in the kitchen.Suzy Chase: What is your soul food philosophy?Jenné: My soul food philosophy is that any type of food can be soul food. However, being a black person from the south and just from the United States, it's definitely the traditional foods as well, the candied yams and mac and cheese and all those things, collard greens. So, that's the base point. Those are the celebratory foods, the things that when I think of my family, those are the foods I really want to eat the most. However, my grandmother, when I was a kid and still now, she always said that you put soul into everything you're cooking, and I started noticing that even though we weren't eating the stereotypical celebratory soul foods every single day, we were eating homemade foods. We were eating lots of fruits and vegetables and grains and beans, and she was preparing it all in that same style with the same essence. So, soul food to me isn't just the cannon. It's everything that you make with soul and love and all those things.Suzy Chase: In Sweet Potato Soul, the cookbook, you explore the history of southern food. Now, what's the difference between soul food and southern food?Jenné: Well, southern food is a regional blanket statement. So, I would think of southern food as encompassing soul food, and encompassing creole and Asian food, but soul food, specifically, is the foods that black people invented from our circumstances living in the south as enslaved individuals, a lot of us. That food was very much influenced by European cuisines, African cuisines, Native American cuisines. Yeah, I mean it all has come from that, but the difference is really that it was created by black people in the south, and so you'll see if you're in the south, everybody eats collared greens. Everybody eats mac and cheese. Everybody eats a lot of these foods, but there's a certain way that it's made when it's soul food or when a black person makes it.Jenné: I don't know if there's an actual thing, like a big difference that you could pinpoint if you did a blind taste test, but certainly the person who's making it would tell you otherwise.Suzy Chase: I didn't realize the term soul food became popular in the 60s.Jenné: Mm-hmm (affirmative)- Me, too, until I started researching, which is another thing that I think is interesting, and I like, because now, 21st century, 2018, I look back at how this term is fairly new, but this cuisine has been around for hundreds of year, but the cuisine has been changing over and over throughout all these years, and now it continues to change. I think part of the fact that the term is so new, it makes me feel like there's even more freedom for change and metamorphosis. This is a very ... It's not the type of cuisine that has to be set in stone and the same all the time.Jenné: Even for me, when I'm thinking about soul food, I don't think of being vegan and making vegan soul food as something totally new and different and exotic. I think of it as going back to the roots, right? So, our ancestors ate far more plant based diet than we do today, and even my grandmother, who is still around today, ate a more plant based diet when she was my age or really younger than me, actually and so did her grandparents and her parents and such.Jenné: So, I think of soul food now as just going back to its plant based roots and reclaiming that the 60s and the 50s were a time when soul food was starting to become more fried and more heavy and more industrialized, relying more on packaged foods to prepare the soul food. Before it was just all homemade everything, and then, of course, the industrialization of the food system in the 50s had changed all American food, including soul food. So, now, we're just taking it back to pre-term soul food.Suzy Chase: So, describe how many things, other than food choices, shifted in your life after you became vegan.Jenné: I see. Okay, so after I became vegan, the food was obviously the main first thing that shifted, and I've always loved food, so it was really east for me to shift that, because I was in the kitchen. I was experimenting more. It was like a new adventure for me, and all I wanted to do was cook. All I wanted to do was grocery shop. We'd be at the farmer's market and buying new recipe books and things like that. But, a couple, I wouldn't say it really happened right away, but eventually, within the next year or so of being vegan, it started shifting my other consumer choices.Jenné: So, the clothing I was buying, I no longer bought clothing made with animal products, leather and wool and things like that. I have since started buying ... Actually, I've since buying all fast fashion, so I'm a lot more mindful of making sure to buy thrifted clothes, and I'm just a bit more eco-friendly. And of course, a lot of the reason people go vegan is for health reason, and for me, within a couple of weeks of being vegan, I noticed the health differences.Jenné: And before I was vegan, I was vegetarian. I thought I was very healthy. I realized I wasn't very healthy, because I think I just got used to my face line being whatever. And once I became vegan, I felt so much better. I didn't even realize that I wasn't feeling that great before. So, that happened almost immediately. That wasn't my main reason for becoming vegan, but it certainly, once I started feeling that shift so early on, I realized, "Okay, this is worth changing my lifestyle for."Suzy Chase: So, what kind of shift did you feel? Did you have more energy? Did you sleep better?Jenné: Those things for sure, but the thing was I have always, not any more, but I had always had digestive issues. From as early as I can remember, I was in the doctor on different medications, gastroenterologists. My parents were always trying to figure out what is going on with my gut. We knew that I was very sensitive to dairy, so I didn't eat things like pizza. I did eat some pizza, but very little cheese. I didn't eat ice cream. Dairy sneaks in everything.Jenné: So, basically, without knowing it until I became 100% vegan, I had just been suffering from dairy my whole life. Like I said, in and out of the doctor, all sorts of digestive issues, and everything, and that was influencing all areas of my life. I was more moody when my stomach was not feeling well. I had less energy. I couldn't sleep as well. I didn't feel my optimal self, but I got to a point where I thought, "Well, this is just my stomach. I'm just faulty. I can't do anything about this. Oh well."Jenné: And I got to that point a few years even before becoming vegan. It wasn't until I became vegan that I realized that it was really the dairy, because by the time I became vegan, all that I had left to cut out of my diet was I was eating yogurt, and occasionally, I'd have a slice of pizza, but I was hardly eating any at all. My skin cleared up after that. Of course, I had more energy after that. My whole outlook on life changed, because I wasn't uncomfortable all the time any more.Suzy Chase: One food that's listed in your southern pantry staples section is peanuts, the overlooked peanut, which I happen to love. Talk a little bit about George Washington Carver's vegan recipes in the 1900s made out of peanuts.Jenné: So, I've always been fascinated by George Washington Carver. In black history month in school, you learn about him and all his inventions of the peanut, the peanut butter, and revolutionized growing peanuts to fix soil, and all this amazing stuff. So, when I was writing my book, and I was doing research for the book, I started learning more about him, not just what I had learned in school during black history month. He made so many "inventions," recipes with the peanut, everything from making peanut butter to peanut meats, mock meats using peanuts. He used it for all different things, and he taught homemakers, in fact, back in the day we'd call them, how to use peanuts in their homes. Basically, they were very nutritious, obviously, high in protein and fiber and just great for the whole family.Jenné: The funny thing, though, is as much as I think it is very fascinating, as much as I love George Washington Carver, I'm allergic to peanuts, so I don't really eat peanuts.Suzy Chase: I know. I read that, and I read that for the longest you were repulsed by the sight and smell of peanuts, and it's almost like your body was protecting you.Jenné: But the thing is, I do not have an allergy to peanuts when they're not from the United States. It might be mental. I admit it might be totally psychosomatic, but I have multiple times eaten peanuts in different countries and not realize that I was eating it until three bites in or whatever and had no reaction whatsoever. I was at a talk recently, and the presenter was passing around peanuts that she had brought back recently from Ghana, and I'm like, "I'm gonna taste this and see what happens." I'm not gonna die. I'm not anaphylactic allergic. No problem, no issue, so I don't know if it's psychosomatic with me, or if there's something about the American-grown peanuts. I don't know, but I would like to get over this allergy, because I feel like it keeps me from my roots, my culture.Suzy Chase: Right.Jenné: But you know, another thing ago about him, George Washington Carver, that I didn't realize until working on this book was his also fascination with the sweet potato. He really researched peanuts, because peanuts are used to repair soil, farmland that's been overused and damaged. You can plant peanuts. They're nitrogen fixing, so they will fertilize and make that soil fertile again.Jenné: He also focused on sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are similar. They are very easy to grow. They are high in nutrients like peanuts are, and you can do a million and one things with them. So, in addition to making all these different inventions with peanuts, he was doing the same thing with sweet potatoes. He was also teaching homemakers how to use sweet potatoes. He has sweet potato milk. By the way, he has peanut milk, too, sweet potato butter. It's funny, because he says sweet potato lamb chops or sweet potatoes whatever, but it's 100% vegan. All this stuff is vegan. So, I just thought that was so interesting way back when it took him doing all this stuff.Suzy Chase: He was so ahead of his time.Jenné: Mm-hmm (affirmative)- Seriously.Suzy Chase: Speaking of sweet potatoes, they've always been your favorite food, and it's also the name of your hugely popular blog, Sweet Potato Soul. Talk a little bit about that.Jenné: I've always loved the sweet potato, and I can remember my grandmother preparing them for me when I got home after school. She always keeps baked sweet potatoes in our refrigerator. Quick snack, healthy, energizing, it's just perfect, and I've always loved them, and everything from canned yams to sweet potato pie, my two favorite foods. So, when I wanted to start my food blog, it made perfect sense that I would have my very favorite food in the title. Then, of course, soul, because soul food means so much to me, and I want to expand what that means, what soul food means. So, yeah.Suzy Chase: I never knew there were so many kinds of sweet potatoes. You have nine listed I your cookbook, to be exact. Can we find all of these varieties in the grocery store?Jenné: Yes, we can. There are more that I didn't feature, because they're too hard for us to find here in America, but you can find those. If you go to the grocery store, you might see a fake garnet and jewel yams. Those are sweet potatoes. They're not yams. Yams are something totally different. Or sometimes nowadays, you'll see the purple ones. I forgot the name of those right now, but the purple on the outside, purple on inside, I see those a lot at the grocery store these days. Also, the white on the inside, white on the outside, but if you want to go for the Asian varieties like the Okinawan sweet potato, which is gray on the outside and bright neon purple on the inside or the Japanese yams with the green ones, then you'll need to go to, usually you'll have to go to, an Asian grocery store. Why would you not want to go to that, anyway? That's my heaven.Jenné: So, I'll typically explore town, especially if you live in a big city, or if you live in Atlanta where I'm originally from, they're really easy to find. You might have to go to the ethnic or the international or Asian grocery store.Suzy Chase: I recently learned on another cookbook podcast that I did that monks in China wanted to invite non-Buddhists into their monastery, and they would eat vegetarian, but the guests wouldn't. So, they made dishes that looked and tasted similarly to meat and seafood dishes. This was the beginning of culinary replications. I'm dying to know what your thoughts are about vegan replications that look like, let's say, chicken.Jenné: Yeah, I am all for it. To be honest, I don't eat a lot of that. At home, I'm in love with vegetables and grains. That is all I need. I don't need mock meat or any of that. However, I love it for what it does for people. So many people use mock meats and these replications as a way to help in transition. Firstly, because a lot of people, they're so [inaudible 00:18:58] tastes of chicken, so they need something when they become vegan to hold them over for a while until they can figure out how to cook beans and figure out how to like broccoli and whole grains. A lot of people just don't like that, and they're not used to that. So, these foods act as a little bridge between the two. They're still totally vegan, so that's great, but they really help usher people a little closer into the real whole food, plant based lifestyle that I try to have people join.Suzy Chase: I'm surprised. I thought you were gonna be totally against it. I'm shocked.Jenné: No, I really don't have any ... The closest I have to that is I have two different sausage recipes, which are handmade sausages, so not store bought, vegan sausage. You do it by hand. It's very easy. And then I have the cauliflower chicken, but it's cauliflower. It's not Beyond Chicken that you get at Whole Foods and you bread and you fry. So, yeah, I'm not trying to like, "Everybody go eat this stuff," but I do think that those are good, like I said, a bridge.Suzy Chase: Just yesterday, I read an article that cited a recent study on consumer trends that found the term vegan to be the least appealing food and beverage marketing term among U.S. adults. What do you think about that?Jenné: Wow. Well, I'm surprised and I'm not surprised. I think vegan people, like myself, we tend to have an intuition about that. For me, though, with what I do, the marketing I'm doing and my mission is I want to be real trend, and this is vegan. I'm speaking to people who thought to themselves, they saw a movie, or they had a conversation, or whatever, they think, "I want to become vegan. I need to find vegan, specially vegan resources."Jenné: So, they might Google vegan recipes, and they'll find me. I want to be specific. I want those people. I don't want to proselytize to people. I'm not out there converting people. I'm more of a resources. However, I have thought about how if I want to reach a more mainstream audience, reach people who are not already looking for vegan resources, then using the term vegan is probably not the best way for me to do that, because it is a turn-off for a lot of people. Frankly, I think the biggest issue is that people have an image of what a vegan is and what a vegan lifestyle is, and they say, "That's not me, and that is not for me. I'm not interested."Jenné: So, until we can change the image and people's perception of what it means, I think it's a little bit more wise to influence people, get people on board without using ... I shouldn't say people. I should say more the mainstream on board without, I don't know. I don't want to say without using that term, but just maybe be a little bit more undercover with the term.Suzy Chase: So, yesterday, I made your recipe for sweet Jesus mac and cheese on page 113, and it's interesting, because for a different cookbook podcast I did, I made the original James Hemings recipe. First off, talk a little bit about James Hemings and who he was.Jenné: So, he was the enslaved chef of Thomas Jefferson, and he went with Thomas Jefferson when he went to Europe and spent time in France, and he studied food or cooking in Europe, and he brought it back to America. And he wrote down his recipes at Monticello, his estate, and that's probably that recipe that you made. I know Monticello, they have a lot of their recipes on their website. I have one of their books that's a cookbook, and it's all old recipes from James Hemings.Jenné: How was it?Suzy Chase: It was so bland, because they didn't use any salt.Jenné: Yeah, right, back then, can you imagine? So, the food back then was so much more bland, I think it's not until you really needed to combine. Mac and cheese, as soul food as it is, it is a European invention. He made it what it is, what that recipe is that you tasted, but it's definitely using all that cheese and the noodles, that's a European thing. But it wasn't until he brought it here and then folks started playing around with it and adding more flavor that it became what it is today, tasty, gooey mac and cheese.Jenné: But I think it was really necessary for this blending of culture. I mean, it is unfortunate the way that the cultures had to blend, but for these foods, these European foods to become tasty, they needed the African influence and the Native American influence.Suzy Chase: They sure did. So, your recipe for mac and "cheese" calls for sweet potatoes, lemon juice, and Dijon mustard, three flavors that never come up when I'm thinking about mac cheese. How did you create this recipe?Jenné: So, I played around with different mac and cheese recipes that I found on the internet and other cookbooks. My dad used to work at a famous vegan restaurant called A Soul Veg in Atlanta, and at Soul Veg, they make a mac and cheese. Everything they make is tofu, soy based. I love soy, but you don't have to use it for everything, very oily, very down-home vegan mac and cheese.Jenné: But I didn't want to do that. I wanted to make it a little healthier. I wanted to use whole foods, but you still need a lot of flavor. So, the mustard, the Dijon that I use and the lemon, it's to add tang. And then you also use nutritional yeast, which has a naturally cheesy flavor, but you can't just use it by itself. You need to add that tang that real cheese has. It's a different take on mac and cheese, really. Obviously, it has sweet potato in it, too, which is totally unexpected.Suzy Chase: Totally. It was light, though. It looks really heavy. I posted a picture on Instagram, but it is light.Jenné: Yeah, it is. Good.Suzy Chase: Where can we find you on the web and social media?Jenné: You can find me at sweetpotatosoul.com. That's my blog. There are hundreds of recipes, and on social media, you can find me at sweetpotatosoul, including YouTube. I have a big YouTube channel as well. So, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, sweetpotatosoul.Suzy Chase: Thank you for writing this beautiful cookbook, and thank you for coming on Cookery by the Book podcast.Jenné: Thank you.Suzy Chase: Follow me on Instagram at CookerybytheBook. Twitter is IamSuzyChase, and download your Kitchen Mix Tapes, music to cook by on Spotify at Cookery by the Book and always, subscribe in Apple podcasts.

Hidden Kitchens turns its focus on the president’s kitchen and some of the first cooks to feed the Founding Fathers — Hercules and James Hemings — the enslaved chefs of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Hercules, described as a “dandy,” had eight assistants — stewards, butlers, undercooks, waiters. He cooked in a huge fireplace — hearth cooking.  He walked through the streets of Philadelphia in a velvet waistcoat and a gold-handled cane. When Washington was getting ready to leave Philadelphia to return to Mt. Vernon, Hercules escaped. Washington sent out search parties and offered rewards. Hercules was never found. In 1784, Thomas Jefferson was appointed minister to France.  He took with him his body servant, 19-year-old James Hemings (the brother of Sally Hemings), to master the French style of cooking. Hemings apprenticed with well-known French caterers and a pastry chefs and assumed the role of chef de cuisine in Jefferson’s kitchen on the Champs-Elysees, earning $48 a year. In 1793, Hemings petitioned Jefferson for his freedom. Jefferson consented upon one condition — he must train someone to take his place. After teaching his brother, Peter Hemings, the cooking techniques he had learned in France and at home, James Hemings became a free man. These stories begin a long connection of presidents and their African-American cooks, including the story of Zephyr Wright, President Lyndon Johnson’s cook who worked for the family for 27 years. Johnson spoke to Zephyr Wright about the Civil Rights Movement and the March on Washington. She attended the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Johnson gave her the pen he used to sign the document.

This Food Non-Fiction podcast episode is about the founding foodie, Thomas Jefferson. More specifically, we talk about his gardens at Monticello. Jefferson collected crops from all over the known world in his time. He planted a huge variety of fruits and vegetables and helped to spread the seeds. The south-facing design of the Monticello gardens allowed him to plant crops from cold to tropical climates as the location captured a lot of sunlight and tempered the cold winters. Jefferson enjoyed salads and even grew sesame seeds so that he could make salad dressing oil out of them. The Monticello gardens are indeed amazing, but they would not have existed without the work of slaves. In this episode we talk about 2 people who were kept as slaves and worked at Monticello. The first is James Hemings and the second is Edith Fossett - both were trained as French chefs and cooked amazing meals. References: Monticello.org Thomas Jefferson's ice cream recipe (typed out) Thomas Jefferson's ice cream recipe (handwritten original)