Today, in celebration of Black History Month, we’re spotlighting incredible chefs who showcase the deliciously expansive range of African American cuisine!
Edna Lewis was a culinary icon who authored four cookbooks on Southern cooking. Born and raised on a farm in Virginia, she learned to cook at a young age, with fresh, seasonal ingredients. Chef Lewis is credited with preserving and popularizing Southern cuisine and her legacy continues to inspire and influence professional chefs and home cooks today. In the same culinary tradition, young Sticky Fingers Cooking chefs love to make MLK's Crispy Cauliflower Fritter Bites + Savory Sautéed Collard Greens + Southern-Style Sweet Tea.
Leah Chase was a world-famous chef and cookbook author who was known as the “Queen of Creole Cuisine.” Chef Chase was also admired for her tough work ethic and encouraging disposition. She famously said, “Everyone can cook. If you try. If you put a little love into it.” Her legendary restaurant, Dooky Chase, was a popular meeting place for civil rights leaders and political organizers in the 1960s. And Chef Chase was the inspiration for Princess Tiana in the Disney movie The Princess and the Frog!
Jerome Grant is an accomplished chef and co-author of Sweet Home Cafe Cookbook: A Celebration of African American Cooking. Chef Grant was born in the Philippines and grew up all over the US (New York, Oklahoma, California, Maryland), learning Filipino and Caribbean cooking at home from his family. He was the inaugural executive chef at Sweet Home Café, the cafeteria located inside the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC. “I take a lot of pride in my culture and family traditions,” he has said, “and it is important to me that I incorporate various pieces of African-American culture into my food. I want to tell the stories of the African diaspora and how we shaped American cuisine as we know it today.”
Marcus Samuelsson is an Ethiopian-born, Swedish-American celebrity chef and restauranter who was raised in Sweden and trained in some of Europe’s top kitchens. He is also a best-selling cookbook author and passionate activist! Chef Samuelson leverages his star status to elevate others and to amplify recognition of Black Excellence in the food world. His latest cookbook, The Rise: Black Cooks and the Soul of American Food, celebrates the diversity of African American cooking and honors phenomenal chefs and cooks, living and passed.
Learn more about Jerome Grant and 15 Other Black Chefs Changing Food in America right now. And learn more about some of the black chefs who paved the way for them.
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