Good Food
Celebrating Black excellence with a culinarian historian, chef, and pitmaster
Good Food recognizes Black History Month by looking back on conversations with revered voices from the culinary world. Jessica B.
By Evan Kleiman • • 56m ListenGood Food recognizes Black History Month by looking back on conversations with revered voices from the culinary world. Jessica B. Harris recounts her youth in New York City, rubbing elbows and cooking with James Baldwin, Maya Angelou, and Toni Morrison. Chef Marcus Samuelsson discusses the Black experience and the pillars of Black food in modern American cuisine. Dr. Howard Conyers is a rocket scientist at NASA, as well as a pitmaster. Using his experience in mechanical engineering, Dr. Conyers demonstrates his barbecue prowess in the PBS series, “Nourish.” Yemisi Aribisala reflects on Nigerian cuisine. Finally, Cook’s Country editor Toni Tipton-Martin discusses her book, “Jubilee,” and her desire to shift philosophies of food stories and family recipes.
In this episode
5 storiesBefriending Angelou, Baldwin, and Morrison in 1970s New York
Food historian Jessica B. Harris has cooked with Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison and James Baldwin. While working at Essence magazine, she also had a relationship with Sam Floyd, Baldwin’s best friend and neighbor.
Read the story13 minAuthorship, memory, aspiration: ‘The Rise’ of Black cooks
Black excellence has long been celebrated in popular culture — sports, music, literature, and film. Why the delay in the culinary industry to recognize the contributions of Black cooks and innovators?
Read the story12 minMastering barbecue with a doctorate in mechanical engineering
When Dr. Howard Conyers isn’t designing rocket engines for NASA, he is building barbecue pits. Shadowing his father since he was 3 years old, Dr.
Read the story9 minIntroducing the world to Nigerian food by way of jollof rice
Yemisi Aribisala says she was described as rude when dining out because she ate quietly and didn’t comment on the food and meal. She learned that in other cultures, people talked about food to give it an identity.
Read the story12 minSharing recipes from the African American food story
"This book broadens the African American food story," Toni Tipton-Martin writes in the introduction of her award-winning book, “ Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African American Cooking .”
Read the story11 min
