Episode 5

The Future of Black Food

Where does Black food go from here? How are today’s chefs pushing the narrative of Black food forward? This episode takes a look forward be talking to prominent chefs on the cutting edge of African American cuisine. Food influencer Scotty Scott and chef Adrienne Cheatham share their influences and visions for what Black food can be, with a foreword from Washington Post food writer Aaron Hutcherson.

In this episode, Deb talks to:

• Aaron Hutcherson, food writer and recipe developer for The Washington Post

• Scotty Scott, personal chef and owner of the social media platform Cook Drank Eat

• Adrienne Cheatham, chef and founder of SundayBest pop-up series in Harlem

Episode highlights:

Making a Statement

• Aaron defines Black food as any food that has been touched by Black hands. Black influence on food, he says, always makes a statement.

• The discourse around Black food has commonly been about claiming its history, Aaron says, but there are also people defining what’s next, which he thinks is also important.

Fix Me a Plate

• Scotty talks about his cookbook Fix Me a Plate, in which he remixes various classic recipes with creative takes on Soul food.

• For him, Soul food is important to Black culture and history as a tangible connection to the past. He wanted to showcase recipes in his book in which he put his spin on the foods he grew up with, like sweet potato pie.

• “I don’t think you should limit yourself to the traditional box of what Soul food is,” Scotty says. “We’re talking about things that have been handed down for generations. Techniques that have been handed down for generations. Does that stop at a certain place in time? It continues on.” 

• Scotty shares an anecdote about repurposing red beans and rice, and turning it into hummus.

Sunday Best

• Adrienne defines her cooking style as modern, or new, American, which doesn’t exist without African American influences, she says.

• She talks about recreating her mother’s gumbo for an episode of Top Chef, which accelerated her exploration of Black cuisine, which she says she hadn’t really done on a professional level before the show.

• SundayBest, as a pop-series, is emblematic not only of Adrienne’s cultural memories of dressing her best when staying with her aunt in Mississippi, Deb says. It’s representative of Adrienne’s efforts to take the flavors and dishes of Soul food and showing the masses that it’s a serious cuisine that deserves a place in the world of fine dining.

• Adrienne echoes this idea by talking about the similarities between traditional French techniques she learned working in fine dining and the food preparation that she grew up with: making a Mornay sauce for mac-n-cheese or frying chicken using a classic dredging technique, for example.

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