Join the Library and Bold Fork Books for a n unforgettable evening of conversation with author Jessica B. Harris and moderator Paula J. \;Johnson for Jessica's newest book: BRAIDED HERITA GE: Recipes and Stories on the Origin of American Cuisine.
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\nDiscover the swe
eping story of how Indigenous\, European\, and African traditions intertwi
ned to form an entirely new cuisine\, with over 90 recipes for the modern
home cook&mdash\;from the James Beard Cookbook Hall of Famer and star of t
he Netflix docuseries High on the Hog.
One of our preeminent culinary
historians\, Dr. Jessica B. Harris has conducted decades of research thro
ughout the Americas\, the Caribbean\, and Africa. In this telling of the o
rigins of American food\, though\, she gets more personal. As heritage is
history\, she intertwines the larger sweeping past with stories and recipe
s from friends she&rsquo\;s made over the years&mdash\;people whose family
dishes go back to the crucial era when Native peoples encountered Europea
ns and the enslaved Africans they brought with them. Through this mix\, we
learn that Clear Broth Clam Chowder has both Indigenous and European root
s\; the same\, too\, with Enchiladas Suizas\, tomatillo-smothered tortilla
s made &ldquo\;Swiss&rdquo\; with cheese and dairy\; and that the hallmark
s of African American food through the centuries have been evolution based
on region\, migration\, and innovation\, resulting in classics like Red B
eans and Rice and Peach Bread Pudding Cupcakes with Bourbon Glaze.
Wi
th recipes ranging from everyday meals to festive spreads\, Braided Herita
ge offers a new\, in-depth\, delicious look at American culinary history.<
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\nJessica B. Harris \;is the
author\, editor\, and translator of seventeen books\, including twelve co
okbooks documenting the foods and foodways of the African diaspora. Her IA
CP Award&ndash\;winning book High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey from Afri
ca to America has been adapted into a Netflix series. Harris is a professo
r emerita at Queens College/CUNY in New York and has written extensively f
or scholarly and popular publications. She served as the culinary consulta
nt for the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture and
their lauded restaurant\, the Sweet Home Café\;. She holds lifetime
achievement awards from the Southern Foodways Alliance\, the Soul Summit\,
and the James Beard Foundation\, which also inducted Harris into the Cook
book Hall of Fame.
Paula J. \;Johnson is t
he curator of food history and director of the American Food History Proje
ct at the Smithsonian&rsquo\;s National Museum of American History. She wa
s one of the curators who originally collected the kitchen from Julia Chil
d herself in 2001 and has worked with the kitchen and its contents for man
y years since\, building expertise in American culinary history\, food tec
hnology\, history\, and culture.