Diaspora (Commonwealth Union) _ Food is more than sustenance; it is a vessel for history, memory, and cultural identity. In a remarkable event celebrating Black History Month, five celebrated Black chefs came together to tell a powerful story of migration, resilience, and culinary tradition. The Follow Your Roots dinner, hosted by 2024 F&W Best New Chef Camari Mick, brought together an ensemble of culinary visionaries, including 2020 F&W Best New Chef Tavel Bristol-Joseph, acclaimed chef Charlie Mitchell of Saga, Pan-African cuisine advocate Akwasi Brenya-Mensa, and the fiercely creative Brittney “Chef Stikxz” Williams. This extraordinary gathering at The Musket Room in New York City honored the ingredients that have journeyed through the African Diaspora, shaping the culinary landscape of the United States and beyond.
Renowned culinary historian Dr. Jessica B. Harris, author of High on the Hog, carefully selected seven ingredients with deep historical roots: okra, salt codfish, sweet potato, black-eyed peas, pork, sugarcane, and sorrel. These ingredients, carried across oceans and generations, have become staples in African, Caribbean, and Southern American cuisines. As guests savored each course, they also absorbed the personal and historical narratives behind the dishes, forming a tapestry of interconnected stories. As Mick poignantly noted in the event’s booklet introduction, “Together, we are weaving threads through the gaps in our history once fragmented but never truly broken.”
Okra, a staple of African cuisine, has origins tracing back to the banks of the Nile in Egypt. Though often labeled “slimy” in Western contexts, its culinary significance extends far beyond its texture. Chef Akwasi Brenya-Mensa paid homage to his Ghanaian heritage by crafting a rich, tomato-based okra soup infused with red palm oil, fiery scotch bonnet peppers, and the deep umami of ‘nduja. Served alongside sticky rice reminiscent of West African fufu, the dish embodied the unbreakable ties between the American South and West Africa, where okra remains a fundamental ingredient in beloved dishes like gumbo.
Salt codfish, another vital ingredient of the African Diaspora, bears the weight of maritime history. As Dr. Harris pointed out, this dried, salted fish sustained both enslaved people and the sailors who trafficked them. People have reimagined salt codfish in countless ways, from Jamaica’s iconic ackee and saltfish to Puerto Rican fritters. At the Follow Your Roots dinner, Tavel Bristol-Joseph drew from his Guyanese roots, preparing salt cod with a medley of onions, garlic, tomatoes, and fresh herbs, all atop a warm, comforting johnny cake, an homage to the breakfasts his grandmother used to make.
Sweet potatoes, often mistaken for yams in the New World, have long provided nourishment in the African and Caribbean diet. Historically, yams were a primary food source aboard Middle Passage ships, feeding enslaved Africans in transit. For this event, the chefs collaborated on a decadent dish of fried sweet potato gnudi, paired with a velvety, spiced sweet potato purée, peanut salsa macha, and earthy brown beech mushrooms a testament to the ingredient’s versatility and cultural significance.
Black-eyed peas, synonymous with prosperity in African American culinary traditions, have long been tied to the celebration of the New Year. Chef Charlie Mitchell embraced this heritage by reinterpreting a French classic, cassoulet, incorporating black-eyed peas with collard greens, ham hock, and a luxurious combination of oxtail and foie gras. The dish, both familiar and innovative, served as a bridge between the comforting meals of his childhood and the refined techniques he employs today.
No exploration of the African Diaspora’s culinary influence would be complete without pork, a meat that was first brought to the Americas by Christopher Columbus in 1493. In Jamaica, pork became the foundation of the island’s iconic jerk barbecue. Chef Brittney “Chef Stikxz” Williams honored this legacy with a deeply authentic jerk pork rack, smoked over traditional pimento wood for four hours. The pork was served atop a silky calabaza squash purée, accompanied by a bright fennel and callaloo salad. With every bite, guests were transported to the heart of the Caribbean, tasting the spices and techniques that have endured across generations.
Sugarcane, another gift of the Canary Islands via Columbus, profoundly shaped the agricultural and cultural history of the New World. Its cultivation fueled the rise of chattel slavery and, ultimately, the global rum industry. To honor this history, Mick created a nostalgic sugarcane rum float, inspired by the American soda shops of the 1950s, where Black patrons were often barred. A luscious house-made sugarcane tonic was poured over rum ice cream, infused with the depth of Ten to One dark rum, a delicious, bittersweet nod to the past.
The meal concluded with sorrel, a vibrant hibiscus flower deeply embedded in Caribbean culture. Mick transformed it into a striking semifreddo, layering nutmeg meringue atop a coconut anglaise flecked with thyme oil. Inspired by île flottante, one of the only recorded recipes from Thomas Jefferson’s enslaved chef, James Hemings, the dessert paid homage to culinary excellence passed down through generations of Black cooks. “Thyme is the workhorse of Jamaican cuisine,” Mick shared. “It goes in everything. I wanted that to come through on the plate.”
The Follow Your Roots dinner was more than a meal. it was a moment of cultural reclamation, a reminder that food carries history in its flavors, textures, and aromas. Through their artistry, these chefs did more than prepare dishes; they told stories of endurance, innovation, and the indomitable spirit of the African Diaspora. Each bite was a tribute to the past and a vision for the future, proving that while history may sometimes be fragmented, its legacy continues to nourish us all.
