Food Network Magazine - (03)March 2020

Museumgoers can gather around a

table for a tasting experience: The food

is a nod to the “shoebox lunches”

that African Americans—who

were frequently refused service at

restaurants—packed while traveling

during the Great Migration.

A lineup of chefs including

Carla Hall helped create the menu.

ext time you reach for a french fry or dig into a

scoop of ice cream, take a minute to thank James

Hemings: The enslaved chef of Thomas Jefferson

helped make these dishes famous in the US during his

years cooking for our third president. Hemings’s story,

along with dozens of others, is the focus of a new exhibit

from New York City’s Museum of Food and Drink (MOFAD)

and The Africa Center. African/American: Making the

Nation’s Table brings to life more than 400 years of culinary

history with virtual-reality tours, artifacts and a tasting

table. Take a look.

An impressive new exhibit looks

at how African American chefs

have changed the way we eat.

egacy

AGAZINE

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exhibit is a 400-block quilt hand-stitched by

the New York City–based cultural institute

Harlem Needle Arts. Each block highlights an

African American food contribution or innovator,

such as James Hemings; Nathan “Nearest” Green, who

taught Jack Daniel to distill whiskey; and legendary

New Orleans chef Leah Chase (above).

this colorful space for Ebony magazine

from the 1970s to the 2000s. The kitchen,

down to the orange refrigerator, was rescued

from the publication’s old Chicago office

after a renovation in 2012, and MOFAD

moved it to New York City. Now visitors

can explore it while listening to a ’70s playlist

curated by Questlove.

Plan Your Visit

EBONY

KITCHEN: LEE BEY ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHY.

on the road

104 FOOD NETWORK MAGAZINE ●MARCH 2020

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Thousands of r ecipes w ere created in

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The first thing you see when you enter t he

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African/ American:

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      Making the Nation's Table :
      w ill be on d isplay at :
      The Africa Center in • •
      New York City from
      March to August and w ill
      tour nationally starting
      in 2021. The center is
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  


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.

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open Tuesday t hrough

Sunday. For tickets, visit

theafricacent er.org.

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