Innholdsfortegnelse for Resilience - Fall 2021 i Cuisine Noir

What a year. Never in a million years would I have thought we would be in the middle of a pandemic. But here we are. Many describe the events of 2020 and 2021 as heartbreaking, dark, lonesome and life-changing. Others I have talked to have shared the words and phrase pivotal (yes, that one), awakening, discovery and a time to focus on what matters. All definitely resonate with me. Our last print issue was in 2017. At that time, the media landscape continued to be challenging to navigate. Black-owned media companies such as ours were tirelessly advocating for advertising and sponsorship dollars from brands that many Black consumers support. This work continues today. I took a step back to see how we can continue to pioneer stories about and with…

BARLOW’S FOODS | $10 Start your own breakfast traditions with Barlow’s. It makes fluffy and moist pancakes and waffles the entire family will enjoy. The resealable bag contains organic and whole ingredients to amplify its deliciousness. www.barlowsfoods.com BOOKER'S SOUL FOOD STARTERS | $6.99 Get something started in the kitchen. These superb seasoning mixes will take the guesswork out of preparing mac & cheese, candied yams, peach cobbler and collard greens. The easy-to-read instructions explain everything you need to get rave reviews. www.soulfoodstarters.com WONDERFFLE | $49 Take this innovative waffle iron and stuffit. Then, place it on an outdoor grill or on a gas and electric cooktop. Cook 5-inch round and 2-inch thick Belgian-style waffles filled with scrambled eggs, fried sausage and/or whatever you desire. Ready in minutes. www.wonderffle.com SYMPHONY POTATO…

Chef Veronica Wandui is one of the few Black women chefs in the country to lead the banquet kitchens of a luxury hotel. She ex-emplifies that hard work and focused leadership can help you get to your goals. But the road here was not easy. Wandui grew up in a large family in Nairobi, Kenya. She attended Save Our Souls culinary school and came to the U.S. through a green card lottery program. When employers wouldn’t recognize her African culinary degree, Wandui enrolled at The Art Institute of Atlanta and later earned a business management degree. Her career path includes an internship at the Georgia Dome sports stadium, owning a catering business, and working in the kitchens at different Starwood Hotels. In 2009, she joined the brand new St. Regis…

CAJUN CRAB CAKE SLIDERS Servings: 8 | Prep time: 40 minutes | Cook time: 12 minutes INGREDIENTS 1 egg, beaten¼ cup mayonnaise2 teaspoons Dijon mustard2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice½ teaspoon Tony Chachere’s Louisiana Pepper Sauce1 teaspoon Tony Chachere’s More Spice Creole Seasoning⅔ cup flaky, buttery crackers, crushed1 pound lump crab meat nonstick spray2 tablespoons butter, melted8 sweet Hawaiian-style slider buns or dinner rolls2 lemons, sliced into wedges parsley, chopped for garnish PREPARATION 1. In a medium bowl, mix egg, mayonnaise, mustard, Worcestershire, lemon juice, Tony Chachere’s Louisiana Pepper Sauce and Tony Chachere’s More Spice Creole Seasoning together until well blended.2. Add cracker crumbs and crab meat to the mixture, then gently fold all the ingredients together with a rubber spatula. Try not to break the lumps of…

When South African chef Amanda Manyatshe embarked on her culinary love affair in Cape Town a few years ago, she was on a personal journey to learn more about her own roots and, in the process, the similarities that bind the African continent and diaspora. Some of Manyatshe’s best work has blossomed to the forefront during the last few months of the pandemic, with recent milestones to include the unexpected feature this year on CNN as an African Voices: Changemaker. Her pivot also includes taking on the role of private chef and recipe developer, as well as content creator and food stylist/photographer on her Instagram account, @forthefoodieinme, turning the spotlight on the important work she is spearheading. BRINGING FOOD AND COMMUNITY TOGETHER ONLINE As a private chef, Manyatshe is trying…

Being a Black business owner during the peak of the pandemic in 2020 was bittersweet. Founders and operators were faced with navigating new business models, the ebbs and flows of increased support from patrons wanting to buy “Black-owned," along with slow days when the momentum faded. All coupled with the overall mental strain of fearing the unknown. Black establishments have navigated crises that have impacted their operations for centuries. Roger Dundas, the co-founder of By-Blacks.com (@byblacks), prioritized developing an online platform that shares stories of Black Canadians eight years ago. Home to Canada's most prominent Black business directory, ByBlacks is more than a website. It is a hub for the amplification and exposure that, for so long, Black businesses have lacked. A JAMAICAN UPBRINGING ROOTED IN BLACK COMMUNITY "I grew…

A thick slab of tangy baby back ribs smoking on the grill. Tender baked beans drenched in grandma’s secret sauce. These are just some of the dishes you look forward to at family cookouts. With the yearly debate about which auntie makes the best potato salad heating at the spades table, you survey the ample spread. Reaching for the plump, crispy drumstick staring at you, your mouth begins to water as your favorite “yoga-loving-save-the-animals” Millennial cousin proudly shares, “It’s vegan fried chicken,” with a smile. “It is from Don’t Be Chick’n and it is plant-based.” Plant-based? It may not be poultry, but trust, once that burst of fried goodness hits your taste buds, it’s every bit like chicken and it is delicious. THE PANDEMIC WILL NOT STOP A DREAM The…

CAJUN DEVILED EGGS WITH CRISPY BACON Servings: 12 | Prep time: 15 minutes | Cook time: 15 minutes INGREDIENTS 6 jumbo eggs¼ cup mayonnaise1 tablespoon sweet and hot mustard2 tablespoons sweet relish¼ teaspoon Tony Chachere’s More Spice Creole Seasoning3 strips bacon, cooked and sliced PREPARATION 1. Add eggs to a medium pot and completely cover with water. Turn heat to high. After water begins to boil, cook for12-14 minutes.2. Drain and rinse eggs with cold water. Peel eggs and slice half lengthwise. Remove yolks and place in a small bowl and arrange egg halves on a plate.3. Mash warm yolks with a whisk and stir in mayonnaise, mustard, relish and Tony Chachere’s More Spice Creole Seasoning. Add ingredients a little at a time, using more or less mayonnaise depending on…

While at home with family over the last year and a half, I found a new direction for my cocktails with Black-owned spirits and ingredients. “The Ideal Bartender,” the classic bartending book by Tom Bullock, probably moved me in that direction. The Pullman Porters and past chefs are often cited, but rarely do we hear of past Black bartenders. The food and beverage industry is experiencing a “Black Renaissance” and I’m stuck at home. Both of these spirits are two of my favorites for making cocktails that will become the talk of the party. If you’re building a bar at home, I highly recommend making sure these are in regular rotation. – Adrian Lindsay, Veteran hospitality professional HAITIAN REVOLUTION Primarily known for its rice, Haiti is getting recognition for some…

When the pandemic was first declared in March 2020, it sent the world spiraling. All industries and sectors were impacted and suffered, including the event planning world. What would have been a busy season of corporate events and big weddings was reduced to a state of no activity. Black event planning professionals were already working on improving representation and inclusion within the industry in the United States, and the pandemic now added a new set of concerns. DIVERSIFYING EFFORTS For Andrew Roby, award-winning Washington, D.C.–based event and wedding planner and the founder and CEO of Andrew Roby Events (@andrewrobyevents), the wedding side of his event planning business crumbled. “We shifted to doing micro weddings and did about 20 during 2020,” he shares. “In 2019, we brought in over a million…

Oh yes. We all know about chocolate bliss. Chocolate’s rich and exotic 4,000-year history had its origins in ancient Mesoamerica, that matrix of Indigenous cultures — Mayan and Aztec among them — found in parts of Mexico and Central America before the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century. Now, about two-thirds of the world’s cocoa is produced in western Africa with Ivory Coast being the largest source; Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon are up there too. Uganda, the setting for our chocolate story, was later to the party in terms of cocoa production, which has seen a steady increase over the past few years. “You drop a seed and the soil is so fertile, it roots and grows,” a friend says when I tell him I am writing this…

As you turn down Biddle Street in Baltimore’s historic Mount Vernon district, you’ll want to let out a breath and exhale for the experience that awaits you at The Ivy Hotel. With original architecture dating back to 1889, Eddie and Sylvia Brown have transformed the original mansion, turned office space for the city’s parks and recreation department into an über-luxury 5-star boutique hotel. When the two HBCU alums, who met at Howard University, decided to buy the property, it wasn’t with the intent of entering the hospitality industry. Eddie, who started Brown Capital Management, the second oldest African American-owned investment management firm in the world, in 1983, needed more office space. That all changed after meeting David Garrett of Garrett Hotel Consultants who knew they had something more. THE IVY…

Stefan Grant has traveled the world to create and market exciting events for travelers. The native Jamaican, whose parents met while working in the tourism industry there, has stayed at his share of Airbnbs around the world. But his last experience with the alternative lodging platform was not good. “I was in Atlanta for the A3C Hip-Hop Festival and our agent had booked a property for us. The next door neighbor saw a bunch of Black people in the house and thought we were robbing the place,” shares Grant. “So they called the police on us and they had their guns drawn on us and the whole nine, so it was a pretty strenuous ordeal.” He continues, “We showed them everything was legal, and before the cops left, my marketing…

The sizzle of chicken wings being lowered into hot oil is the beginning of Kimberly Ellis’ award-winning “sticky wings.” The tasty, sticky sauce she covers them in has made the wings the most popular item on the menu of her restaurant, Breaking Bread (@breakingbreadnation). The Baltimore native and her team have come back to the city’s only boutique art hotel, Hotel Revival, to show what it was like being able to use the hotel’s kitchen to keep her business going during the height of the pandemic. Hotel Revival (@revivalbaltimore) is located in the tony, historic arts district of Mt. Vernon, just a stone’s throw from the United States’ first Washington Monument. As Ellis and her son and sous chef, James, plate her perfectly prepared wings, salmon and lamb chops, she…

Watching Broadway go dark in New York City gave him a sign of dire times ahead. A celebrated Houston restaurateur then realized what was coming to Texas when he witnessed Bourbon Street shutting down in New Orleans. “I knew we had about five days tops before it was going to happen with us,” says chef Chris Williams, the owner of Lucille’s (@lucilleshouston). “My biggest concern was not our closing, but us losing all the good work and the progress made up to that point.” SHIFTING TO SURVIVAL Williams quickly shifted Lucille’s into survival mode to keep executive chef Khang Hoang and other people responsible for the restaurant’s success working. He and his team implemented a contactless to-go model for serving customers. The staff of 46 agreed to accept the average…

What happens when economic downturns, natural disasters or cultural changes sweep away a beloved business? The late Otis Redding said it all when he sang, “You don’t miss your water till your well runs dry.” Patrons across America are longing for Black-owned restaurants that vanished during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. In Houston, the proprietors of the decades old Alfreda’s Soul Food (@alfredassoulfood) fight to not only survive but thrive. “When you look at Alfreda’s and how long it’s been open, this is like a legacy situation for many of these businesses,” says Marguerite Williams. She co-owns Alfreda’s with her husband Troy. American Express and the National Historic Trust Preservation recently awarded the couple a $40,000 grant to help keep the doors of the Third Ward mainstay open. “God has been…

COVID-19, a word and virus that has slipped into our lives domestically and worldwide. Because of a lack of vaccines, misinformation and a Brazilian president who refused the shipment of the vaccines early in the pandemic, no place in South America has been hit harder than Brazil. China offered the vaccine to the country but its president, Jair Bolsonaro, refused it, saying on his social media page, “The Brazilian people will not be anyone’s guinea pig.” According to the WHO (World Health Organization) from January 3, 2020 to August 30, 2021 Brazil’s total conf irmed case count was 20,728,605 with confirmed deaths of 579,010 along with a total vaccination count as of August 27, 2021 of 177,094,781 (WHO, 2021). ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF CARNIVAL When you think of Brazil’s Carnival, it…

After more than 30 years of spending days and hurried nights with strange people in “da biz,” aka the restaurant industry, it all came to a screeching halt for me last March. How will I manage without the chaos, food and camaraderie? No more wine tastings and pairings (think pig feet and muscadet). Who are guests going to complain to now? With plenty of time on my hands to stay busy by being creative, both of these cocktails are regulars on my at-home cocktail menu. – Adrian Lindsay, Veteran hospitality professional STAYCATION Tequila is always a vacation favorite and I’m on a bit of an extended vacation right now. Lime, coconut and tequila. Oh my! Backyard cocktails, here I come. 2 ounces Anteel Coconut Lime Tequila3 ounces coconut cream¾ ounce…