Madison College is celebrating African American cuisine that has influenced the entire country and the world this month with “Yams and Sweet Potatoes: A Black Culinary Series” highlighting a variety of Black chefs and caterers as they host demonstrations, tastings, and presentations.
This is the first year for the event, a collaboration between the Office of Equity and Inclusion and the Community Engagement Office at Madison College.
“It’s more than what just happens when a family sits down and eats – there’s tradition, there’s history, there are things that we pass down from generation to generation,” Madison College Community Engagement Coordinator Jodie Williams tells Madison365. “Often it comes from how one prepares the food, the ingredients in the food, the stories about the food.
“It’s really about those stories and for folks to learn about the role of culinary traditions in the Black community,” she adds.
Throughout the month, Madison College is helping to highlight different foods and palates with local chefs Awa Sibi of Les Delices de Awa, Patience Clark of Palate Pleasures, and Nyanyika Banda. Jessica Harris, a culinary critic and author of High on the Hog, will make a special presentation on Thursday, Feb. 17, 6 p.m..
“This series is highlighting Black folks in our community who are chefs and have catering businesses,” Williams says. “We really wanted to not only highlight Jessica Harris, a nationally renowned contributor to the culinary scene, but also to highlight folks in our community who are doing the work.
“Each of these events is built with a little bit of a lecture talking about the role of the ingredients or the food that the particular chef may have in their history or their family … and traditions that might be formed around that,” Williams adds.
The series launched last week with Sibi, a current Madison College student who provided some tastings of West African dishes at the Salvation Army. Sibi arrived in Madison from Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) in 2013 to pursue her education, following her brothers to Wisconsin. “She has her own catering company, Les Délices de Awa, and her presentation offered West African food and talked about West African culinary traditions and the role it played in her life,” Williams says.
This Wednesday’s presentation at the Demonstration Kitchen at Madison College Truax will feature Banda, a Malawian-American chef, writer and entrepreneur. Banda lived in Madison as a teenager and began her culinary career at the age of 15 working at a Black-owned rotisserie chicken restaurant. She earned a culinary degree from Madison College in 2012 and relocated to New York City to become a Sous Chef at Mission Chinese Food. She has worked in a number of acclaimed kitchens across the country including WD-50 and the Saveur Magazine test kitchen.
“Nyanyika is a graduate of our culinary arts program here at Madison College. She currently resides in New York. In April, she is releasing a Wakanda-inspired cookbook,” Williams says. “She will be doing a lesson for our culinary arts students and she will also be doing a demo and a lecture for the public.
“Nyanyika was inspired by Dr. Jessica Harris and did an individual study to complete her bachelor’s degree. We are very excited to hopefully see those two cross paths,” she adds.
On Thursday evening, Dr. Harris will give a lecture at the Mitby Theatre. Her book High On The Hog “traces the moving story of a people’s survival and triumph via the food that has knit generations together and helped define the American kitchen.” Books are available for purchase at Madison College bookstore. “She will also be doing a book signing afterward,” Williams says.
Dr. Harris was also one of the stars of High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America, a 2021 docuseries (above) released on Netflix based upon her book.
“The Netflix special with Jessia Harris begins in Africa and she talks about the ingredients and how folks tried to keep those traditions alive when they arrived in the United States,” Williams says. “There are really great stories and traditions. We know that food plays an important role in culture.”
On Wednesday, Feb. 23, noon-1:30 p.m., Chef Patience Clark, a Madison-area self-taught chef who has been cooking comfort cuisine for the last seven years under training from her great grandmother Louise Dunlap, will be making a presentation at the Goodman Madison South Campus. Clark also attended Madison College’s Culinary Program, and now specializes in historical and traditional comfort dishes from around the world as a personal chef and caterer.
“I grew up in church with Patience and I know that she is inspired by her great-grandma. She is certainly making an impact on her hometown,” Williams says. “I believe she’s going to do shrimp and grits and talk about the recipes and flavors she uses and where her love for cooking comes from and how she arranges her meals.”
“Yams and Sweet Potatoes: A Black Culinary Series” is part of a larger effort by Madison College to honor Black History Month.
“We’ve also worked with our libraries to offer displays throughout our campus libraries that have features of cookbooks and the role of culinary traditions in the Black community as a supplement to these,” Williams says. “We’re really excited about all of this. I can’t wait.”
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