WEBVTT - Celebrating Juneteenth Through Food – Lab 067 0:00:00.560 --> 0:00:02.120 We're back. Did you miss us? 0:00:02.520 --> 0:00:05.720 I know I miss talking to you and the rest 0:00:05.720 --> 0:00:07.440 of our friends last week. 0:00:07.760 --> 0:00:11.799 Yes, but last week's episode, all about the science of celebration, 0:00:12.400 --> 0:00:15.640 was the perfect setup for this week's episode. We're talking 0:00:15.680 --> 0:00:17.680 about celebrating June teenth. 0:00:17.880 --> 0:00:21.040 That's right. Last week we talked about the temporal aspects 0:00:21.200 --> 0:00:24.599 and the food and different traditions that are all around celebrations, 0:00:24.920 --> 0:00:27.000 and so it's so important for us to consider the 0:00:27.040 --> 0:00:28.920 food around the celebration of Juneteenth. 0:00:29.320 --> 0:00:30.360 My stomach is growling. 0:00:30.600 --> 0:00:32.280 Oh wait, I think our legal team is saying we 0:00:32.360 --> 0:00:34.680 need to insert a disclaimer T T Yes, if you. 0:00:34.600 --> 0:00:36.120 Are listening to this episode right now and you have 0:00:36.159 --> 0:00:37.959 not eaten, please go and grab a snack. You will 0:00:37.960 --> 0:00:40.440 get hungry. Please, this is your warning. Now, please go 0:00:40.479 --> 0:00:44.240 and grab snack. I'm TT and I'm Zakiyah and from Spotify. 0:00:44.479 --> 0:01:09.039 This is Dope Labs. 0:01:11.000 --> 0:01:14.440 Welcome to Dope Labs, a weekly podcast that mixes hardcore science, 0:01:14.480 --> 0:01:17.160 pop culture, and a healthy dosa friendship. 0:01:17.480 --> 0:01:20.680 June teenth is right around the corner. It's coming up 0:01:20.880 --> 0:01:21.960 this Sunday. 0:01:22.360 --> 0:01:26.760 Yes, and this week we're celebrating Juneteenth through food. Specifically, 0:01:27.040 --> 0:01:30.680 we're asking more about how people continue traditions and tell 0:01:30.800 --> 0:01:34.479 stories through food, and how people are innovating to create 0:01:34.520 --> 0:01:37.399 new takes on food and their celebrations and gatherings. 0:01:37.680 --> 0:01:40.679 And of course we're going to talk about some amazing 0:01:41.040 --> 0:01:45.720 and delicious recipes that I am looking forward to trying myself. 0:01:46.040 --> 0:01:47.600 Let's go ahead and get into the recitation. 0:01:57.200 --> 0:02:00.560 But before we jump into Juneteenth foods, talk about the 0:02:00.560 --> 0:02:03.560 holiday itself. What do we know about juteenth. 0:02:03.760 --> 0:02:06.360 We know it's the oldest celebration commemorating the end of 0:02:06.400 --> 0:02:08.080 slavery in the United States. 0:02:08.280 --> 0:02:11.639 Yes, on June nineteenth, eighteen sixty five, a Union general 0:02:11.760 --> 0:02:15.480 arrived at Galveston, Texas to tell enslaved African Americans that 0:02:15.520 --> 0:02:18.079 they were free and that the Civil War had ended. 0:02:18.280 --> 0:02:23.120 And this was two and a half years after President 0:02:23.120 --> 0:02:26.760 Lincoln had already issued the Emancipation Proclamation, and. 0:02:26.760 --> 0:02:30.320 So Juneteenth, which was June nineteenth, quickly became an annual 0:02:30.320 --> 0:02:33.120 holiday where black people would gather, especially in Texas, with 0:02:33.200 --> 0:02:34.960 their families to pray and celebrate. 0:02:35.040 --> 0:02:37.400 And it took the federal government more than one hundred 0:02:37.480 --> 0:02:40.520 years to catch up because Juneteenth only became a national 0:02:40.560 --> 0:02:42.239 holiday in twenty twenty one. 0:02:42.840 --> 0:02:44.960 Was the government always late to the party. 0:02:45.200 --> 0:02:47.720 We don't have enough time. In this episode. 0:02:47.440 --> 0:02:50.680 Nineteen seventy nine, they were late for Black music, months 0:02:50.880 --> 0:02:55.200 late for Juneteenth. There are multiple dimensions of celebration, and 0:02:55.240 --> 0:02:58.160 we've talked about this in our Celebration episode, and one 0:02:58.160 --> 0:03:00.000 of them that we're focusing on today is food. 0:03:00.000 --> 0:03:00.200 Food. 0:03:00.280 --> 0:03:01.960 Food can be a way to learn history and to 0:03:02.000 --> 0:03:05.040 practice traditions and to connect with people. It's also kind 0:03:05.080 --> 0:03:06.960 of a way to mark the hope and renewal of 0:03:07.000 --> 0:03:07.560 a holiday. 0:03:07.720 --> 0:03:11.640 Food is something that is universal all of us are eating, 0:03:11.760 --> 0:03:14.120 but the types of food you're eating and the way 0:03:14.160 --> 0:03:16.680 that you're eating the food can be unique to different 0:03:16.720 --> 0:03:20.840 cultures and communities and even just specific families. Black communities 0:03:20.919 --> 0:03:23.440 all over the country have different foods that they cook 0:03:23.520 --> 0:03:26.160 and enjoy during Juneteenth. And part of the reason why 0:03:26.200 --> 0:03:29.440 this is so special is because the roots and history 0:03:29.480 --> 0:03:33.080 of some of these foods come from so many cultures 0:03:33.120 --> 0:03:36.360 all over the world that we have continue to maintain 0:03:36.920 --> 0:03:40.160 and celebrate during different times of the year. So what 0:03:40.200 --> 0:03:40.840 do we want to know? 0:03:41.200 --> 0:03:43.720 Well, I think we want to consider all those things 0:03:43.800 --> 0:03:46.760 you just said and understand them about Juneteenth, So, like, 0:03:46.840 --> 0:03:49.720 what foods are important to Juneteenth and why like, what 0:03:49.760 --> 0:03:52.120 are the traditions behind them or what stories are they telling? 0:03:52.320 --> 0:03:55.080 I think I want to know how food helps us 0:03:55.120 --> 0:03:59.000 to celebrate Juneteenth specifically and connect us not only to 0:03:59.280 --> 0:04:03.520 one another, but to our ancestry. And when we consider 0:04:03.920 --> 0:04:07.160 the past and tradition, we always have to also look forward. 0:04:07.440 --> 0:04:11.280 How is the food of Juneteenth changing? What new food innovations? 0:04:11.360 --> 0:04:13.280 You know, because everybody's going crazy about the air fryer, 0:04:16.240 --> 0:04:23.440 my cereals still what? And as much as we look 0:04:23.560 --> 0:04:26.080 back at the tradition and history of food, we also 0:04:26.120 --> 0:04:28.720 want to look forward and see how food is changing, 0:04:29.040 --> 0:04:33.160 especially food that is connected to our history in Juneteenth's 0:04:33.200 --> 0:04:33.760 history too. 0:04:34.040 --> 0:04:35.720 All right, let's jump into the dissection. 0:04:42.240 --> 0:04:45.080 Our guest for today's lab is Nicole A. Taylor. 0:04:45.320 --> 0:04:49.360 I'm a food writer and producer and the author of 0:04:49.720 --> 0:04:55.960 the first cookbook solely dedicated to Juneteenth foods, Watermelon and Redbirds, 0:04:56.160 --> 0:04:58.680 a cookbook for Juneteenth and Black celebrations. 0:04:58.920 --> 0:05:01.440 Nicole is a food right and a master home cook. 0:05:01.680 --> 0:05:04.040 She brought her years of experience making food for her 0:05:04.040 --> 0:05:06.480 family and friends to Watermelon and Redbirds. 0:05:06.680 --> 0:05:09.880 Nicole started writing the cookbook in twenty nineteen. She was 0:05:09.920 --> 0:05:11.880 living in New York City, and in her spare time, 0:05:12.000 --> 0:05:14.600 she'd work on the cookbook, typing notes in the subway, 0:05:14.800 --> 0:05:17.440 writing on the weekends. And in twenty twenty, that work 0:05:17.480 --> 0:05:18.880 took on additional meaning. 0:05:19.320 --> 0:05:23.359 I was working on a story about Juneteenth for the 0:05:23.400 --> 0:05:27.880 New York Times, and that story morphed into so many 0:05:27.920 --> 0:05:33.600 different things because of the murder of George Floyd. And 0:05:33.839 --> 0:05:38.120 at that moment, that's when I knew that black people 0:05:38.400 --> 0:05:41.920 needed this book. They needed this cookbook, They needed joy, they. 0:05:41.800 --> 0:05:44.640 Needed a guide, a road map. 0:05:44.680 --> 0:05:50.240 Something tangible that was really a symbol of in sorrow, 0:05:50.920 --> 0:05:55.480 in sadness, we still celebrate, we still gather, We still 0:05:55.480 --> 0:05:57.320 want to put a smile on our face. We still 0:05:57.320 --> 0:06:00.520 want to sit and talk to our piets. And I knew, 0:06:00.560 --> 0:06:03.599 I knew it one hundred percent. And then now as 0:06:03.640 --> 0:06:08.640 we are safely returning back to gathering with family and friends, Hey, 0:06:08.800 --> 0:06:12.760 people want to cook, people want to be outside. 0:06:13.120 --> 0:06:15.200 So, as Nicole said, one of the reasons she wrote 0:06:15.200 --> 0:06:17.120 this book was because she wanted to give people a 0:06:17.120 --> 0:06:19.560 culinary resource for the Juneteenth holiday. 0:06:19.800 --> 0:06:23.359 I have been celebrating Juneteenth for more than ten years, 0:06:23.760 --> 0:06:27.080 and my apartment, my house has always been a place 0:06:27.120 --> 0:06:30.120 that people gather for Memorial Day, fourth of. 0:06:30.200 --> 0:06:33.320 July, Homecoming weekend, you name it. 0:06:33.760 --> 0:06:37.880 My place has always been the hub and the gathering 0:06:37.960 --> 0:06:42.560 spot for everyone, but particularly for black folks. And there's 0:06:42.640 --> 0:06:46.880 always a whole lot of food and a whole bunch 0:06:46.960 --> 0:06:50.680 of drinking. So I mean, why not put that in 0:06:50.680 --> 0:06:52.720 the cookbook and tell the stories behind it. 0:06:53.040 --> 0:06:55.960 We can't talk about Juneteenth without talking about the cookout 0:06:56.040 --> 0:06:59.320 and barbecues when people gather together and spend time together 0:06:59.520 --> 0:07:00.320 to eat, eat. 0:07:00.520 --> 0:07:02.840 And you know, we talk about this all the time, 0:07:03.080 --> 0:07:07.040 especially in the South. Cookout is the event. Barbecue is 0:07:07.160 --> 0:07:09.800 a type of meat at the cookout. But one thing 0:07:09.840 --> 0:07:12.440 I love about the cookout and for most summer celebrations, 0:07:12.560 --> 0:07:15.239 especially in my community, is that everybody eats. 0:07:15.560 --> 0:07:17.400 That is very true, but it feels different when it 0:07:17.400 --> 0:07:19.040 comes to black people. With Like, when I show up 0:07:19.040 --> 0:07:22.480 for a black event, I have no worries. I usually 0:07:22.480 --> 0:07:24.320 know the food is going to be good, but if 0:07:24.320 --> 0:07:26.600 it's a non black event, I might need to have 0:07:26.600 --> 0:07:27.760 a snack before I get there. 0:07:28.000 --> 0:07:33.120 No shade, but we must be a fad because we're 0:07:33.160 --> 0:07:36.080 celebrating Juneteenth. We're going to talk about the experience of 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:38.160 the cookout, whether it's on June Teeth or any other 0:07:38.240 --> 0:07:41.840 day and consider everything that's happening. Yes, there's the food, 0:07:42.120 --> 0:07:44.400 but there are a lot of other sensory things you're 0:07:44.440 --> 0:07:46.880 going to experience that don't necessarily have to do with 0:07:46.960 --> 0:07:49.720 food but are really specific to black events. 0:07:50.000 --> 0:07:52.920 For one, you roll up and everybody is dressed to 0:07:52.960 --> 0:07:53.480 the nines. 0:07:54.000 --> 0:07:57.520 You can smell the perfume from your auntie where her 0:07:57.600 --> 0:08:01.480 bright red lipstick on, your aunt has his gatas on, 0:08:01.760 --> 0:08:05.080 and the music is blasting. You already know what music 0:08:05.240 --> 0:08:08.720 is going to be played at least one time, Frankie Bevering, 0:08:08.800 --> 0:08:10.640 Lee and Maze before I let go. 0:08:11.240 --> 0:08:12.720 I know if you go to t T's cookout, they 0:08:12.720 --> 0:08:13.840 gonna playing Asap Rocky. 0:08:16.360 --> 0:08:20.920 You know, it's just like sometimes you just gotta hear 0:08:21.000 --> 0:08:23.480 I love that, and that's my problem. 0:08:23.600 --> 0:08:29.160 Oh gosh, y'all know I don't listen to that kind 0:08:29.160 --> 0:08:29.520 of music. 0:08:38.559 --> 0:08:40.560 So we all have these experience as a cookout. And 0:08:40.600 --> 0:08:43.280 then there's the food. So let's start off with the sides. 0:08:43.640 --> 0:08:46.440 Nicole said. One of the things you can almost always 0:08:46.480 --> 0:08:48.040 find is potato salad. 0:08:48.840 --> 0:08:53.400 When you move around to the dining table or to 0:08:53.480 --> 0:08:55.520 the table where all the food is set up, you 0:08:55.559 --> 0:08:59.240 see the potato salad and a universal question people ask 0:08:59.360 --> 0:09:01.240 us who the potato salad? 0:09:02.960 --> 0:09:03.520 And I just. 0:09:03.480 --> 0:09:07.559 Feel like those sensory things and those questions you don't 0:09:07.720 --> 0:09:11.480 oftentimes find them in non black barbecues there or non 0:09:11.600 --> 0:09:14.920 black baby showers or a block party. There are some 0:09:15.000 --> 0:09:19.240 cultural nuances that I feel like you can always find them. 0:09:19.320 --> 0:09:22.160 You can always find them when there's celebration happening. 0:09:22.480 --> 0:09:26.080 There's always something with the potato salad. But let's dive 0:09:26.160 --> 0:09:30.439 into what we consider to be special about Juneteenth foods. 0:09:30.720 --> 0:09:33.439 Nicole walkers through some of her favorites in her book 0:09:33.559 --> 0:09:37.080 Watermelon and Redbirds. The book has an entire chapter dedicated 0:09:37.080 --> 0:09:41.400 to the most important drink of juneteen celebrations, the red drink. 0:09:41.800 --> 0:09:47.120 I dedicated an entire chapter to the official slash unofficial 0:09:47.240 --> 0:09:48.960 drink of the Juneteenth Party. 0:09:49.120 --> 0:09:52.640 And that's the red drink that is essential, the red drink. 0:09:52.800 --> 0:09:57.280 Oh, the global the African diaspora, black people all over 0:09:57.320 --> 0:09:59.920 the world, we get the red drink. 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:02.080 It's important to highlight that red drink has a place 0:10:02.240 --> 0:10:07.160 beyond Juneteenth. Yes, on June teenth, but it's Juneteenth, and okay. 0:10:07.520 --> 0:10:10.040 It comes from a tradition of making tea out of 0:10:10.080 --> 0:10:13.160 hibiscus flowers, and Hibiscus is a plant that grows in 0:10:13.240 --> 0:10:16.080 tropical and subtropical regions. Nicole said that more and more 0:10:16.200 --> 0:10:18.880 farmers in the American South are growing it as well. 0:10:19.240 --> 0:10:22.760 Black cultures all around the world have different versions of 0:10:22.800 --> 0:10:24.880 the red drink, and Nicole has a cheat sheet in 0:10:24.920 --> 0:10:27.680 her book about what this drink is called in different places. 0:10:28.000 --> 0:10:32.400 This hibiscus tea minus the sweetener is known as beesop 0:10:32.559 --> 0:10:35.840 in Senegal, where it's the national drink, and in Africa 0:10:35.920 --> 0:10:40.160 it's called cardad, and the Caribbean is called sirel, not 0:10:40.280 --> 0:10:44.640 to be confused with the green herb. And in Mexico 0:10:45.080 --> 0:10:49.080 Aqua de Jamaica, and at Black American gatherings, and in 0:10:49.120 --> 0:10:53.600 pop culture it's called red drink. It's a ritual. It 0:10:53.679 --> 0:11:00.640 is a thirst quencher. Traditionally, if we go back, you know, decades, 0:11:00.760 --> 0:11:04.400 it would be hibiscus right in West Africa, you see 0:11:04.559 --> 0:11:08.400 steep hibiscus pods or tea in the Caribbean. 0:11:08.720 --> 0:11:11.240 As it slave African people arrived in the Americas, that 0:11:11.280 --> 0:11:15.640 tradition continued, but it took on other forms like strawberries. 0:11:15.160 --> 0:11:20.840 Creating strawberry lemonade for celebrations. It became a soda, a 0:11:20.920 --> 0:11:26.840 red pop. So that tradition of steeped hibiscus flower where 0:11:26.840 --> 0:11:27.760 you can find. 0:11:27.559 --> 0:11:30.640 All over the world, where not only. 0:11:30.679 --> 0:11:36.000 Black people but brown people too through the transatlantic slave trade, 0:11:36.280 --> 0:11:40.960 that blood, that redness, that fearlessness staying in us. 0:11:41.040 --> 0:11:43.520 And so even now you see the red drink. 0:11:44.520 --> 0:11:47.559 It may not be in the traditional form, but it's 0:11:47.600 --> 0:11:51.959 definitely on the table, and it may be spiked with Hennessy, or. 0:11:51.920 --> 0:11:54.160 It may be spiked with tequila. 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:57.360 But you will see the red drink in some form 0:11:57.559 --> 0:11:59.679 at most, if not all black. 0:11:59.760 --> 0:12:04.679 So it's so amazing how some of these traditions can 0:12:04.760 --> 0:12:10.120 last so long. They change, but their root stays the same. 0:12:10.640 --> 0:12:12.840 Right, And when you say red drink, everybody knows what 0:12:12.880 --> 0:12:14.480 you're talking about. That's amazing. 0:12:15.000 --> 0:12:18.200 And my friend Zakia, if you have not had the 0:12:18.240 --> 0:12:21.719 pleasure of attending one of her cookouts, she has her 0:12:21.760 --> 0:12:24.599 own very special red drink that she always has to 0:12:24.600 --> 0:12:27.040 whip out. If I'm coming, this is what I am 0:12:27.400 --> 0:12:30.679 looking forward to. And we call it Wattley water. 0:12:31.120 --> 0:12:33.319 Yes, so for adults it might be a drink but 0:12:33.400 --> 0:12:35.400 a little alcohol. For kids it can be juice. But 0:12:35.440 --> 0:12:38.640 as Nicole said, it is still a product of your history. 0:12:39.000 --> 0:12:42.000 I did not know anything about the red drink. 0:12:42.280 --> 0:12:42.960 Did you guys? 0:12:43.320 --> 0:12:45.760 Look into your Spotify app right now, and there should 0:12:45.800 --> 0:12:47.960 be a pole and we want to know which red 0:12:48.040 --> 0:12:57.080 drinks have you heard of? Thinking about how traditions can 0:12:57.160 --> 0:13:00.560 change but can still hold a really deep significant that's 0:13:00.640 --> 0:13:03.280 kind of liberating because it gives you room to experiment 0:13:03.360 --> 0:13:05.840 and innovate in the kitchen. And that's something that Cold 0:13:05.880 --> 0:13:09.320 focused on in her book, taking those classics that people 0:13:09.520 --> 0:13:13.520 love and then making something new and delicious for me. 0:13:13.840 --> 0:13:17.240 And this cookbook, I decided I would put some very 0:13:17.280 --> 0:13:20.239 classic things in the book, but maybe. 0:13:20.000 --> 0:13:21.240 Do it a little bit different. 0:13:21.320 --> 0:13:27.439 For example, I have this juicy, glorious chicken burger with 0:13:27.600 --> 0:13:30.840 white cheddar, and it's not that dry burger is like 0:13:31.240 --> 0:13:33.120 real nice and moist. 0:13:33.120 --> 0:13:35.120 And why did I do that? 0:13:36.040 --> 0:13:38.920 I have so many people who come to my gatherings 0:13:38.920 --> 0:13:40.480 and they're like, I'm not eating red meat. 0:13:40.800 --> 0:13:42.960 So I got them. I got them. 0:13:43.160 --> 0:13:45.360 I feel like Nicole has taking us to a Juneteenth party. 0:13:45.440 --> 0:13:47.840 We've had all different kinds of red drink. She's described 0:13:47.880 --> 0:13:53.560 an amazing burger. It's time for dessert, Yes, I am ready. 0:13:53.600 --> 0:13:57.439 And since it's June, Nicole takes us right into ice cream. 0:13:57.960 --> 0:14:00.920 What is the summer time without ice cream? 0:14:01.480 --> 0:14:07.760 Particularly a nectarine roasted nectarine Sunday with caramel sauce and 0:14:07.800 --> 0:14:09.199 a honey vanilla ice cream. 0:14:09.600 --> 0:14:10.839 I share that in my book. 0:14:10.960 --> 0:14:13.720 So if you want to wow people with ice cream 0:14:14.320 --> 0:14:17.880 or a raspberry popsicle, you can do that. 0:14:18.240 --> 0:14:20.360 Depending on where you are in the country, there might 0:14:20.360 --> 0:14:23.400 be a Juneteenth festival or parade. But Nicole said that 0:14:23.440 --> 0:14:25.040 if you don't want to do that and you would 0:14:25.080 --> 0:14:27.880 rather stay home, you can bring the party to you 0:14:28.200 --> 0:14:28.960 to your house. 0:14:29.280 --> 0:14:33.920 I've included a whole chapter dedicated to what I call 0:14:34.440 --> 0:14:40.520 Americana festival food, like the funnel cake, the golden crispy 0:14:41.080 --> 0:14:43.760 fonnel cake. Not trying to toot my own horn, but 0:14:44.200 --> 0:14:49.240 my fonnel cake batter is totally not super sweet. I 0:14:49.280 --> 0:14:53.400 got my batter just right, sprinkled with powdered sugar, and 0:14:53.440 --> 0:14:58.000 in this cookbook, I give readers two options for toppings, 0:14:58.440 --> 0:15:02.200 mango and of course it's a very classic apple topping. 0:15:02.560 --> 0:15:06.520 Let me tell you something, funnel cake is important to me. 0:15:06.960 --> 0:15:10.040 That is something that it is very important. I will 0:15:10.040 --> 0:15:12.720 stop at a fair that I have no intentions on 0:15:13.240 --> 0:15:16.400 attending for the funnel cake. Wow. It was a fair 0:15:16.920 --> 0:15:19.160 down the street and I was like, I'm sure they 0:15:19.200 --> 0:15:19.800 have fun okake. 0:15:20.680 --> 0:15:21.720 I smell a funnel cake. 0:15:22.120 --> 0:15:24.120 O cake in the turkey legs. Shoot, I will get 0:15:24.120 --> 0:15:26.920 a funnel cake in a turkey leg and it's time 0:15:26.960 --> 0:15:27.400 well spent. 0:15:27.640 --> 0:15:31.520 Wow. See for me, it's the ice cream. I remember 0:15:31.640 --> 0:15:34.760 growing up and my grandma making ice cream in this 0:15:34.840 --> 0:15:37.360 like brown ice cream maker thing, the one you got 0:15:37.360 --> 0:15:39.320 the crank on the side. Yeah, it was like a 0:15:39.360 --> 0:15:42.200 special occasion thing. Put the ice in the salt, the 0:15:42.240 --> 0:15:43.400 ice in the salt. There you go. 0:15:43.880 --> 0:15:44.000 Hm. 0:15:44.560 --> 0:15:47.960 Now queensin art is making my ice cream and sometimes briars. 0:15:50.720 --> 0:15:52.440 Well, let's take a break and when we get back 0:15:52.520 --> 0:15:55.680 we'll hear more from Nicole A. Taylor about juneteen foods 0:15:55.760 --> 0:15:57.960 and the place of food in this celebration. 0:16:17.480 --> 0:16:18.040 We're back. 0:16:18.480 --> 0:16:21.440 We've been talking to Nicole A. Taylor, cookbook author and 0:16:21.600 --> 0:16:24.880 master cook about June teen foods, their history, how they 0:16:24.880 --> 0:16:28.480 connect people and cultures in their place in the juneteen celebration. 0:16:28.840 --> 0:16:32.320 We've talked about cookouts, potato, salad, red drink, all of it. Okay, 0:16:32.480 --> 0:16:36.360 ice cream, funnel cakes. You're gonna have to take an 0:16:36.360 --> 0:16:41.080 antacic at the end of this episode. But more importantly, 0:16:41.400 --> 0:16:44.800 we've been thinking about how food connects communities and also 0:16:44.880 --> 0:16:47.800 ties into our personal memories. We wanted to step back 0:16:47.880 --> 0:16:50.200 and look at foods in Black culture, food that is 0:16:50.240 --> 0:16:51.320 central and shared. 0:16:51.720 --> 0:16:54.840 One is watermelon. This is a fruit from the African 0:16:54.880 --> 0:16:58.360 continent and it's the cousin of the cucumber and pumpkin, 0:16:58.760 --> 0:17:03.240 among other vegetables. For Nicole, watermelon brings up deep memories 0:17:03.280 --> 0:17:04.159 of her childhood. 0:17:04.720 --> 0:17:10.080 That fruit is so much a part of my summertime. 0:17:10.480 --> 0:17:12.720 I remember going in the grocery store when I was 0:17:13.160 --> 0:17:17.040 a young girl, and you would see the big brown 0:17:17.200 --> 0:17:21.280 tubs with the watermelon stack really really high, and I 0:17:21.320 --> 0:17:23.960 would be begging to grab the watermelon and put it 0:17:24.000 --> 0:17:26.080 in a buggy. And then we would check out, and 0:17:26.080 --> 0:17:28.840 I would get in the car and literally I would 0:17:28.880 --> 0:17:31.679 listen to the watermelon go back and forth on the 0:17:31.720 --> 0:17:34.360 floorboard of the car. And then you would get home 0:17:34.960 --> 0:17:36.560 and all day is like when are you gonna cut 0:17:36.600 --> 0:17:39.800 the watermelon? And my aunts and my mom they didn't 0:17:39.800 --> 0:17:42.480 want that watermelon juice like all over the house. So 0:17:42.520 --> 0:17:44.880 they would give us a piece of newspaper and tell 0:17:44.960 --> 0:17:47.240 us to go outside, the kids go outside and eat 0:17:47.240 --> 0:17:47.919 the watermelon. 0:17:48.240 --> 0:17:51.840 That story, to me is just pure joy. 0:17:52.240 --> 0:17:54.960 It is the story of so many Black people in 0:17:55.000 --> 0:17:58.120 the American South, so many Black people who live in Oakland, 0:17:58.240 --> 0:18:00.960 black people who live in Chicago. It's a pretty much 0:18:01.080 --> 0:18:04.560 universal story about a fruit that really goes all the 0:18:04.560 --> 0:18:05.359 way back. 0:18:05.119 --> 0:18:07.680 To the continent to where we're from. 0:18:07.800 --> 0:18:13.080 There's so many other fruits and vegetables that connect Black 0:18:13.080 --> 0:18:14.359 people around the world. 0:18:14.760 --> 0:18:17.920 I love that and it brings up my own memories too, 0:18:18.880 --> 0:18:20.960 and it's just really amazing. I think about how food 0:18:21.200 --> 0:18:25.560 is tethering people and communities, like we don't know each other, 0:18:25.680 --> 0:18:28.400 we're having a similar experience. It's wild. 0:18:28.600 --> 0:18:31.560 Another food that black community share is sweet potatoes. 0:18:31.720 --> 0:18:36.680 And I'm not talking about yams, but for real deal 0:18:36.840 --> 0:18:41.080 sweet potatoes, as Jessica Harris told us, and how on 0:18:41.240 --> 0:18:47.320 hogs yam is this hairy, very fibrous vegetables. But sweet 0:18:47.320 --> 0:18:51.960 potatoes is such a part of the African American really 0:18:52.000 --> 0:18:55.199 the black table, and that's a vegetable A lot of 0:18:55.200 --> 0:18:58.960 times we don't think about as being a universal thing 0:18:59.040 --> 0:19:03.200 no matter where you are, from Brazil to West Africa 0:19:03.240 --> 0:19:04.720 to South Georgia. 0:19:04.800 --> 0:19:07.359 And this is why conversation about food is so much 0:19:07.400 --> 0:19:10.000 more than just food. When I reflect on growing up, 0:19:10.040 --> 0:19:13.160 I don't know that I really thought about the African diaspora. 0:19:13.240 --> 0:19:16.320 It wasn't that I didn't know these things to be true. 0:19:16.440 --> 0:19:18.600 It's just I wasn't exposed to different folks from the 0:19:18.640 --> 0:19:21.160 diaspora as a kid, right, and so everybody I knew 0:19:21.200 --> 0:19:25.119 it was just Black American Southern culture, that's it. But 0:19:25.160 --> 0:19:26.639 then I went to college and I started to hear 0:19:26.680 --> 0:19:29.359 black folks from totally different places talking about some of 0:19:29.400 --> 0:19:35.720 the same things, both food experience, tradition, and I started 0:19:35.720 --> 0:19:38.080 to think about these connected experiences around the food and 0:19:38.119 --> 0:19:41.240 the rituals around it, like, for example, frying fish on Friday. 0:19:41.400 --> 0:19:44.760 It's the stories behind it, right, It's the story like 0:19:45.240 --> 0:19:48.639 the newspaper we just talked about, and frying the fish 0:19:48.720 --> 0:19:51.920 on Friday and even putting to catch the grease you 0:19:51.960 --> 0:19:55.600 would put newspaper down. So what I think about it 0:19:55.640 --> 0:19:59.360 is I listen and I laugh. Sometimes I like sit 0:19:59.440 --> 0:20:02.359 back and go, oh my gosh, it's someone quote taking 0:20:02.400 --> 0:20:05.280 our food. But I know that beyond the. 0:20:05.240 --> 0:20:06.800 Food, there is a bigger story. 0:20:06.920 --> 0:20:10.959 It is attached to a person, it is attached to oftentimes, 0:20:11.119 --> 0:20:16.679 you know, unpaid labor. It is attached to migration, It 0:20:16.760 --> 0:20:20.120 is attached to our grandmothers, our mothers, or even our 0:20:20.200 --> 0:20:21.760 sisters or ourselves. 0:20:22.040 --> 0:20:24.880 So I know that you can't. 0:20:24.760 --> 0:20:29.040 Gentrify a cultural food because that means you're taking our stories, 0:20:29.040 --> 0:20:31.080 and our stories are in us. And I think, like 0:20:31.359 --> 0:20:33.840 with my cookbook and so many other black cook books 0:20:33.840 --> 0:20:36.679 on the market, what we're doing is telling the story, 0:20:36.800 --> 0:20:39.440 reminding people. You may be in love with collar greens 0:20:39.480 --> 0:20:42.080 or sweet potatoes, maybe in vogue now, but here's the 0:20:42.160 --> 0:20:45.080 story behind that dish or that food. 0:20:45.320 --> 0:20:48.320 Wh Nicole talked about here. The connection between stories and 0:20:48.320 --> 0:20:52.040 food made me think about how holiday experiences are so 0:20:52.280 --> 0:20:54.000 tightly interwoven with food. 0:20:54.200 --> 0:20:56.400 And we've been talking about how Juneteenth and how food 0:20:56.440 --> 0:20:58.720 and Black culture are so intertwined, But how does all 0:20:58.720 --> 0:21:00.960 of these things fit together. Nicole has thought about this 0:21:01.000 --> 0:21:03.480 a lot, and I'm sure it was a heavy load 0:21:03.520 --> 0:21:05.320 on her as the first person to write a book 0:21:05.400 --> 0:21:09.159 dedicated to June tenth foods. She said, cookbooks have a 0:21:09.280 --> 0:21:11.960 permanence to them, and she wanted to create a permanent 0:21:12.000 --> 0:21:14.280 resource for folks to have in their kitchens. 0:21:14.480 --> 0:21:17.520 It's forever. You can't erase it. If it's online, it's like, 0:21:17.560 --> 0:21:19.560 oh wait, that website is down. 0:21:20.000 --> 0:21:23.680 Or when your grandmother write downs her recipe and you 0:21:23.800 --> 0:21:24.480 pass it. 0:21:24.359 --> 0:21:28.840 From person to person, or you keep that spiral bound. 0:21:28.640 --> 0:21:32.920 Community cookbook or church cookbook, you hold on to the memories. 0:21:32.960 --> 0:21:37.600 And so for black cookbook authors, particularly for myself, documenting 0:21:38.160 --> 0:21:41.840 Juneteenth and Black celebrations is more more than just me 0:21:42.119 --> 0:21:43.160 telling my stories. 0:21:43.240 --> 0:21:44.960 It's something to pass down to my son. 0:21:45.480 --> 0:21:48.440 Nicole shared with us some of her own food experiences 0:21:48.480 --> 0:21:50.439 that she wants to pass on to her son and 0:21:50.480 --> 0:21:52.360 the future generations in her family. 0:21:52.720 --> 0:21:58.119 I think it's waffles, waffles. I want him to master 0:21:58.320 --> 0:22:02.639 making a beautiful walk. I want him to own a 0:22:02.840 --> 0:22:06.040 very nice waffle maker, and I want him to remember 0:22:06.080 --> 0:22:09.040 how on Saturdays, even if it was a holiday or 0:22:09.080 --> 0:22:10.120 it was a regular. 0:22:09.800 --> 0:22:14.280 Saturdays, that I'm in waffles. That is something that is everlasting. 0:22:14.480 --> 0:22:15.000 Is simple. 0:22:15.119 --> 0:22:21.840 He can pass that on to his next door neighbors, kids, uncles, nieces, nephews. Yeah, 0:22:21.880 --> 0:22:24.440