Jessica B. Harris on The Legacy Quilt: African-American Foundation of American Cuisine 1619-2019

·45 min·4 clips

A 14-foot quilt documents 400 years of hidden African-American culinary contributions, from 1619 to 2019.

Linda Pelaccio introduces the episode by describing the Museum of Food and Drink's ambitious exhibition 'African-American Making the Nation's Table' and its centerpiece, the Legacy Quilt. The quilt is 14 feet tall and nearly 30 feet wide, documenting contributions from 1619 to 2019. Guest Jessica B. Harris, the lead curator, corrects a bio detail about her awards and explains her role. Harris discusses the quilt's creation, involving an advisory board, public submissions, and Harlem Needle Arts for construction. The quilt is divided into four centuries, with fabrics representative of each era. Harris highlights the intentional blank blocks symbolizing unknown contributors. She notes ongoing discoveries, like more about George Washington's chef Hercules. Harris selected 25 individuals for an accompanying book, focusing on diversity across categories like entrepreneurship and invention, excluding living people. She mentions specific figures such as Charity Duchess Quamino, an enslaved pastry chef, and Jefferson Evans, a 1947 CIA graduate. The conversation covers inventors, caterers, and street vendors like pepper pot sellers in Philadelphia. Harris emphasizes the national scope, beyond the South. The exhibit includes four components: rice/agriculture, hospitality/service, distillation/brewing, and migration. A key feature is the reconstructed Ebony test kitchen with a Questlove-curated playlist. The exhibit's opening was postponed due to COVID-19, with plans for display at the Africa Center in Harlem. Harris reflects on the exhibit as the first major one on African-American food, hoping for a permanent home. The episode concludes with information on ordering the book and future updates.

As heard by us

A thoughtful, wide-ranging look at African-American creativity and labor in culinary history.

A Taste of the Past follows Harris through African-American culinary history, with a Museum of Food and Drink project and a related book giving the conversation its frame.

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Press play when you want the kitchen to open onto four hundred years of African-American culinary history.

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