Food Moments in Black History
To celebrate Black History Month, I thought we’d take a moment to highlight Black figures and their many moments in food history. Here are a few Black History food facts I bet you didn’t know!
Taking it back a bit, in 1949, Lena Richard became the first Black woman to have their own televised cooking show! She was known all across Louisiana for her Creole cooking. Her recipes were so coveted that she self-published a cookbook in 1939 and due to the demand and popularity, it was reissued a year later with Houghton-Mifflin titled “New Orleans Cook Book”. It wasn’t long until she became a head chef in New York and eventually opened her first restaurant. Fast forward to 1949, when she opened her second restaurant and had her TV show!
Here at The Popcorn Lady, one of our most popular summertime offerings is our Ice Cream Social. Who knew that we would have Black entrepreneur Alfred L. Cralle to thank for the very ice cream scoop we use for our socials? In 1897, Cralle was awarded a patent for what we now know as the ice cream scooper. He had the idea for the helpful invention while he was working at a hotel and noticed that servers were having trouble with ice cream always sticking to the spoon.
Curious about recent Black food history? In 2019 when Chef Mariya Russell became the first Black American woman to be awarded a Michelin star! She was honored with the coveted award for her work as a chef at Chicago’s Kumiko and Kikk? Japanese dining bar- just days after her 30th birthday! Talk about a birthday present to remember!
For our final historical food moment, let’s take it to our home state…In 2022, Nourish + Bloom Market, the world’s first Black-owned autonomous grocery store, opened in Georgia! Not only is Nourish + Bloom Market the first autonomous grocery store with robotic delivery in the United States, it’s the first African-American-owned autonomous grocery store in the world. What an accomplishment! The owners' introduction to the food industry began after their oldest son was diagnosed with Autism, an experience that led them to make healthy food accessible to anyone and everyone.
Hope you enjoyed a look into Black history with a foodie lens with me, I even learned some things I never knew!
If you’re interested in learning about how African American cuisine influenced American food, Netflix has the perfect docuseries for you! Check out the trailer for High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America, it’s out now!
High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America | Official Trailer | Netflix