Culinary Experience Brings Author Toni Tipton-Martin & Chef Aziza Young to Greensburg
On April 18, 6:30-9pm, attendees of The Celebration and Evolution of Two Centuries of African American Cooking will enjoy a four-course meal prepared by Chef Aziza Young and a presentation by Toni Tipton-Martin.
The Westmoreland Museum of American Art is hosting The Celebration and Evolution of Two Centuries of African American Cooking, April 18, at the Museum with Toni Tipton-Martin, the first African-American food editor of a daily American newspaper and author of the James Beard Award-Winning The Jemima Code: Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks, and Chef Aziza Young, experienced chef and former contestant on Food Network’s Chopped and Fox’s Hell’s Kitchen.
Tipton-Martin’s The Jemima Code examines and chronicles the history of African-American cooking found in over 150 African American cookbooks spanning over 200 years. Her recently published book Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African American Cooking expands upon that research by modernizing recipes from those historic texts for today’s kitchen.
In The Jemima Code and Jubilee, Tipton-Martin reveals a realm of African-American cuisine, made by overlooked enslaved master chefs, free caterers, black entrepreneurs and culinary stars, that takes inspiration from around the world with a variety of cultural influences from the greater African diaspora. Through her research and books, Tipton-Martin contends that African American cuisine is a rich, diverse, varied style of cooking that has shaped much of present-day American cuisine and is so much more than just “soul food.”
The culinary experience with Tipton-Martin and Chef Young will begin at 6:30pm. From 7-9pm, Chef Young will prepare and serve a four-course dinner interpreting recipes from Tipton-Martin’s book, Jubilee. Between each course Tipton-Martin will discuss the history and evolution of African American cooking. A book signing with Tipton-Martin will follow dinner, and copies of Jubilee: Recipes From Two Centuries of African American Cooking will be available for purchase at the Museum Shop.
Chef Young’s Celebration and Evolution of Two Centuries of African American-Cooking Menu:
- 1st Course: Gumbo Z’Herbes
- 2nd Course: Catfish Étouffée with Red Rice
- 3rd Course: Roasted Leg of Lamb with Sweet Potato Salad & Collard Greens
- 4th Course: Gingerbread with Bourbon Chantilly Cream
Chef Young’s Vegetarian Menu:
- 1st Course: Okra Gumbo
- 2nd Course: Beet Étouffée
- 3rd Course: Braised Maitake Mushrooms Seasoned with Sweet Potato Salad & Collard Greens
- 4th Course: Gingerbread with Bourbon Chantilly Cream
Tickets for the dinner, which include a cash bar, are $60.00 for members of the Museum and $70.00 for non-members. A wine pairing is available for each course for an additional $40. Seats can be purchased at showclix.com/event/two-centuries-african-american-cooking.
This event is presented in partnership with students from Adelphoi Village.
This culinary experience with Author Toni Tipton-Martin and Chef Aziza Young is part of the current roster of programming complementing the featured exhibition African American Art in the 20th Century, a traveling exhibition organized by Smithsonian American Art Museum, recognizing and honoring 34 African American artists, many of whom were marginalized from the mainstream art world.