The Forgotten History of Black Chefs
APPRENTICES WANTED. One or two colored or black Girls will be taken as Apprentices, for a certain term of years, to the PASTRY BUSINESS, by a free colored woman , who is a complete PastryCook. Proper care will be taken of those placed with her. Apply at the fruit store, No. 81 East Bay. — CHARLESTON COURIER (DECEMBER 2, 1830) Therese Nelson, a dear friend and chef, and I are talking in her Harlem apartment. It’s crowded with cookbooks stacked to the ceiling. Therese is a passionate creative and learner, and we share a love of black culinary history . She runs a site and Facebook page that celebrate just that. For Therese, and many chefs of color, the classroom was not the place where they learned about themselves and the culinary past of the African American people . “ Culinary school s, just like regular school growing up, don’t really teach you your history. You never heard about James Hemings or Hercules or Malinda Russell or Abby Fisher or anybody like that in any of your classes...
