African-Americans have shaped American cuisine in surprising ways
A new exhibition celebrates the ingenuity of inventors, chefs, brewers, writers and others
THE MOST visually striking things on display at “African/American: Making the Nation’s Table”, an exhibition at the Africa Centre in Harlem, are a quilt and a kitchen. The quilt (pictured) is made up of 406 squares, each depicting an African-American contribution or contributor to American cuisine. It invites study: working out who is who, and what each cookie or tankard represents. The test kitchen for Ebony magazine, rescued from demolition in Chicago, is a paragon of psychedelic chic, with multicoloured whorls covering the walls, cabinets and even the dishwasher, along with pea-green countertops and a dark orange refrigerator.
This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Makers and shapers”
Culture March 19th 2022
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From the March 19th 2022 edition
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