african american food

Marissa Gencarelli is the co-founder of Yoli Tortilleria in Kansas City where they make tortillas using traditional Mexican methods. Damarr Brown is the Chef de Cuisine at Virtue, a well known restaurant on the South Side of Chicago. These two guests have one thing in common: they’re both recipients of prestigious James Beard Awards.

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If you’re a fan of reality cooking shows, chances are you know who Rock Harper is. In 2007 he exploded onto the the public stage as the season 3 winner of Gordon Ramsay’s popular Hell’s Kitchen competition. Since then Rock’s career has flourished, culminating in the opening of Queen Mother’s. But where many of the giants in the chicken game lean on plantation owners and mammy figures to symbolize their brands, Rock’s inspiration is altogether different. Listen to our interview with the man who is changing the chicken sandwich game. 

Rock Harper is featured in Issue No. 10 of AphroChic magazine in the story, Queen Mother's. 

On the season finale of My Family Recipe, host Arati Menon welcomes Adrian Miller, AKA “The Soul Food Scholar.” Not many people can boast their accomplishments as a food writer, James Beard award winner, attorney and certified barbecue judge; but Adrian Miller is one-in-a-million. Adrian talks about the dishes and characters who populated his childhood and his church community in Denver, Colorado. He tells us the story of the perfect cornbread and how this recipe represents so much more history and love than its simplicity might suggest. 

If you’re hungry for more of this story, you can read the original essay “The No Fail Cornbread That's Slightly Sweet and Very Divine,” published by Food52. 

My Family Recipe is created by the Food52 Podcast Network and Heritage Radio Network, inspired by the eponymous Food52 column.