African Americans Who Have Fed the First Family, 2/11/17

Culinary Historians of Chicago:

The Story of the African Americans Who Have Fed Our First Family

Presented by Adrian Miller
Food writer, attorney and certified barbecue judge

Saturday, February 11, 2017
10 a.m. to noon
At Kendall College School of Culinary Arts
900 N. North Branch Street, Chicago
(Located just north of W. Chicago Ave. at N. Halsted St.)
FREE PARKING IN LOT ON NORTH SIDE OF SCHOOL

It’s a return trip to the Culinary Historians for James Beard award–winning author Adrian Miller, who first spoke to us in 2014 on soul food. Today he’s back to tell us about his just-released second book, The President’s Kitchen Cabinet: The Story of the African Americans Who Have Fed Our First Families, From the Washingtons to the Obamas. Mr. Miller will share the stories of the African Americans who worked in the presidential food service as chefs, personal cooks, butlers, stewards, and servers for every First Family since George and Martha Washington. We will learn how these remarkable men and women were simultaneously marvelous cooks, family confidantes, and civil rights advocates.

Surveying the labor of enslaved people during the antebellum period and the gradual opening of employment after Emancipation, Mr. Miller will highlight how food-related work slowly became professionalized and the important part African Americans played in that process. His chronicle of the daily table in the White House proclaims a heartfelt American story.

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Biography: Adrian Miller is a food writer, attorney and certified barbecue judge who lives in Denver, CO. He is currently the executive director of the Colorado Council of Churches and, as such, is the first African American and the first layperson to hold that position. Mr. Miller previously served as a special assistant to President Bill Clinton and a senior policy analyst for Colorado governor Bill Ritter Jr. He has also been a board member of the Southern Foodways Alliance. His first book, Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine, One Plate at a Time, won the James Beard Foundation Award for Scholarship and Reference in 2014.
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Cost of the lecture program is $5, $3 for students and no charge for CHC members and Kendall students and faculty.

To reserve, please e-mail your reservation: [email protected]

http://www.CulinaryHistorians.org

this was yet another fantastic culinary historians meeting. adrian miller is a gem of a speaker- CHC had him a few years ago when he published 'soul food', his book which won an important culinary award that year. his talk today about african americans cooking in the white house, starting in revolutionary war times, was fascinating and funny. we served a few dishes from the book: a texas all beef chili, a favorite of bill clinton; some devilled almonds; and i made a really interesting sweet potato cheesecake baked on top of a thin layer of pound cake. people scarfed down all the food. these meetings are incredibly exciting for people interested in foodways. it always suprises me how few LTH'ers come to these things....

Podcast on

African Americans Who Have Fed the First Family

Presented by Adrian Miller

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From 2008 until mid-2013, Culinary Historians programs were recorded by WBEZ via Chicago Amplified. Since then, we have recorded our programs hosted on soundcloud.

You can find a list here.

We are also on:
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These run the length of an introduction plus presentation with questions, but no food samples.