Searching for food themes to recognize Black History Month, I was happy to find the 2023 Black History Month Virtual Potluck hosted online by Eat the Culture. The potluck includes a wide selection of recipes that trace “popular dishes of the Diaspora from their West African roots to North America and beyond.”
Learning a bit of Black History by participating in a virtual potluck sounded like a win-win to me. Eat the Culture curated an enticing list recipes relevant to Black History featuring a wide array of food bloggers.
I hope you’ll take a moment to scroll through all the recipes of the 2023 Black History Month Virtual Potluck. It’s a culinary lesson that will enrich your mind and your cooking.
I chose to make Jerk Chicken, a dish I know to be associated with Jamaica. But the featured recipe – Jerk Chicken Wings from This Worthey Life – revealed the history. Jerk style cooking derives from the combination of flavors and techniques of African and Indigenous people of Jamaica, based on a type of barbecue original to West Africa.
The Jerk Chicken recipe really delivered! I used thighs, marinated overnight then cooked on a gas grill. The flavors from allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, and thyme were a delight, a warm and savory reward after grilling in cold, dark, and snowy conditions here in the midwest. Unfortunately, my neighborhood grocery did not have scotch bonnet or habanero peppers, so I used (a single) jalapeño. The heat level barely registered. I can’t wait to give the recipe another try with the traditional scotch bonnet. Though I admit I’ll be easing into it.
Another potluck selection I couldn’t resist was Southern Rice Pudding from Begin with Butter. I loved the personal reflection on time as an ingredient but also the history lesson describing how rice pudding of the American South derives from a creamy millet based dessert from Senegal and Gambia of West Africa.
The Southern Rice Pudding with brandied cherries was dreamy and decadent. It was also fun to make! There was meditative stirring of the custard, pitting a bowl of cherries, and flaming the brandy.
There’s so much more culinary history and corresponding recipes in the 2023 Black History Month Virtual Potluck. And such a fabulous compilation of food bloggers. Expand your celebration of Black History Month and learn more from the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
