412. Dr. Jessica B. Harris with Kristi Brown: Recipes and Stories on the Origin of American Cuisine
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
Release Date: 07/03/2025
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
Who isn’t hoping for a quality partner to build a life with? Someone charming, reliable, with a great personality? But what happens when that sparkling personality is far darker around the edges than you realized? In her tensely thrilling new novel Don’t Let Him In, author Lisa Jewell explores the layers of truth and deception unraveling before three women who find themselves tied together by a man who has more secrets than any of them bargained for. Nick Radcliffe seems to have it all – he’s a man of substance and good taste, with a smile that could melt the coldest heart and a...
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`This is a dynamic and inspiring community panel on the joyful power of arts activism. In a time when many are facing systemic erasure — politically, socially, and culturally — Pottery Northwest is transforming art into resistance through equity-driven programming that uplifts Black, Brown, and LGBTQIA+ voices. Moderated by James Miles, the panel features ceramicist Aisha Harrison, former legislator Kirsten Harris-Talley, and Pottery Northwest Executive Director Ed King. Leading Pottery Northwest is a privilege for Ed King after a career as an award-winning visual artist and ad...
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Far more art is produced in a place like Seattle that is seen by the general public, in venues like galleries, museums, and art fairs. Who decides which art goes on display, and which work remains in the maker’s studio? A panel of art world experts discussed the often behind-the-scenes process that selects certain artists while sidelining others, and whether the current structure encourages or suppresses diversity, and where there is room for improvement. Elisheba Johnson is a conceptual artist and curator for Wa Na Wari. She was previously a public art manager for Seattle’s Office...
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Many of today’s anti-trans sentiments revolve around the belief that things like gender-affirming care and nonbinary identities are part of a new trend. Yet, over a century ago, one doctor’s revolutionary work around gender and sexuality suggests otherwise. Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, a German-Jewish sexologist and activist, grew famous (and infamous) for his theory of sexual relativity. While he may be largely forgotten, journalist Daniel Brook wants to reintroduce Hirschfeld to today’s discussion around gender and sexuality. Drawing from his book, The Einstein of Sex: Dr. Magnus...
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Have you ever wondered how American cuisine came to be? When we look at food from around the world, we may more readily accept the complexity of its origins or their legacy in the culinary landscape. But it may be surprising to some that many of our country’s dietary customs likewise stem from culturally robust beginnings. From a James Beard Cookbook Hall of Famer and the star of the Netflix docuseries High on the Hog, Dr. Jessica B. Harris comes her latest work, Braided Heritage: Recipes and Stories on the Origin of American Cuisine. This cookbook — replete with over 100...
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While the war in Ukraine continues to grab news headlines, the daily lives of Ukrainians remain opaque and mostly anonymous. What is it really like to live there during wartime? Historian Danielle Leavitt answers that question in her book, By the Second Spring: Seven Lives and One Year of the War in Ukraine. By going beyond familiar portraits of wartime heroism and victimhood, Leavitt reveals the human experience of the conflict. A U.S. citizen who grew up in Ukraine, Leavitt draws on her deep familiarity with the country and online diaries to track a diverse group of Ukrainians through...
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A fur-trading schooner beached in 1811. A passenger liner lost in 1906. An almost-empty tanker broken on the shore in 1999. These shipwrecks, and thousands more, are why the northwest coast of North America is sometimes called the “Graveyard of the Pacific.” Drawing from his book, Wrecked, history professor and author Coll Thrush tells the stories of many vessels that met their fate along this rugged coast and how they open up conversations about colonialism, Indigenous persistence, and place-based history. Shipwrecks are commemorated in museums, historical markers, folklore, place...
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You could argue that Dave Barry is the country’s class clown, but did you know that he actually was elected class clown in high school? It’s no wonder, then, that he’s made a career out of making fun of pretty much everything. So how in the world does the son of a Presbyterian minister wind up winning a Pulitzer Prize for writing a wildly inaccurate newspaper column read by millions of people? Dave Barry will explain. Barry draws from his latest book, Class Clown, to take us on a ride through his life so far, starting with a childhood largely spent throwing rocks for...
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Founded in 1970, NPR is America’s most powerful broadcast news network. Despite being overshadowed by the larger and more glamorous PBS, public radio has long been home to shows such as All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and This American Life that captivate millions of listeners in homes, cars, and workplaces across the nation. In On Air, a book fourteen years in the making, journalist Steve Oney tells the history of this institution, tracing the comings and goings of legendary on-air talents (Bob Edwards, Susan Stamberg, Ira Glass, Cokie Roberts, and many others)...
info_outlineHave you ever wondered how American cuisine came to be? When we look at food from around the world, we may more readily accept the complexity of its origins or their legacy in the culinary landscape. But it may be surprising to some that many of our country’s dietary customs likewise stem from culturally robust beginnings.
From a James Beard Cookbook Hall of Famer and the star of the Netflix docuseries High on the Hog, Dr. Jessica B. Harris comes her latest work, Braided Heritage: Recipes and Stories on the Origin of American Cuisine. This cookbook — replete with over 100 recipes — is paired with tales to help show how Indigenous, European, and African traditions intertwined to form an entirely new cuisine. Dr. Harris brings decades of cross-cultural and cross-continental research to map how our food arrived and adapted over generations.
Through this blending of peoples and practices, we have dishes like Clear Broth Clam Chowder and Enchiladas Suizas (which have both Indigenous and European roots). The book also discusses how African American food through the centuries has evolved based on region, migration, and innovation, resulting in classics like Red Beans and Rice and Peach Bread Pudding Cupcakes with Bourbon Glaze.
With recipes ranging from everyday meals to festive spreads, Braided Heritage offers reflections at the intersection of food, culture, and history.
Dr. Jessica B. Harris is the author, editor, and translator of seventeen books, including twelve cookbooks documenting the foods and foodways of the African diaspora. Her IACP Award–winning book High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey from Africa to America has been adapted into a Netflix series. Harris is a professor emerita at Queens College/CUNY in New York and has written extensively for scholarly and popular publications. She served as the culinary consultant for the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture and their lauded restaurant, the Sweet Home Café. She holds lifetime achievement awards from the Southern Foodways Alliance, the Soul Summit, and the James Beard Foundation, which also inducted Harris into the Cookbook Hall of Fame.
Chef Kristi Brown has spent over three decades in the culinary industry, starting at a café in downtown Seattle. After graduating from Seattle Culinary Academy, she founded That Brown Girl Cooks Catering in the mid-1990s. Her mantra, “Everybody Gotta Eat,” led her to co-found a community kitchen, earning widespread recognition. In the same era, Chef Kristi and her son Damon Bomar opened Communion R&B in Seattle’s Central District. With praise from Conde Nast Traveler and The New York Times, the restaurant has become a beacon of unity and community.