The book comes alive with the stories of people whose fortunes and sorrows depended, in part, on their ability to grill, roast, steam, and stew other people's meals. They worked on the Sea Islands off the Southern coast, on railroad cars, and in Northern taverns; for the wealthy and the well-placed; for Presidents Washington and Jefferson, both of whom kept enslaved chefs in Philadelphia, Hercules and James Hemings, respectively.
Covering a vast terrain of geography and time, Harris traces the path of okra from Africa and the Caribbean to Louisiana and finally Philadelphia where, by 1748, it graces our pepper-pot soup.
In pre-Civil War Philadelphia, households without slaves or staff hired "public butlers" to organize and carry out dinner parties. But Robert Bogle saw a better way and became the city's first and most esteemed black "caterer" (a term that would not come into common use for 50 years).
Harris came to be at Geechee Girl on this night after meeting Valerie Erwin, who owns and operates the cafe with her four sisters, at a food conference in October. Harris and Erwin agreed that the restaurant setting would be more than suitable for a dinner and discussion.
Opened in 2003, the cafe is named in tribute to West Africans brought as slaves to cultivate rice on the Carolina coast, where they came to be known as geechee. Year-round, the Erwin sisters shape their menu by drawing on recipes from their Southern grandparents, adding Chinese, Thai, and other global influences.
On this night, they served Accra, which are fritters made with black-eyed peas; sugarcane shrimp atop sweet potato salad; roasted peanuts; roasted lamb with garlic, rosemary and lavender; Yassa au Poulet (Chicken Yassa) with lemon and onions (see recipe); sauteed greens; basmati rice; pecan pralines; and more.
