The Soul of Food 2022 Session 4: Savoring Rest with Roots & Fruits

Our closing session was all about looking to the cycles of the seasons and crops of the fall season (particularly sweet potatoes) as a bit of encouragement for rest and making time for loved ones. And also touched a bit about how challenging this can be, particularly for Black folks and other marginalized communities when we’re far more encouraged to “go go go” in order to support ourselves as well as our families and communities.

🍠 An incredible group turned out on this unusually warm and golden day to help prepare some Chesapeake Bay Cauliflower (a vegan twist on Chesapeake bay chicken) and Herby Sweet Potato Salad, two dishes that have backstories of resting in food educator Maya’s family and community.

🍠 This session wraps up The Soul of Food series for this year, but stay tuned for some exciting programming we have in store in 2023 by signing up for our newsletter here.

Big thanks to @greenthumbnyc for making series like these free to the public.

Getting started by settling into the space and introducing some of our ingredients.

A few selected books and texts with sections that highlight rest and celebration in the African diaspora.

A sampling of knife cuts from the demonstration.

Participants chopping up sweet potatoes for the salad.

Participants pausing from chopping up cauliflower and herbs to pose for a photo.

Chopping up the herbs, potatoes, and cauliflower.

A snippet of the Chesapeake Bay Cauliflower and Herby Sweet Potato Salad.

You can also learn more about creole foodways below and, if you want to learn more about other Afro-Indigenous foodways, book reviews, and more check us out on our tik tok here.