Sweet Home Cafe. - Sweet Home Cafe cookbook: a celebration of African American cooking

2018 by Smithsonian Institution. Recipes 2018 by Smithsonian Institution and Restaurant Associates. Food photography 2018 by Scott Suchman, Smithsonian Institution, and Restaurant Associates. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

This book may be purchased for educational, business, or sales promotional use.

For information, please write: Special Markets Department, Smithsonian Books, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 513, Washington, DC 20013.

Headnotes and sidebars by Jessica B. Harris. Caf menu development and recipes by Supervising Chef Albert G. Lukas (unless otherwise noted). Culinary Cousins recipes by Executive Chef Jerome Grant. Designed by Gary Tooth / Empire Design Studio. Food photography by Scott Suchman, with propping by Kristi Hunter. Food styling by Lisa Cherkasky, with assistance from Carolyn Robb. Objects and historical photographs from collections of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Edited by Sharon Silva. Recipes edited by Merideth Tennant and Susan Stuck.

National Museum of African American History and Culture Director: Lonnie G. Bunch III. Cookbook Development Team: Kinshasha Holman Conwill, Jacquelyn D. Serwer, John Franklin. Content Specialist Advisors: Elaine Nichols, Joanne Hyppolite. Photo Research: Douglas Remley.

Restaurant Associates George Conomos, Vice President. Albert G. Lukas, Supervising Chef. Jerome Grant, Executive Chef.

Published by Smithsonian Books Director: Carolyn Gleason. Creative Director: Jody Billert. Senior Editor: Christina Wiginton. Editorial Assistant: Jaime Schwender. Editorial Consultant: Duke Johns.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Lukas, Albert, 1968 author. | Harris, Jessica B., author.

Title: Sweet Home Caf cookbook : a celebration of African American cooking / Albert Lukas and Jessica B. Harris, with contributions by Jerome Grant ; foreword by Lonnie G. Bunch III ; introduction by Jacquelyn Serwer.

Description: Washington, DC : Smithsonian Books, 2018. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018016725 | ISBN 9781588346407 (hardcover)

Subjects: LCSH: African American cooking. | Cooking, AmericanSouthern style. | Sweet Home Caf. | LCGFT: Cookbooks.

Classification: LCC TX715.2.A47 L85 2018 | DDC 641.59/296073dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018016725

Ebook ISBN9781588346612

For permission to reproduce illustrations appearing in this book, please correspond directly with the owners of the works, as seen on this page. Smithsonian Books does not retain reproduction rights for these images individually, or maintain a file of addresses for sources.

Food photography by Scott Suchman, unless otherwise noted.

National Museum of African American History and Culture: : 2015.97.26.26.

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The Sweet Home Caf offers a respite for visitors and also serves as an extension of the museums exhibitions. Graphic panels on the caf walls explore the ways that African American cooking and food culture have shaped American food.

ABOUT THE

SWEET HOME CAF

BY LONNIE G. BUNCH III

FOUNDING DIRECTOR, SMITHSONIAN NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY AND CULTURE

I OFTEN THINK BACK to September 24, 2016, the day the National Museum of African American History and Culture was dedicated and opened for the American people. As I sat nervously on the stage with President and Mrs. Obama, President and Mrs. Bush, Chief Justice Roberts, Congressman John Lewis, and a dizzying array of dignitaries and celebrities, I remembered how we had worked to create a museum that would use the African American experience as the lens through which to understand what it means to be Americans. To achieve that goal, the museum had to serve and embrace everyone regardless of race. That is why I ended my remarks by saying, Welcome home. But what is a home without a space of welcome, a place to gather, a site to come together to debate, reflect, smile, and chat over good food? The Sweet Home Caf, with its award-winning regional cuisine, warmly and wonderfully fulfills that dream.

Whenever I walk through the Sweet Home Caf, I am so moved to see our visitors seated over a shared meal, discussing their experiences in the museum with people previously unknown to them; reflecting upon how this history and culture has shaped or enlightened them; and grappling with the questions and uncertainties that inform our world today. We designed the caf to be a space for families and for conversation, where fine food allows visitors to come together, despite our contentious history, to find a shared past and to work for a common future.

Many of the recipes in this cookbook have been passed down through the generations, reflecting both the power of family and the centrality of food. My own life is ripe with memories of family discussions around the kitchen table, tasting one of my mothers many recipe-driven meals. While some were forgettable (sorry, Mom), otherslike her banana pudding rimmed with vanilla wafersstill stay with me nearly a half century later. These recipes tell us much about a people, about a culture. With every wonderful bite, we remember and we honor all of our ancestors.

I am honored to dedicate this cookbook to my mother, Montrose Boone Bunch, and to all those women who labored, who cooked, and whose efforts maintained our families.

Picnickers enjoy a sunny afternoon in a Lincoln, Nebraska, backyard. Photographer John Johnson recorded the vibrant African American community in Lincoln from 1910 to 1925.

INTRODUCTION