Chapman - Real Food, Real Kitchens: New York Cookbook

Dedicated to my mother and father,

Bernice and Phil Chapman

I LOVE YOU!

CONTENTS

FOREWORDS

REAL FOOD REAL KITCHENS: NEW YORK

Regina A. Bernard-Carreo, PhD

When Craig introduced me to his digital work (Real Food Real Kitchens: the show) and then his current cookbook project, I think I breathed an immediate and audible sigh of relief. Here it is, I thought, a book about family that I can actually imagine and envision; with food that I can recognize! So much of the popular and in-circulation within the intellectual genre around food seems foreign to me, and probably to many other people. Im even more skeptical and disheartened when said materials are about New York City. While reading or watching it, I am, of course, intrigued, but I dont feel at home.

From our first exchange of chatter through email, I knew I would be more than excited to participate in his project, and I am so honored that he asked me to write for it too. Reading through his book, and engaging him in conversation about family, food, culture, and history as he outlines it, finally felt like I was placing my hard-core and overly passionate attempts at preserving authenticity in good hands. Craig has been able to capture personal memories, life stories, and narratives of lived experiences that are so important to the history of my beloved city, New York.

As I moved from one family to the next in the Real Food Real Kitchens cookbook, I became more and more attached to their stories, because many of them had elements of familiarity. Growing up as the only American-born child in a biracial Guyanese family with no other Guyanese contact outside of our family, my mothers delicacies and carefully crafted handiwork in the kitchen felt like our entire familys secret. In many of the essays, Craig draws out beautiful stories, secrets, and memories told by the very people it should be told by. There are such endless social dynamics, struggles, and upkeep endured by families all over just to get through the day, that it was heartwarming to read that so many of them still join together and eat at the family table. When meals are presented at that family table, there are no surprises, no worry, or hesitation about whats about to hit your plate. Your curiosity only wonders whether it will taste as good as the last time mom made it, and it usually does. The comfort of many of the dishes presented in the Real Food Real Kitchens cookbook almost jumped off the table they were served on, and right out of the book.

I flipped through the Real Food Real Kitchens cookbook and began seeing how many dishes I could identify just by their pictures alone. Quizzing myself at every turn, I wondered if that picture was Sancocho or what kind of curry powder was used for the Chicken Curry. The dishes I didnt recognize, I wanted to try, and as I always do, I started to fantasize about the dishs cultural history. The meals I positively guessed right on the first try, I read those stories even closer, sometimes more than once. I wanted to know how that dish played a role in their familys version of togetherness. The book introduced me to people I had never met, yet they were so familiar. Growing up in Hells Kitchen, NYC, and reflecting on that time while I read through the narratives and recipes in the Real Food Real Kitchens cookbook made me realize again that many of us linguistically, culturally, racially, and perhaps even socioeconomically here in New York City, are separated by just a few dining tables. Despite our vast differences, however, we all still eat. Someone is making that food, and it has a history and a narrative.

Especially warm did it make me feel to read all the Caribbean/West Indian narratives in this book. Craigs construction and research for the book didnt funnel or pigeon-hole people into the places where they necessarily live now or what he needed them to be. He allowed families to reflect on where they originally came from before coming to New York. A great example is in the Queens section, and the story of Ethel. Although she lives in Queens now, he understood that her food narrative after leaving Guyana, really firmly began in Manhattan, circa 1960s. He wanted to hear that story and the stories prior to that point of immigration which led her now to reflecting in this way, and from this place. The questions asked of her stirred memories of being in two places and generated whispers among her three children about their own memories, ones that were safely compartmentalized somewhere other than here. Theres no more focus on authenticity than letting a story be told naturally without makeup for scripted purposes.

Craig shows a real and sincere commitment to storytelling, and I am so glad he put this book together. I hope that many will find comfort and joy in the pages ahead, just as I have.

Marie A. Bragg, PhD

Craig Chapmans Real Food Real Kitchens documentary series introduces a new dynamic to modern-day cooking shows. Rather than solely focusing on showing viewers how to make a few different components to a meal, Chapman uses food as an avenue to share cultures and identities and to emphasize the importance of tradition and family to bring people around the dinner table. His new cookbook, bearing the same name, takes on a similar approach and empowers readers with the tools to try out new recipes from families around the five boroughs of New York City. Readers and viewers alike are introduced to traditional and non-traditional chefs who enjoy cooking meals passed down to them from family members. They also share stories, often about how they became interested in cooking, while giving some history about the recipes of the foods they are sharing. Some come from families of a long line of chefs, while others are simply mothers who prefer to use cooking as an escape from a hectic day. Additionally, readers are invited into the homes and kitchens of New Yorkers. There is something truly unique about the way Real Food Real Kitchens goes inside the homes of everyday people to hear their story in a setting familiar to them, inviting readers and viewers to be part of a meal that is more often than not of longtime tradition.

One aspect of the cookbook that I personally enjoy involves the families who use cooking as a means of bonding with both friends and family. Today, it is quite common for people to skip cooking and jump straight to the eatingoften through pre-prepared meals or dining outside of the home. This cookbook, like the TV show, demonstrates how people are returning to their roots through this increasingly common trend to cook cherished, traditional meals to enjoy with others. Some families even share stories on how they venture to the market or supermarket to purchase fresh produce and meats that typically enhance the taste of the food.