Worlds of Flavor: The CIA explores 'Africa and the World' - Napa Valley Register
"I've been trying to get this for 20 years," Dr. Jessica Harris said in opening remarks at the Culinary Institute of America's 24th Worlds of Flavor Conference at the CIA at Copia in Napa.
The annual CIA conference has ventured from classical roots of haute cuisine with a new theme each year, exploring the foods of Japan, China, Scandinavia, Spain, the spice route across Asia, and the street foods of Central and South America.
Harris, author, culinary historian and chairwoman of the CIA's African Cuisines Advisory Committee, finally achieved her objective when, over three days in November, the subject was "Africa and the World: Reclaiming the Past, Crafting the Future."
The conference was a "benchmark in my career as an irritant," said the 74-year-old Harris, professor emerita at Queens College in New York. She is the author of 12 books documenting the culture of Africa in the Americas, and in particular foods and "foodways" of the African diaspora.
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In 2021, Netflix adapted her most recent book "High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey from Africa to America" into a four-part series, subtitled "How African American Cuisine Transformed America.
Among her many accolades, Harris received a James Beard Foundation Award for Lifetime Achievement and in September 2021 appeared on the Time 100, Time magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Harris opened the conference with a wordless video that traced the Atlantic slave trade, beginning with a few tiny black ships, looking like flies, departing from Africa, heading to the New World. As the demand for enslaved people increased, so did the number of ships, until the image became a dark river across the sea. From the 14th to the 19th century, 12.5 million men, women and children were captured and put on the ships and of them, 1.7 million arrived in the Americas.
The conference proposed to look at the culinary traditions the people of Africa brought with them and see how those became the foods consumed today from Brazil to the Caribbean to the American South, but also to learn what is happening now as their descendants look back and, in many cases, return to cook in their ancient homeland.
It's a huge topic, in part because, as Brendan Walsh, dean of the CIA's School of Culinary Arts, pointed out, Africa itself is huge: "Three Americas — and 14 Frances — would fit in the continent of Africa."
Or as the chef and culinary historian Maricel Presilla said, "How can you travel in the Americas and not find Africa?"
Plantains, palm oil and peanuts
While each Worlds of Flavor conference becomes a dizzying immersion into the culinary traditions of other cultures, the African conference was extraordinary for the lens it focused on a world that was dubbed the "Dark Continent" by the Welsh journalist and explorer Henry Morton Stanley because it was so unknown in the 19th century. So it remains today; more than once, speakers had to correct others who referred to the vast, varied continent as a "country" by pointing out that it is, in fact, 54 nations.
The Worlds of Flavor format has three parts, starting with general sessions introducing an extraordinary group of people who share their stories — and their recipes.
In this case, the group included Zoe Adjonyoh, a chef, writer, entrepreneur and founder of Zoe's Ghana Kitchen Ltd. and a pioneer of modern West African food, in supper clubs in London, Berlin, New York, Accra, Ghana; Wales and Russia.
And chef Nana Wilmot, who was born and raised in Cherry Hill, New Jersey by her Ghanaian grandmother and went on to create menus reflecting her memories and West African culinary lineage, finding her "identity on a plate while helping others to find their way back."
Chef Michael Adé Elégbèdé grew up in Nigeria, in a restaurant family, before moving to the United States at age 13. After receiving his formal culinary training at the CIA, he moved back to open his restaurant, ÌTÀN, in Lagos, Nigeria. His website quotes an African proverb: "A stream that forgets its source will surely run dry."
Hawa Hassan, a native of Somalia, was inspired by grandmothers — bibis — to collect their stories and recipes from women in eight African countries in a travelogue-cookbook, "In Bibi's Kitchen." She is also the founder of Basbaas Foods, a line of condiments inspired by her home country.
Ozoz Sokoh is creator of the blog Kitchen Butterfly, which celebrates Nigerian and West African food and drink history and pays homage to West African ancestors. Her current project, "Coast to Coast: From West Africa to the World," traces the African diaspora through ingredients and commodities — rice, black-eyed beans, okra, palm oil and sugarcane. She lives and teaches in Canada and makes her home in Mississauga, Ontario, part of the Treaty Lands and Territory of the Mississaugas people.
Nelson German is chef-owner of alaMar Kitchen & Bar and the Afro-Latin cocktail lounge Sobre Mesa, both in Oakland. A Dominican-American from New York City, he has created an unorthodox culinary style drawing on his Dominican heritage, his African roots, his embrace of Mediterranean cuisine and Asian influences, and his love of California ingredients.
The general sessions broke away into smaller groups, such as one featuring chef Diana Tandia, who was raised in a Berber family with Senegalese roots and who shocked her family — her father was a diplomat — when she announced she wanted to be a chef. At her restaurant Berber Street Food in New York's West Village, she merges her fine dining training with "Afro-fusion" dishes from Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal, Ghana and Nigeria.
The final component of the program was the daily Marketplace, where everyone gathers to sample the recipes chefs have been discussing. In this case, it was everything from Zanzibar masala prawns with coconut and tamarind to pigeon pea fritters with curried onion jam, west african shortbread and molasses glazed pigtails.
The takeaway
What is the future for Africa?
"It's not a question of decolonization, but reclamation," said Matthew Raiford, a CIA alumnus who grew up in coastal Georgia on Gilliard Farms, purchased by his great-great-great grandfather Jupiter Gilliard in 1874.
Raiford and his wife Tia are owners of Strong Roots 9, "dedicated to creating products and experiences for Americans to reconnect with the nation's natural heritage, from the perspective of the people whose ancestors helped build it."
Reclamation also includes restoring traditional crops like palm oil, said Zoe Adjonyoh. "It was used for thousands of years by people in Africa," she said, but exploited by international industrialization, it's now considered unhealthy both for people and the planet because of massive deforestation. "But grown and harvested the way we did traditionally, it's a good product.," she said.
Another traditional African product to consider, she said, is peanuts. "Peanuts grow like weeds here, but we think of them as having a soul."
Chef Pierre Thiam, a chef, restaurateur and environmental activist, looks at what Africa can contribute to the world in a climate crisis. Born and raised in Senegal, he has created a eclectic, modern culinary style that is still rooted in the culinary traditions of West Africa at Teranga, his restaurant in Harlem in Upper Manhattan.
Thiam is also the founder of Yolélé, which distributes African food products around the world, including fonio, a drought-tolerant and nutritious grain from the Sahel region of West Africa.
Fonio is one of the ancient grains cultivated in Africa and nearly lost, according to Thiam, who wrote "The Fonio Cookbook" to introduce the grain. It appeared at the conference in many forms, from a fonio beer and fonio chips to a breading for fish. Thiam made it into a pudding with berries.
Attendees at the conference left with his recipe for the pudding, along with a collection of dishes from the chefs. Perusing the directions for Nigerian peppersoup, which calls for urheri pods, erhe, gbafilo and umilo seeds, alligator pepper and uziza seed, or the oner for camel kofta, which requires both ground camel and camel hump fat, one has to admit there remains a lot to learn.
Harris is calling for another conference.
Ghanaian Guacamole
Zoe Adjonyoh
2022 Worlds of Flavor
Culinary Institute of America
Yield: 4 portions
1 avocado, peeled and pitted
Ground black pepper, a pinch
Salt, a pinch
Cayenne pepper ½ tsp. plus additional for garnish
Cinnamon, ground ½ tsp.
Paprika, smoked ½ tsp.
1 red onion, small, finely diced
Lemon, juice of ½ ea.
Peanuts, toasted, chopped as needed
Cube the avocado flesh. Place the pieces in a bowl with the spices, red onion, add lemon juice and toss gently so to keep the cubes in shape. Garnish with ground peanuts and cayenne.
Fonio, Chocolate and Coconut Pudding with Berries
Pierre Thiam, 2022 Worlds of Flavor International Conference & Festival
Yield: 4 Portions
2 cups coconut milk or as needed
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cacao powder, raw
Sea salt, a pinch 1 ea.
2 cups fonio, cooked
2 Tbsp. cocoa nibs, or chopped dark chocolate
2 cups mixed berries
Cacao powder as needed
Coconut, dried, unsweetened, toasted and shredded
Mint sprig
Place the coconut milk in a pan and bring to a simmer. Add the vanilla extract and turn off the heat.
Add the sugar, cacao powder and sea salt.
Add the cooked fonio and fold until well combined.
4. Gently fold in the cocoa nibs or chopped dark chocolate. Turn off the heat and allow to cool. Serve cold or at room temperature, topped with berries, a sprinkle of cacao powder, toasted coconut and mint.
Kelewele
Spicy Fried Plantains and Peanuts
Zoe Adjonyoh, 2022 Worlds of Flavor
Yield: 4 to 6 portions
1 heaping Tbsp. Kelewele Spice Mix (recipe follows)
1 small red onion, grated
1 2-inch piece of ginger, grated
Sea salt, a pinch
2 Tbsp. soybean oil
4-6 ripe ripe plantains, ripe
High oleic soybean oil, for deep-frying, as needed
Peanuts, roasted, crushed as needed
Kelewele Spice Mix:
2 Tbsp. ground ginger
1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp. ground nutmeg
1 Tbsp. cayenne pepper
½ Tbsp. ground cloves, ground
For the Kelewele Spice Mix: Combine all ingredients. Mix well.
Mix 1 tablespoon of the Kelewele Spice Mix with the onion, ginger, sea salt and the 2 tablespoons oil in a bowl.
Using a sharp knife, peel the plantains by cutting the tips off each end and slicing through the skin lengthwise (avoid cutting into the flesh), then use your hands to remove the skin.
Cut the plantains in half lengthwise into 2 long pieces. Usually, the plantain is then diced into 3/4-inch squares or bite-sized chunks, but I like to make chunky plantain chips with this spice mix, so I cut the plantain in half across the middle, making 4 pieces, and then each piece in half lengthwise again to end up with 8 evenly sized chunky chips from each plantain. This way, the plantain chips will cook evenly and quickly without burning.
Coat the plantain chips in the spice mix and leave to stand at room temperature for at least 20 minutes. You can also cover the bowl with cling film and place in the fridge for longer to soak up the marinade until you're ready to cook.
Heat the oil for deep-frying in a deep-fat fryer (the safest option) or a heavy-based, deep saucepan filled to just under half the depth of the pan to 350° to 375° F or until a cube of bread browns in 30 seconds. Fry the plantain chips, in batches, until they float to the surface and are evenly golden in color; you should have a crispy spiced outside and sweet soft inside. Remove from the oil and drain on kitchen paper, keeping the cooked chips hot while you fry the rest. Alternatively, preheat the oven to 350° F.
Spread the coated plantain chips out on a baking tray and bake for about 20 minutes, until golden on the outside and tender inside.
Serve hot with crushed peanuts.
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