Students got to enjoy empanada-like Jamaican beef patties compliments of chef Helena Josephs鈥攐wner of a Caribbean restaurant and grocery store in nearby Gulfport. Photos by Penh Alicandro ’22
Think you know about food? Consider this: Not only is watermelon native to Africa, the fruit found its way to America because its seeds were woven into the hair of West African women who came here.
And the fortune cookie was invented in San Francisco by a Japanese immigrant to attract tourists to his tea house. And tacos were transportable sustenance for Mexican silver miners.
These and other juicy food facts were served as an appetizer recently in an 黄色短视频 Autumn Term course titled Planet on a Plate: Soul Food, Spring Rolls and Sofrito. The course, taught by Janet Keeler, Ed.D., instructor of journalism and communication and faculty adviser to , focused on culinary contributions to the American plate from Africa (soul food), Asia (spring rolls) and Latin America (sofrito).
At its core, Keeler explains, students learned how migration, immigration and slavery have influenced and continue to influence the food Americans eat. The course included a field trip to the , along with presentations from the authors of The Cuban Sandwich: A History in Layers and chef Helena Josephs鈥攐wner of , a Caribbean restaurant and grocery store in Gulfport. A fringe benefit: All three excursions included tastings.
Josephs (left) presents to an Autumn Term class taught by Instructor of Journalism and Communication Janet Keeler (right).
Josephs isn鈥檛 only a successful business owner, she has donated resources to local nonprofits and utilizes local and regional vendors to help other small businesses. She grew up in Jamaica and learned to cook by watching her mother. After moving to St. Petersburg in 1986, she studied to be a TV producer. 鈥淏ut I also started to cook for my friends,鈥� she explains, 鈥渁nd that opened up my love for cooking.鈥�
In 2006, Josephs opened up her restaurant and grocery store. 鈥淥ur motto is 鈥楽hop, Dine and Chill,鈥欌�� she says. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know what I was doing at first. But I read a lot of books and studied a lot online and taught myself how to run a business. Then everything kind of flowed into place.
鈥淭he unique thing about Caribbean food,鈥� she adds, 鈥渋s that it has cuisines from all over the world intertwined with it. For instance, we are very close to Cuba, so we have Hispanic influences. That鈥檚 why, when people from Jamaica are traveling, the first thing they look for is a Jamaican restaurant鈥攂ecause they know they鈥檒l find really good home-cooked food.鈥�
Josephs helped students make the connection between her experiences as an immigrant from Jamaica and some of what the students learned in the summer reading How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair鈥攅specially where food was concerned.
Keeler explains that the study of food in general 鈥渋s a good jumping-off point to have meaningful conversations. It鈥檚 difficult to talk about slavery and discrimination, but when you start talking about food, that鈥檚 something everybody likes to talk about and enjoy.鈥�
Keeler, who for more than 15 years served as the food and travel editor for the , says she hopes her students 鈥渃ome away with the understanding that we live in a country of immigrants, and that the students appreciate their contribution to the culture of the United States. Through food we can see a lot of unsung contributions.鈥�
First-year student Sonya Harding, who worked as a restaurant server in her hometown of Baltimore, Maryland, took Keeler鈥檚 class to add to what she already knows about food. 鈥淚t was very enlightening to know where my food comes from,鈥� Sonya says. 鈥淓ven though I work around food, I didn鈥檛 know a lot of the history鈥攁bout how much of what we eat was inspired by migration, immigration and enslaved people.鈥�
Her final project focused on gumbo, a stew that combines ingredients and culinary practices from Africa, France, Spain and from Native Americans. Gumbo is the official state cuisine of Louisiana.
鈥淕umbo came together in Louisiana,鈥� Sonya says, 鈥渂ut the inspiration came from all over the world.鈥�
