First: a crisp bit of history:
…Genetically related to watermelons 🍉, cucumbers 🥒 ( gherkins, etc. ) originate from all over Africa…
And Black Americans (women in particular) were not only known for but lauded and praised for their pickling prowess for centuries …
I couldn’t resist snapping this pic of a beautiful bowl of cucumbers Chef Denzell Washington was working with at Old Stone House of Brooklyn for one of the hearth meals programs we collaborated on. [I believe he sliced and diced some into the grilled watermelon salad…]
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PS. SIDENOTE SECTION:
Aaaand it’s National Strawberry Shortcake Day — which my very first absolute fave dessert on the planet as a kid until my best friend’s Mother with even deeper Southern roots than my very “Northern Negroes” family rocked my world with a homemade BANANA PUDDIN’ — long before it found its way onto Pop Culture’s plates and the menus of high-priced bakeries in Manhattan — Nobody (other than Black people — Southern rooted Black folks in particular) had ever heard of let alone tasted a true one. And when I did, it was a game changer. But I digress…
What about you ?! What game-changer foods (or drinks) recalibrated your palate once upon a time to the point where you knew (or at least hoped!) it would have to be in your edile world for forevermore from that moment forward? …Do tell, do tell: When it was, where you were, how old you were —whatever context that might make it a good story.
Staying Tuned,
Tonya aka TFG
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