Jessica B. Harris, Scholar of African-American Food, Inducted into the James Beard Foundation Hall of Fame

Culinary historian, journalist and cookbook author Jessica B. Harris was inducted into the James Beard Foundation’s Cookbook Hall of Fame in a ceremony for media awards in New York. Harris, an authority on the cuisine of the African diaspora, was introduced by master of ceremonies Tyra Banks who recognized the writer for her “exemplary work” sharing “the story of the African American experience through the culinary traditions of her – and my – ancestors.”

Harris was the first scholar to hold the chair of the Dillard University Ray Charles Program in African American Material Culture and serves on the advisory board for the Southern Food and Beverage Museum. Harris, whose writing career spans more than 35 years and more than a dozen books and cookbooks, began her acceptance speech on Friday by noting: “I was in food before food was cool. I was definitely in food before food was diverse.” Her speech was livestreamed and captured by the Beard Foundation. https://www.jamesbeard.org/blog/2019-cookbook-hall-of-fame-jessica-b-harris