Subrina: In Memphis, we had an Italian fest every year and a Greek fest. I thought it was dope that they were having festivals celebrating their culture. They’d be making great food, great beverages. Everybody came, Black folks, white folks. But I didn’t see a lot of Black food and wine festivals or events that celebrated Black culture, especially in the South. I’m creating something I didn’t see.
Greg: I’ve always been finding spaces where I could be represented, and, as I got more representation, finding other people who were like me who weren’t represented. The festival is a culmination of that. We’re fortunate that we’ve built a lot of great relationships with a lot of Black chefs, artisans, and farmers. We’re trying to find more ways to represent our culture that isn’t soul food, that isn’t biscuits and gravy, or fried chicken. There’s so much we do.
Subrina: A lot of times, that’s the only part that’s highlighted. But there are different layers of Black food. So don’t lump everybody in together.
Greg: To cook French cuisine, there are these guidelines and specificities about how to make a béchamel or a hollandaise. The beauty of African American cuisine, or African cuisine in the diaspora, is sweet potatoes might be cooked in different ways in each place. Same thing with yams. Same thing with rice and tomatoes and okra.
Subrina: We grew up in the South calling sweet potatoes yams even though they’re not the same. A lot of us don’t know that. This festival gives us a chance not only for fellowship but learning. You’re learning from other Black people in different regions.
Greg: I don’t know how Florida is the South.
Subrina: [laughs]
Greg: It’s the way that people cook, how they put stuff together, how they use rice, what they call gravy versus what we call gravy. Being from Memphis, our Southern is a little bit different from Carolinian. Baltimore is Southern too, but it’s different too.
Subrina: I love the Harlem Renaissance. The festival is an ode to us during that time. In spite of the heavy discrimination of the era, we still were dressed to the nines, going out, sneaking our drinks during Prohibition.
The names of all the [festival] events are based off the Harlem Renaissance, from the Cotton Club [Tasting Tents] to the Chuckwagon [Carnival]. The chuckwagons were the first food trucks. They were super popular in the 1920s. The Savoy Jazz Brunch is after the Savoy [Ballroom]. Even the Giggle Water Wine Class is based on what they used to call wine or liquor during Prohibition.
Greg: We wanted to make sure we highlighted Black female chefs. If we’re having discussions about Southern food, soul food, any cuisine of the South, you have to talk about Black women. I mean, all the way from slavery to the Great Migration when a lot of people moved to Detroit, Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia, [Black women] took these foodways with them.
Subrina: In Memphis, we had an Italian fest every year and a Greek fest. I thought it was dope that they were having festivals celebrating their culture. They’d be making great food, great beverages. Everybody came, Black folks, white folks. But I didn’t see a lot of Black food and wine festivals or events that celebrated Black culture, especially in the South. I’m creating something I didn’t see.Greg: I’ve always been finding spaces where I could be represented, and, as I got more representation, finding other people who were like me who weren’t represented. The festival is a culmination of that. We’re fortunate that we’ve built a lot of great relationships with a lot of Black chefs, artisans, and farmers. We’re trying to find more ways to represent our culture that isn’t soul food, that isn’t biscuits and gravy, or fried chicken. There’s so much we do.Subrina: A lot of times, that’s the only part that’s highlighted. But there are different layers of Black food. So don’t lump everybody in together.Greg: To cook French cuisine, there are these guidelines and specificities about how to make a béchamel or a hollandaise. The beauty of African American cuisine, or African cuisine in the diaspora, is sweet potatoes might be cooked in different ways in each place. Same thing with yams. Same thing with rice and tomatoes and okra.Subrina: We grew up in the South calling sweet potatoes yams even though they’re not the same. A lot of us don’t know that. This festival gives us a chance not only for fellowship but learning. You’re learning from other Black people in different regions.Greg: I don’t know how Florida is the South.Subrina: [laughs]Greg: It’s the way that people cook, how they put stuff together, how they use rice, what they call gravy versus what we call gravy. Being from Memphis, our Southern is a little bit different from Carolinian. Baltimore is Southern too, but it’s different too.Subrina: I love the Harlem Renaissance. The festival is an ode to us during that time. In spite of the heavy discrimination of the era, we still were dressed to the nines, going out, sneaking our drinks during Prohibition.The names of all the [festival] events are based off the Harlem Renaissance, from the Cotton Club [Tasting Tents] to the Chuckwagon [Carnival]. The chuckwagons were the first food trucks. They were super popular in the 1920s. The Savoy Jazz Brunch is after the Savoy [Ballroom]. Even the Giggle Water Wine Class is based on what they used to call wine or liquor during Prohibition.Greg: We wanted to make sure we highlighted Black female chefs. If we’re having discussions about Southern food, soul food, any cuisine of the South, you have to talk about Black women. I mean, all the way from slavery to the Great Migration when a lot of people moved to Detroit, Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia, [Black women] took these foodways with them.