Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series

Have you ever wondered how American cuisine came to be? When we look at food from around the world, we may more readily accept the complexity of its origins or their legacy in the culinary landscape. But it may be surprising to some that many of our country’s dietary customs likewise stem from culturally robust beginnings. From a James Beard Cookbook Hall of Famer and the star of the Netflix docuseries High on the Hog, Dr. Jessica B. Harris comes her latest work, Braided Heritage: Recipes and Stories on the Origin of American Cuisine. This cookbook — replete with over 100 recipes — is paired with tales to help show how Indigenous, European, and African traditions intertwined to form an entirely new cuisine. Dr. Harris brings decades of cross-cultural and cross-continental research to map how our food arrived and adapted over generations. Through this blending of peoples and practices, we have dishes like Clear Broth Clam Chowder and Enchiladas Suizas (which have both Indigenous and European roots). The book