This week, we’re exploring the African roots of foods commonly eaten in Florida, including watermelon, barbecued beef, and rice and beans.
Author and researcher Dr. Frederick Douglass Opie is a professor of history and foodways at Babson College outside of Boston. Among the courses he teaches is African History and Foodways.
He explains how enslaved Africans brought their farming techniques and cooking methods to America, and how Reconstruction-era politics led to racist food stereotypes that persist today.
Related episodes:
- Punk rock foodie Derrick Fox spills secrets of the 'MasterChef' kitchen
- Zora Neale Hurston’s Foodie Life
- Toni Tipton-Martin Celebrates African-American Chefs in ‘Jubilee’
- Two USF Professors Offer a Crash Course in American Food History
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