Learn how to make Vanilla Ice Cream like James Hemings (b. 1765)!
Learn how to make #VanillaIceCream like Chef James Hemings! Watch and enjoy James Hemings Society founder, Chef Ashbell Mcelveen's historical talk & old-fashioned ice cream making demo (at the Free Library of Philadelphia Culinary Literacy Center once upon a time for WURD Radio's fab Founders Day).
It's based on one of James classic recipes from his training in France 1784-1789. To this day, vanilla is the most popular ice cream flavor throughout the US. Chef James Hemings was the first to introduce and popularize this fave flavor via one of the most famously attended tables in America at the time — Thomas Jefferson’s — in VA, PA, NY…. So let's shout out a "Thank you James!" And additional Thank Yous!! to all the known (e.g., Augustus Jackson, Alfred Cralle...) and UNknown Black confectioners, inventors, artisans and entrepreneurs — city by city in the centuries that followed — who were instrumental in the scientific developments and technological innovations that made American ice cream what it is today!
They also made it available/accessible for EVERYONE to enjoy. (Not just for slave holders or wealthy whites post- emancipation. I digress). There's so much more to this story (surprised?), for now though I hope you enjoy THIS scrumptious scoop!
Tonya Hopkins, aka The Food Griot, founded the nonfiction story-telling platform, “The Food Griot: Sharing Savory Stories on The Makings of American Cuisine, (Cocktails)…” She has researched and written for several scholarly and consumer publications and appears regularly on radio and television. Her work in culinary history activism aims to help disenfranchised, mostly black and brown food/drink industry professionals achieve greater inclusion, equity and wholesome empowerment. Follow @TheFoodGriot on: Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.