Cookbook authors: and their favorite recipes - Date With a Dish - Biography

Ebony, Feb, 2004 by Charlotte Lyons

In connection with Black History Month, we are taking this opportunity to focus on some acclaimed authors of cookbooks, including Jessica B. Harris, an educator and historian; Marcus Samuelsson, an executive chef; and Wilbert Jones, a food chemist and product developer. Each one has an interesting background and has excelled in different areas of the food industry. On the following pages, acquaint yourself with these special individuals, and then try your hand at some of their favorite recipes.

MARCUS SAMUELSSON has wowed the public with his food, charisma and personal story since he arrived in the U.S. His first American cookbook, Aquavit and the New Scandinavian Cuisine, is a masterful collection. Dishes range from an easy nibble of Crispy Potatoes dipped in corn flakes to a rustic, homey version of Samuelsson's grandmother's Swedish Roast Chicken with Spiced Apples (which happens to be one of his favorite recipes), from a Gravlax Club Sandwich to Swedish Meatballs and from Grilled Lobster with Grapefruit Salsa to Chocolate Blini. The 32-year-old executive chef and co-owner Of Aquavit was named Best Chef, New York City, in May 2003 at the annual James Beard Awards. He's received two coveted three-star ratings from the New York Times, been featured in hundreds of publications around the world, appeared on countless TV shows. Gourmet magazine has described him as "one of the most innovative chefs in the world."

Samuelsson, born in Ethiopia, was orphaned after his parents succumbed to a tuberculosis epidemic that raged through his homeland. He and his young sister found refuge at a Swedish field hospital in nearby Addis Ababa, where they were taken in by a nurse and who arranged for their adoption by a young Swedish couple. At a young age, he also discovered his passion for cooking alongside his grandmother, who was a professional cook. For Samuelsson, the choice to pursue cooking was an easy one to make. His first summer job at a local bakery was followed by several cooking jobs in small restaurants. Passionate about his studies at the Culinary Institute in Goteborg, he attended classes by day and cooked in local restaurants late each night, fulfilling his degree requirements in record time. He then worked in Switzerland and took a course in pastry-making in Austria before coming to New York in 1991 for an apprenticeship at Aquavit. Three years later, Aquavit invited Samuelsson to return under the tutelage of a new executive chef.

Samuelsson also dedicates his time and talent to the Careers Through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP), a non-profit organization that provides inner-city high school students with training, scholarships and lobs in the restaurant and food service industry. In addition, Samuelsson serves on C-CAP's advisory board and as the restaurant chairperson for its annual spring benefit. During his free time, he paints, reads cookbooks, visits museums and plays soccer.

JESSICA B. HARRIS is the author of eight critically acclaimed cookbooks documenting the foods and foodways of the Diaspora. In addition to her new cookbook, Beyond Gumbo: Creole Fusion Food from the Atlantic Rim, her previous books include The Africa Cookbook, The Welcome Table, Sky Juice And Flying Fish, A Kwanzaa Keepsake, Tasting Brazil, and Iron Pots & Wooden Spoons. In Beyond Gumbo: Creole Fusion Food from the Atlantic Rim, she takes adventurous cooks and hungry readers through the colorful past, into the vibrant kitchens, and around the world of authentic Creole cooking. Harris presents a new definition of Creole, encompassing its turbulent history, its social contradictions and its diversity of delicious influences.

A culinary historian, she has lectured on African-American foodways at the Museum of Natural History in New York City, the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and at numerous institutions and colleges throughout the United States and abroad. Her articles have appeared in numerous major food magazines, and she has appeared on numerous TV shows, including The Today Show, Good Morning America and on the Food Network, where she has appeared on the Curtis Aikens Show, Sara Moulton's Cooking Live and TV Food News and Views. She has also hosted five episodes of Chef du Jour and served as the resident food historian of Sarah Moulton's Cooking Live Primetime. She also holds a doctorate from New York University and is a tenured professor, teaching English in New York City.

WILBERT JONES, president of Healthy Concepts, Inc., a food consulting company, is the author of three nationally acclaimed cookbooks, The New Soul Food Cookbook, The Healthy Soul Food Cookbook and Mama's Tea Cakes. Jones, who is an accomplished food and beverage product development professional, has over 18 years of experience and expertise in restaurant-theme concept development, new retail food and beverage products for manufacturers and food service operators. Jones has had many published articles in such magazines and newspapers as the Chicago Tribune, Sun-Times, Chicago Defender, Black Enterprise, Prepared Foods Magazine, Restaurant Hospitality Magazine, and both Bet.com and Oprah.com. He has appeared on a variety of TV shows, including the Food Network, The Healthy Network, Home & Garden Television.