Unsung culinary heroes

February is Black History Month here in the US, a celebration of African Americans who have contributed to the fabric of American society. In the culinary world, the focus tends to be on familiar names like Edna Lewis and George Washington Carver, but Nneka M. Okona of The Huffington Post is using this occasion to highlight people you may not have heard about. She hones in on a half dozen unsung black culinary heroes.

Okona begins with the profile of Cleora Butler, one of the most renowned and most in-demand cooks and caterers in Tulsa, Oklahoma during the 1950s and 60s. Toni Tipton-Martin writes about Butler in her latest cookbook, Jubilee, explaining the multi-cultural influences that shaped Butler’s cooking.

The article also discusses the fascinating stories of North Carolina native Cleo Johns, Duchess “Charity” Quamino of Rhode Island, Georgia’s Daisy McAfee Bonner, Sarah Estell of Tennessee, and the “connoisseur of cooking turtles”, Rhode Island’s Cuffy Cockroach. You can learn more about Bonner in Adrian Miller’s book The President’s Kitchen Cabinet.