Episode 47: BLK Palate with Cleopatra Zuli

11/01/18 • 40 min

After moving from her hometown of Boston to New York City for college, Cleopatra Zuli saw that something was missing from the local dining experiences where thoughtful conversations were accidental and safe space often in short supply. Having used food to educate and empower queer communities of color and their allies for years, Cleo founded BLK Palate, a culinary art collective based in Best-Stuy curating purpose-driven dining experiences that honor the African diaspora, decolonize ideas around Black food, promote healing and wellness, and (typically) end with a dance party.

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Episode 46: The Spice Journey with Essie Bartels

Raised in Ghana, Essie Bartels came to the United States when she was 18 with a dream of working her way up the ranks in corporate America. Disheartened by the food she encountered in the U.S, she switched gears and created Essie Spice, a small-batch spice and sauce company inspired by the flavors of West Africa and history and knowledge passed down from three generations.

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Episode 48: My Venezuelan Kitchen with Mercedes Golip

Caracas-born culinary artist and self-taught chef Mercedes Golip remembers being a picky eater as a child. Now, her life revolves around experimenting with food. Years after she and her husband immigrated to Miami, they moved to NYC where her evolving curiosity for food was met with an abundance of CSA vegetables. Longing for food from home inspired her to recreate traditional Venezuelan dishes using ingredients grown in New York, but she wondered, is this still Venezuelan food?—a weighty question amidst the political turmoil & dire food shortages back home, and an anti-immigrant administration leading the US. Food has been the question and the answer, prompting Mercedes to share her food culture through pop-up dinners, culinary classes and cooking demos that explore questions of authenticity and creativity.

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