Notes from a Young Black Chef

Content Warning: This section references emotional and physical child abuse and racism.

In the opening chapter, Kwame Onwuachi describes preparing a meal for the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The event organizers request that he construct an African American menu. Onwuachi struggles with this idea. Because he is African American, he considers all the food he creates to be African American food—an idea at odds with the popular concept that African American food is primarily Southern soul food. This event introduces Onwuachi’s lifelong wrestling match with identity, particularly as it relates to cooking. As an aspiring chef, Onwuachi learned that the food industry has a clear image of what it expects from Black chefs and Black food. When Onwuachi served food to a Top Chef producer, the producer similarly told him that American viewers were not ready for a Black chef that did not serve Black—meaning Southern—food. Onwuachi questioned whether he should conform. He wanted a chance to make a name for himself, but while Southern food was a part of his story, it was not the whole story. His personal identity was not that straightforward.

Onwuachi’s recollections of his childhood reveal the complexity of his identity from the start—even (and especially) in terms of food.