During those two months, the two chefs cooked American-themed dinners. They interacted with the locals—not to mention researched and partied a whole lot. He gained a deep firsthand understanding of their distinct food, culture, and lifestyle. He knew how to cook before he went on that trip. However, he only focused on Eurocentric style cooking like risotto, fresh pasta, and pâtés. Not that he doesn’t love those dishes, “It was just that I never realized that I could bottle up who I was—or a culture I’m very familiar with—and cook something really great and tasteful at that same level,” he says. “And that’s what really changed my perspective on the food scene and on the way I looked at food.” To Chef Johnson, the dining landscape is dominated by European and Asian cuisines, while the food of the Caribbean, South America, and West Africa are at the bottom. The cooking method, history, and origins of these cuisines were not taught or valued in the culinary world until recently. His experience in Africa showed him that he could create great-tasting food that represented his culture at the same level as the other “prestigious” fares. As much as people think that African food is exotic and mysterious, they share a lot of commonalities with what we eat every day. The food is flavorful and bold. It has a deep history and comprises different people within different countries. Through slavery, the people of West Africa have impacted other places in the world, and their food has as well. For example, one can trace Jamaican food back to Nigeria. The cuisine of Barbados originated from Ghana. Traits of Africa can also be found in Indian cuisine. If someone looks closely, the way different foods move and shake share a similar rhythm. After returning to the United States, he worked on the menu for The Cecil, a restaurant co-owned by Chef Smalls. It served Afro-Asian-American cuisine and was the first of its kind in the country ten years ago. The restaurant’s impact on the dining scene in America, even on the world, is still felt today. It is no longer strange to see Michelin- starred African diaspora restaurants in London or Afro-Caribbean food featured at the prestigious Lincoln Center in New York City.
As much as people think that African food is exotic and mysterious, it shares a lot of commonalities with what we eat every day.
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