Food Forum
HNOC’s annual celebration of southern foodways and the people who preserve, study, and enjoy them
Upcoming
About Food Forum
Louisiana is known the world over for its varied, distinctive cuisines. From Cajun and Creole to French, Vietnamese, and Hispanic influences, our foodways present endless possibilities for researchers. Every year, the Food Forum makes a meal of them, presenting historians and practitioners to discuss what we eat and how these foods entered and developed in our region’s kitchens. Each year’s forum is developed in collaboration with Dr. Jessica B. Harris, the James Beard award-winning food historian.
Meet the Host
Dr. Jessica B. Harris
Food Forum host
Dr. Jessica B. Harris
Dr. Jessica B. Harris is a culinary historian and the author of twelve critically acclaimed books documenting the foods and foodways of the African Diaspora, including High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey from Africa to America, which was transformed into a four-part Netflix docuseries in 2021. My Soul Looks Back: A Memoir was a finalist for the PEN Open Book Award. Her most recent book is Vintage Postcards from the African World: In the Dignity of their Work and the Joy of Their Play. Harris is professor emerita at Queens College, CUNY, and holds an AB from Bryn Mawr College; an MA in French literature from Queens College, CUNY; a Licence ès Lettres from the Université de Nancy, France; and a doctorate in performance studies from New York University. She was the inaugural scholar in residence in the Ray Charles Chair at Dillard University in New Orleans. Harris has received many honors, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Southern Foodways Alliance, the Amelia Award from the New York Culinary Historians, and the Carol DeMasters Service to Food Journalism Award from the Association of Food Journalists. Harris was named to the James Beard Foundation’s Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America in 2010, her cookbooks were inducted into the James Beard Cookbook Hall of Fame in 2019, and in 2020 she was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the same organization. Harris was named one of the world’s 100 most influential people in 2021 by TIME magazine.
Past Forums
“Come Pass a Good Time”
New Orleans Restaurants through History
Celebrating the Seasons: Summer
Pulp Facts: Celebrating Citrus
2016
2016
Featuring Jessica B. Harris, Ed Hamilton, Dr. Henry Peltier, Elizabeth Pearce, Nick Detrich, Abigail Gullo, Shannon Mustipher, Tiffanie Barriere, Rosie Schaap
2015
2015
Featuring: Jessica B. Harris, Queens College/CUNY; Elisa Munoz, French Market Corporation; Kimisha Sawyers, Market Umbrella; Simone Reggie, Good Eggs
2014
2014
Featuring: Jessica B. Harris, Mark Pendergrast, Patrick J. Dunne, John T. Edge, Lolis Eric Elie, Poppy Tooker, and Barry Himel
2012
2012
Featuring: Jessica B. Harris, Patrick J. Dunne, Rosa María González Lamas, MM Pack, Michelle Rousseaus, Fany Gerson, Charles J. Graham, Poppy Tooker, Zena Ezeb, Kenny Stokes, Pat McDonald Fowler, Elizabeth Williams, Susan Tucker, Nicole A. Taylor, Chanda M. Nunez, Rien Fertel
2010
2010
Jessica B. Harris, Judith Carney, Maricel Presilla, Myron M. Beasley, Patricia L. Wilson, John Martin Taylor, Kevin McCaffrey, Connelly Hayward, José Batres, Donald Link, Daphne Derven
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