When you think of famous chefs, who comes to mind? Perhaps Julia Child, a beloved TV chef who made haute cuisine accessible to the masses, is high on the list. The names Emeril Lagasse, Rachel Ray and Paula Deen might also ring a bell.
But where are the Black chefs?
Chef Kevin Sbraga, for one, became the first African-American to win “Top Chef” in the seventh season of the cooking competition show. Though chefs of color might not enjoy as much high-profile media attention, they do exist in significant numbers.
According to the 2015 Current Population Survey from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 12 percent of the American workforce in 2015 identified as Black or African-American, yet more than 15 percent of the country’s chefs and head cooks and more than 18 percent of cooks identified as such.
Still, some in the Black community, like food blogger and self-taught home cook Angela Davis, recognize the lack of Black representation in the culinary world. In a PBS exploration asking, “Where are the Black Chefs?” Davis offered her take.
“There’s definitely an absence of culinary education in most schools and a stigma surrounding service jobs, both of which prevent many Black students from seeing the food industry as a viable career option,” Davis wrote. “We fought for decades to get jobs outside of domestic work – it may be seen as ‘beneath’ a talented young Black student to pursue a career in the food industry. This is a shame really, because food is a field with just as many opportunities for us.”
Davis and other chefs and cooks told PBS that education is key to breaking what barriers to entry exist for Blacks in the culinary arena.
Locally, several culinary training programs thrive in Indianapolis, and a recent visit to The Chef’s Academy (TCA) – Harrison College’s culinary division – showed that Black students are taking full advantage of culinary training opportunities.
Students at TCA can earn a diploma in nine months or an associate degree over 18 months. Once they leave the school, the possibilities are plenty.
Chef Matthew Mejia, who teaches at TCA, said graduates of the program have taken their skills to food trucks, catering companies and even, in one case, the kitchen at a prison.
Student James Stewart, a cook who retired from USA Foods but decided to get back into culinary arts at TCA, said the education is well-rounded.
“It’s not only cooking; it’s also a foundation for a business. It’s all food, but there’s more to it than just pots and pans,” he said, mentioning psychology, sociology, nutrition, sanitation and safety in the kitchen as other focal points in the TCA curriculum.
TCA student Alexis Ballard-McCleary said she thinks many people misjudge how intensive culinary training can be.
“I think a lot of people underestimate how hard it is. I think they don’t understand what goes into going to culinary school,” she said. “It’s one of those thing where within your first quarter, you’ll know if it’s for you or not.”
In one recent class, the wide range of the curriculum was apparent; it’s not just about preparing the food, but also about understanding the theories and trends behind the food and learning practical industry standards and expectations.
Each class begins with a uniform inspection, making sure students have mastered the appropriate professional attire for the kitchen. After inspection, students take their places in their classroom – essentially a spread-out commercial kitchen with a classroom stuck right in the middle.
In a recent class, the instructor, Chef Robert Koeller, began by distributing an agenda for the coming week before reviewing the previous week’s lessons, which included information on salads, using vinegars and oils for dressing and more.
Continuing on the topic of salads, Koeller explained to the class the different roles salad can play in a meal – such as a palette cleanser or to aid in digestion – and how those roles can differ among cultures and time periods. Today’s salads, he said, almost always include a protein.
Later in the class, he said, students would be roasting beets for use in the next day’s lesson.
For Ballard-McCleary, the value of her education extends way beyond the classroom lessons. She says TCA filled a void that still existed in her life even after she’d earned a degree and landed a job.
“I realized there still was something missing,” she said. “And one thing I can always go home and do, whether I’m stressed, whether I’m calm, I always love going home and cooking. So I said if this is my stress reliever and this is the one thing that can keep me sane on a daily basis, then why not do it for a lifetime?”
Dante Bowling said he loves the artistic aspect of the culinary arts.
“I’ve got a passion for it. I’ve always been an artist,” Bowling said. “Some people say that food and art don’t go together, but to me, they do. You’ve got to have a vision and use your imagination.”
Bowling said cooking has always been a part of his family, and that’s a sentiment that many other students echoed. Stewart said he’s been cooking since he was 12. Ballard-McCleary sees her culinary skills transforming her young children’s palates and hopes to do the same for other families someday as a personal chef.
Mark Barnes is using his TCA experience to fill the void left in his family by his grandmother’s death.
“She was the one who kept everything together. Her cooking brought the community together, so when she passed, it really took a toll,” he said. Barnes cooked with his grandmother when he was a child, and he began cooking for himself at the age of 16. With his TCA credentials, he hopes to open his own restaurant and “make (his) grandmother’s dream and (his) dream come true.”
Antoine Lewis is also hoping to carry on a family torch with his culinary education.
“It’s something that’s been bred into my family. My auntie is a chef; my mom is a home cook who claims she is a chef. It’s just something that I tapped into,” he said. “I’m just going to see how far it takes me.”
