SERIES INFORMATION:

For Black History Month, The Afro-American Cultural Center and Yale Sustainable Food Program have partnered together for a special event series, “Cooking Across the Black Diaspora.” The collaboration honors and commemorates this year’s 50th anniversary for both the Afro-American Cultural Center and Yale Department of African American Studies.

“Cooking Across the Black Diaspora” weaves into the Sustainable Food Program’s long-standing speaker series, known as Chewing the Fat. Building upon the conversations with past Chewing the Fat guests like Michael Twitty and Leah Penniman, we celebrate the food traditions and innovations of Afro and Black-identifying peoples from across the world. In hosting Nyesha Arrington, Paola Velez, Kiki Louya, and Bryant Terry, this series creates space for four chefs to share their stories, of food and identity, heritage and resilience, healing and justice.

EVENT INFORMATION

Join us for a conversation with Paola Velez, executive pastry chef at the Afro-Carribean restaurant Kith/Kin, located in Washington D.C.. Paola draws upon her Afro-Dominican roots to inform her approach to cooking, sustainability, flavor, and freshness. She and Head of College Stephen Pitti will discuss the connections between her heritage and food, as well as their broader relationship to social and environmental justice.

Paola Velez grew up between the Bronx and the Dominican Republic and received her culinary degree at Le Cordon Bleu in Orlando. At Kith/Kin, exotic fruits often make their way into Paola’s desserts.In 2019, she was selected as a finalist for “Pastry Chef of the Year” by the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington.

Chewing the Fat is the Yale Sustainable Food Program’s long-standing speaker series. All events are free and open to the public. This event is hosted in collaboration with the Afro-American Cultural Center, La Casa Cultural, Ezra Stiles College, and the Yale Center for the Study of Race, Indigeneity, and Transnational Migration.