Hear Adrian Miller speak on Black food traditions

Author featured on Netflix special will be at a barbecue dinner in September

Soul food scholar Adrian Miller, who was featured on Netflix’s “High on the Hog” series, will discuss the Black barbecue tradition in September at a barbecue dinner that’s part of Milwaukee Film’s Cultures and Communities, a film, health and lifestyle festival.

Tickets are on sale now for the culinary event, which begins at 6 p.m. Sept. 9 at event venue Dandy, 5020 W. Vliet St. They are available through mkefilm.org/cultureclash at $100 for the general public and $85 for Milwaukee Film members. VIP tickets, which include a signed copy of Miller’s book, are $125 for the public and $110 for members.

Everyone who attends must be vaccinated.

Cooking for the event, called Culture Clash: Fusing Culinary Traditions That Bring Us Together, will be Jason Alston of Heaven’s Table BBQ in Milwaukee and Alex Hanesakda of SapSap in Mount Pleasant. Dinner will be a blend of Black and Lao barbecue traditions that the chefs are calling Soul P’hunk. Tarik Moody, the Radio Milwaukee DJ and host of the food podcast “This Bites,” will moderate the discussion.

Miller is a culinary historian, barbecue judge and James Beard Award-winning author who appears in “High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America” to discuss the history and culture of Black pitmasters and restaurateurs. It’s also the topic of his book, “Black Smoke: African

Americans and the United States of Barbecue,” which was published this year. His social media handle is @soulfoodscholar.

The festival’s run is Sept. 6 to 12. More about the festival and the link to buy film passes are at mkefilm.org/ccf. Contact dining critic Carol Deptolla at carol.deptolla@jrn.com or (414) 2242841, or through the Journal Sentinel Food & Home page on Facebook. Follow her on Twitter at @mkediner or Instagram at @mke_diner.

COURTESY OF ADRIAN MILLER Adrian Miller is a historian of African Americans’ influence on the food of the United States. He’ll speak at a barbecue dinner open to the public on Sept. 9 in Milwaukee. It’s part of Milwaukee Film’s Cultures & Communities festival.