Cultural recipes flip script, honor past

Toya Boudy had a clear vision in mind for the cover of her new cookbook: her bejeweled hand gripping a watermelon wedge, held high to reveal her tattooed arm muscles. Her mom’s response to her daughter’s photo idea was just as clear: “No, Toya.”

Boudy understood. She’s well aware of the lingering hurt left by caricatures of Black people eating watermelon and fried chicken prevalent in her elders’ day. Once she dug into the history that preceded the mockery, though, she decided to flip that painful narrative to one of pride and empowerment.

She headed to the kitchen and created a Fried Chicken and Watermelon Jam Sandwich, paying homage to the “majestic fruit” that kept her ancestors nourished and hydrated through slavery and emancipation. And she paired that homemade condiment with the dish they perfected in the kitchens where they were forced to work.

She shares that recipe in “Cooking for the Culture: Recipes and Stories from the Streets of New Orleans to the Table” ($32.50). It’s emblematic of the ones that earned her a fan following on Youtube videos, and eventually landed her gigs on the Food Network, TLC and Hallmark’s Home & Family Channel. Today, Boudy serves as an ambassador for the New Orleans Multicultural Tourism Network and shares her personal stories of struggles and success growing up in the Big Easy in podcasts, on stage, and throughout her book.

Accompanying them are recipes ranging from the humble comforts her hardworking parents found time to make while juggling multiple jobs (Sweet Cream Farina, BBQ Shrimp) to the riffs on counter fare at the convenience stores where she worked as a teen (Buttermilk Fried Turkey Wings, Bayou Brunch Po’ Boy) to the fancy fare she advanced to as a television cooking contestant (Fried Ravioli with Tasso Cream, Beignets with Raspberry Coulis).

“I’m the new-age rags to riches story,” Boudy wrote in a poem. “I was that coal that turned to diamond, that rose that grew from concrete.”

Yet no matter how far she has come in life and as a cook, she remains true to her roots.

“Fried chicken and watermelon,” she writes, “will always be my jam.”