DCCK Celebrates Black History Month

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02.19.2009 --

On Wednesday, DC Central Kitchen hosted several area chefs to celebrate black history month with our Culinary Job Training Class. The guest chefs also had the chance to speak to trainees about their own careers in food service, providing advice and inspiration for our aspiring chefs.

Guest chefs included:

• Chef Rahman "Rock" Harper - Next Door Restaurant & Bar
• Chef Ahmad Macharia - Kennedy Center & Blair House
• Chef Oscar "OW" Griffin - National Past-Time-Gaylord National Resort & Convention Ctr.
• Chef Lester Fields - Murphy's Grand Irish Pub
• Padua Player - Susan Gage Caterers

Also joining us was Susan Callahan-Dugard and students from the Maryland University Eastern Shore Restaurant Management program; and Tiffany Godbout, Michael Cucciardo, and students of the Hospitality High School of Washington DC.

Together, the chefs, trainees, and visiting students prepared a special meal drawn from black culinary traditions. They also produced the 4,500 meals that the Kitchen sends out each day to our partner agencies.

The event also featured guest speakers Dr. Frank Smith and Professor Peter Edelman, who gave inspirational and enlightening talks on black history and their experiences in the civil rights movement.

"Food is central to the heritage of every culture and Black History Month is a great opportunity for us to honor our culture and expose our trainees to culinary professionals of our heritage," said Marianne Ali, Director of Culinary Job Training at DC Central Kitchen.

The Heritage days are part of a series of special events in the curriculum of the Culinary Job Training program, each designed to broaden the repertoire of these new culinary professionals. The program is aimed at preparing our trainees for a career in the food service industry, giving these underemployed individuals the tools to triumph over poverty and become self-sufficient.