Episode Two: “Food and Culture”

Award-winning chef and MEANING OF FOOD host Marcus Samuelsson knows more about the complex stew of food and culture than many. Born in Ethiopia, Marcus was adopted and raised in Sweden and, as he says, “Everywhere I’ve been, everything I am is reflected in my feelings about food. America is called a melting pot, but I think it’s more like a stew where individual flavors are still present yet create a whole. Like me, many of us have mixed backgrounds and influences. We struggle between holding on to our cultural heritage and fitting in, and nowhere is this more clearly expressed than through food.”

Our “Food and Culture” episode explores how what we eat connects us with who we are through a variety of stories that unfold across America. The episode begins in South Carolina where filmmaker Julie Dash, writer/NPR commentator Vertamae Grosvenor, and poet Nikki Finney cook rice and share memories about their unique Geechee heritage. We explore how one culture’s delicacy can be another’s ultimate gross-out as we learn about an unusual fruit called the durian, which is a truly acquired taste. We then visit a reservation in Neah Bay, Washington, where the Makah Indians are returning to their ancient tradition of hunting and eating whale, to the displeasure of some non-Makah; hear Hawaiians celebrate kalo and poi; and, finally, visit with a large Czech community in south-central Texas where the art of making the kolache, a danish-like pastry, is still being handed down through the generations.

In an America lined coast-to-coast with fast-food and generic chain restaurants, holding on to the foods that make us unique and remind us of where we came from can be a challenge. But as we see in this episode, food is perhaps the thing a culture clings to with the greatest passion, against the tide of mainstream America.

 

Credits:

 

Executive Producer/Series Creator
Sue McLaughlin

Series Producer/Director
Maria Gargiulo

Senior Producers/Series Directors
Vivian Kleiman
Karin Williams

Co-Producer/Production Manager
Steve Kodish

Producers
Kimberlee Bassford
Shannon Gee
John Mikulenka

Senior Story Consultant
Susan Kim

Associate Producers
Marina Jade Gordon
Mimi Wong
Laurie Bohm Rosalyn Brandon
Sarina Pearson
Katja Shaye
Jeff Teitelbaum

Graphic Designer
Lisa Moore

Original Music
Stephen Thomas Cavit

Additional Segment Directors
Kimberlee Bassford
Kris Kristensen

Director of Photography
Diana Wilmar

Camera
Theo Angell
Lulu Gargiulo

Additional Camera
Kimberlee Bassford
Shannon Gee
Joseph Hudson
Don Lenzer
John Mikulenka
Roy Wilson

Audio
Eric Soma
Bob Marts
Mark Griswold
David Hocs
Brenda Ray
Thomas Vogt

Senior Editor
Robert J. DeMaio

Editors
Michael Cross
Jill Friedberg
Kris Kristensen
Lillian Benson

Post Production Supervisor
Shannon Gee

Additional Editing
Maria Gargiulo
Shannon Gee
Drew Keller

Assistant Editors
Lila Kitaeff
Jeffery Sloane

Development Director
Fidelma McGinn

Development Writer
Greg Palmer

Fiscal Sponsor
Northwest Film Forum

Production Assistants
Heather Ayres
Massimo Backus
Michael Bassford
Lisa Gewerth
Carol Hermer
Kamertap Hurmali
Susanne Mason
Bruce Moores
Alison Perkins
Lindsay Rogers
Lena Scott
Jacqueline Toma
Andrew Toms

Creative Consultant
David Wild

Post Production Facility
Flying Spot Seattle

Audio Post
Bad Animals/Seattle

Project Advisors
Gene Anderson
Ira Bashkow
Amy Bentley
Carole M. Counihan
Hsiao-Ching Chou
Cara De Silva
Randall Francisco
Jessica B. Harris
Nancy Jenkins
Miriam Kahn
Lilikala Kame’eleihiwa
Rachel Laudan
Sid Mintz
Ruth Reichl
Cristina Salas-Porras
Alice Waters

Archival Sources
Ballentine Books
Bishop Museum
Central Intelligence Agency
Corbis
CrossFilms Productions
Julie Dash – Daughters of the Dust
FootageBank
Georgia State Archives
Jim Heimann
Hardy Jones/Julia Whitty Productions
Kimstim Films/Zeigeist Films
KOMO 4 Television
Makah Cultural and Resource Center
McDonalds
National Tropical Botanical Garden
Theron Parker
The Rice Museum
Seattle Post-Intelligencer/Renee Byer
Texas Czech Heritage & Cultural Center
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Washington State Historical Society

Special Thanks
The Alex Hotel, New York – Home of Riingo Restaurant
The Fairmont Olympic Hotel, Seattle
Palisade Restaurant, Seattle: Chef Mike Bryan
Czech-Tex Restaurant, Snook
Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center
Tom Furtwangler
Ofer Gneezy & Christine McLaughlin
Hawai’i Taro Company
Cheryl Head
George Hlavinka
Billie & John McLaughlin
Pam McCluskey & Kakuta Hamisi
Annie Moriyasu
Sheila Mullen
OPAS Express
Paradise Cove Lu’au
Michelle Sarju
Sound Ford, Renton
Susie Smith & Family
Uwajimaya
Wally’s Drive In
Matt Wesson
Tamara Wilson

 

FOR OREGON PUBLIC BROADCASTING

BUSINESS AFFAIRS
Susan Smith

LEGAL SERVICES
Kristin Ingram

NATIONAL PROMOTION
Selena Lauterer
Nimmi Singh

WEB/INTERACTIVE
John Kin
Marion Rice, Ed.D.

POST PRODUCTION
Howard Beckerman

PRODUCTION SERVICES
Milt Ritter

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
Cheri Arbini

SR. DIRECTOR NATIONAL PRODUCTION
John Booth

POST PRODUCTION
Howard Beckerman

PRODUCTION SERVICES
Milt Ritter

EXECUTIVES IN CHARGE OF PRODUCTION
David Davis
Jack Galmiche