Jun
11

Sidedoor: America’s Unknown Celebrity Chef

Lena Richard’s famous gumbo was a legend long before Julia Child attempted a fricassee. Sidedoor explores Richards’ improbable celebrity.

banner graphic for Sidedoor episode 5.8

 

When Lena Richard cooked her first chicken on television, she beat Julia Child to the screen by over a decade. At a time when most African American women cooks worked behind swinging kitchen doors, Richard claimed her place as a culinary authority, broadcasting in the living rooms of New Orleans’s elite white families. She was an entrepreneur, educator, author, and an icon – and her legacy lives on in her recipes. Today: her improbable rise to prominence, and her famous gumbo.

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Posted: 11 June 2020
About the Author:

Jessica Sadeq has worked in the Central Office of Public Affairs since June 2007. She is the Marketing Manager for the Office of Communications and External Affairs.