On this episode, Zella interviews personal chef and caterer Chef Benjamin “BJ” Dennis. Dennis was born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina, and infuses the flavors and culture of the lowcountry into his native Gullah Geechee cuisine, bringing a new taste to an ever expanding culinary palate of the southern U.S. What differentiates Chef BJ’s food from his contemporaries in “southern” cooking is the homage he pays to his Gullah Geechee heritage, a culture formed by enslaved West and Central Africans in the coastal regions of South Carolina and Georgia known as the lowcountry, as well as parts of Florida and North Carolina.

Dennis infuses the techniques of his ancestors, learned from four years of study in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, as well as the lessons of his grandparents about eating from the land, to create fresh interpretations of local dishes focusing on in-season, locally sourced vegetables and seafood. Recent trips to Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti, Barbados, Dominica, U.S. Virgin Islands, Angola, Bahamas, Benin, Togo, Senegal, Gambia, and Cameroon brought his work full circle. He has been featured on the Netflix award winning series "High on the Hog" and "Chefs Table," as well numerous newspaper and magazine publications. BJ connects the people and cultures of the African diaspora through food, bringing back a true taste of Gullah Geechee culture.

Culture & Flavor is Powered by Simplecast.