Kardea Brown On Learning To Love Cooking And Preserving Tradition From Her Mother And Grandmother

About Kardea Brown

Kardea Brown is a chef, author, and host of Delicious Miss Brown, one of the most successful shows on the Food Network. She was born in Charleston, South Carolina, and spent much of her childhood on Wadmalaw Island, where she grew up learning Gullah Geechee recipes and traditions from her mother and grandmother. She moved to New Jersey to pursue a career in social work, but when the Food Network saw a video of her cooking, everything changed. She quit her job, moved back to Charleston, launched a traveling Gullah supper club, and after a few years of hard work and determination, eventually landed her own TV show. On this episode, we'll chat about some of her favorite recipes, what she loves most about her mother's cooking, and why she wrote her terrific new cookbook, The Way Home: A Celebration of Sea Islands Food and Family.

What Kardea Talks About In This Episode

*Growing up in South Carolina

*Learning to cook from her mother and grandmother

*Getting her start on Food Network

*Leaving the South, and then returning home to Charleston

*Working on her new cookbook, The Way Home: A Celebration of Sea Islands Food

*Her close relationship with her grandmother

*Making her first-ever macaroni and cheese recipe

Quotes from Kardea

"It's so hard to describe something that was so beautiful. My childhood literally was spent barefoot running in sand and being very close to water and eating very fresh vegetation right out of the garden patch, eating okra right out of the okra fields. We have a very large family on Wadmalaw Island, and so I grew up very closely to my cousins who are actually all around the same age. We grew up just hanging out on the island, beach days in the summertime. I just remember all of the beautiful things of just being in the lowcountry. I also remember the muggy day, and being so close to family and enjoying seafood."

"I know what keeps me going is that this is my purpose. You know, it's the reason why I feel that I'm here because not only am I cooking and doing what I love, I'm also preserving my culture."

"Being Southern is just, it's a sense of pride. I really feel like Southern cuisine, and Southern culture is the fabric of American culture. And being a Southern woman on top of that, it's pretty cool."

About Biscuits & Jam

In the South, talking about food is personal. It's a way of sharing your history, your family, your culture, and yourself. Each week Sid Evans, editor in chief of Southern Living, sits down with celebrity musicians to hear stories of how they grew up, what inspired them, and how they've been shaped by Southern culture. Sid takes us back to some of their most cherished memories and traditions, the family meals they still think about, and their favorite places to eat on the road.Download and listen to this episode of Biscuits & Jam with Kardea Brown on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or everywhere podcasts are available.

Get a transcript of the full interview with Kardea Brown .