In recent years, African-American cuisine has achieved new heights and widespread recognition, and one of the primary reasons is Harrisburg native Chef Joe Randall. In his newly released 352-page cookbook, A Taste of Heritage: the New African-American Cuisine, Randall incorporates his talents with twelve other African-American chefs to provide traditional family recipes along with African-American recipes presented in a sophisticated style. In recognition of this new publication, Randall will take part in two special programs in Harrisburg during the first weekend in February.

On Friday, February 6, Randall and Harrisburg Mayor Stephen R. Reed will sponsor a reception from 6:00 P.M. - 8:00 P.M., at the Ramada Inn on the square, at which time one of Randall’s cardinal mentors, Robert W. Lee, will be inducted into the African-American Chefs Hall of Fame. For twenty-seven years, Robert W. Lee, was Executive Chef at the Harrisburger Hotel (located where the Fulton National Bank now stands). Chefs and cooks who worked with Lee during his years will also be honored, and a tasting featuring some of Chef Randall’s culinary mastery as inscribed in his cookbook along with a book signing by Randall will crown the event. The tasting includes Catfish Fingers with Remoulade Sauce, Mini-Crab Cakes with Tarter Sauce, Cocktail Pigs Feet in Champagne Vinaigrette, and Chaurise Sausage with Creole Sauce.

On Saturday, February 7, Chef Randall will hold a cooking demonstration from 11:00 A.M. to Noon, at the Broad Street Market, Third and Verbeke Streets, followed by a book signing from Noon to 1:00 P.M. The dishes Randall will be whipping up are a cross-section of the African-American cuisine from the cookbook and will comprise ingredients available at the Market.

Chef Randall’s crusade has been to give African-American chefs and their cuisine the recognition they deserve. Randall, as the founder and president of The Taste of Heritage Foundation, aims to raise the culinary aspects of African-American cuisine, to promote the profession and to give scholarships to upcoming African-American culinary students. Locally, he will be establishing a scholarship for the culinary program at Harrisburg Area Community College in mentor Robert W. Lee’s name.

A Taste of Heritage: the New African-American Cuisine is a cookbook that epitomizes a cooking style that needs to be understood and celebrated. “African-American cuisine is a complete cuisine and has a classical presentation as well as any other cuisine,” explains Chef Randall. He likens it to many other regionally based cooking-styles, whether it is in the U.S. or regions in European countries. Other contemporary “soul food” cookbooks attempt to duplicate the down-home recipes of the south, but none apply the extra effort to show that African-American cooking has been refined.

Randall is not only an African-American food promoter but is also an African-American food historian. “As early as the 1700s, African Americans were making their mark on the American culinary scene - they seemed particularly skilled at marrying the bounty of America with the simplicity of their home countries,” explains Randall. From the discriminating tastes of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, who both had black chefs, to African-Americans who started migrating from the south for employment opportunities early this century, Randall says it was then that, “black chefs took their southern roots with them” and continued to incorporate seasonal local ingredients.

When asked his favorite food, Randall remarks that it is food from the heartland that are brazed or simmered to allow all the flavors to come together. Ox tails tend to be an ultimate food to Randall, because its “unique flavor transcends beyond the individual ingredients of the dish.”

With 30-years in the food industry behind him, Randall travels the countryside giving lectures and demonstrations and, now book signings. His experience is laudable. From his early years visiting his uncle, Richard Ross, a Pittsburgh restaurant and catering company owner, Randall knew what he would always do. Besides being a student of Robert W. Lee, locally he was an apprentice to Frank Castelli, chef at the former Penn Harris Hotel. He has worked his way up from Air Force flight line kitchens to executive chef posts at a dozen restaurants from Seattle to the award-winning Cloister Restaurant in Buffalo, NY and Baltimore’s Fish Market. He was Executive Chef at the University of Southern California and has owned and managed a catering firm and provided services to restaurant operators.

His awards and recognition are many, some of which are: Distinguished Service from the National Institute for Food Service Industry; gold, silver and bronze medals for culinary competitions; the Outstanding Service Award, City of Los Angeles; Meritorious Award for Performance and Professionalism, California State Polytechnic University, and Black Men’s Forum Distinguished Award for Outstanding Contributions and Service to the Community.

But one award seems to say what Randall’s philosophy is all about. In 1995, Randall received a Lifetime Leadership Award by the Culinary Institute of American Black Culinary Alumni for his efforts to advance the culinary contributions of African-American chefs.

“Today, like never before, chefs and consumers are rediscovering and experimenting with the native foods of Africa and the Caribbean, and with micro-regional techniques and ingredients of the United States (especially the comfort food of the South), updating them for tastes of the modern consumer,” says Randall.