Your Mama’s Kitchen Kardea Brown's Shrimp and Grits Starts with Bacon
Sep 16, 2025
Kardea Brown, an American chef and T.V. host known for her show Delicious Miss Brown, dives into the rich cultural history of Edisto Island and Gullah cuisine. She discusses how the culinary traditions of her ancestry, deeply tied to West Africa, influence her cooking today. Kardea shares family stories and the significance of her Shrimp and Grits recipe, done Gullah style. Plus, she reveals her cheesecake recipe and emphasizes the importance of sustainability in cooking, all while celebrating heritage through food.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Rice Roots In Enslaved Labor
- Kardea describes how enslaved people received unwanted meat scraps and rice as sustenance while working fields.
- She connects that history to rice's lasting centrality in Lowcountry meals.
Quaint Charleston Kitchen Memories
- Kardea recalls her grandmother's small 1990s Charleston kitchen with wood-paneled cabinets and countertop canisters.
- The kitchen's open layout and décor shaped her sense of home cooking and memory.
Learning By Watching In Grandma's Kitchen
- Grandma Josephine controlled her kitchen and only allowed helpers to do basic prep like peeling potatoes and snapping peas.
- Kardea learned primarily by watching and asking questions until trusted to take over.
