((TITLE)) THE LAST MEAL
((TRT: 09:31))
((Reporter/Camera: Aaron Fedor))
((Producer: Kathleen McLaughlin))
((Editor: Kyle Dubiel))
((Map: New Orleans, Louisiana))
((Main characters: 0 female; 1 male))
((Sub characters: 2 female; 0 male))
((Blurb: Chef Serigne Mbaye, chef and owner of Dakar NOLA, finds the connection between Senegalese Cuisine and New Orleans cuisine.))
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Serigne Mbaye
Chef, Owner, Dakar NOLA))
I came from a very humble beginning. My mother had a Senegalese restaurant in Harlem before I was born. And the reason for our restaurant was to give people, West African folks that live in Harlem, a sense of home. And as a kid, I always knew that food was meant to bring people together more than anything. When I was a kid, my mom, my parents took me to Senegal, where I was there for the majority of my childhood. And when I returned back, even though I was born in this country, I didn't speak the language because I was in Senegal for nearly a decade. But food was my inspiration for everything, for learning English, getting education, to do what I really wanted to do, which is to nurture people’s soul, you know, and I think food is the best way to do it.
((NATS))
((Dr. Effie Richardson
Co-owner, Dakar NOLA))
My name is Effie and I'm the co-owner of Dakar NOLA here in New Orleans. And tonight, we have one of our seatings where we'll welcome 30 guests. They come in around 6:30, 7:00, and our dinner experience begins around 7:15. Typically, we pride ourselves on the family style dining or communal dining, because in West Africa, that's typically how people will eat. So, through the family communal experience, people are getting to enjoy Senegalese food.
((NATS))
((Serigne Mbaye
Chef, Owner, Dakar NOLA))
Hello, hello. Bonsoir. Welcome to Dakar NOLA. Thank you all so much for coming into our home. I'm Chef Serigne. chef and owner, Dakar. I'm so honored that you guys get to chose us. You know, this restaurant is all about homage to how I grew up in West Africa, Senegal. So that's why anyone that when you go to someone's home in Dakar, they want to greet you, and then when they greet you, they expect you to greet them back before anything happens. So, I want to greet you guys into my language, and I want you all to respond back to me. So, if I say nanga def, I want you all to respond back saying mangi fi, mangi fi. It's like one word, mangi fi.
((Serigne Mbaye
Chef, Owner, Dakar NOLA))
Nanga def.
((Dakar NOLA Diners))
Mangi fi.
((Serigne Mbaye
Chef, Owner, Dakar NOLA))
Wow. That was awesome. Bravo.
I think for me, when I think of food, I think of a bridge that has been disconnected. And I think food helped to connect those disconnected bridges, you know. The bond and what the power it does…it has to create such a unique bond.
((Serigne Mbaye
Chef, Owner, Dakar NOLA))
When I first moved to New Orleans, I knew nothing about the history, you know. I'm just a young cook, and still I was a young cook then, and trying to figure out my way into this culinary industry. And New Orleans was a French territory, and Senegal was lastly colonized by the French, and there's a huge connection between the two. So, at some point, it used to be some Senegalese folks that were brought here. And the more I connect those dots and the more I realized how much we inspired Creole and Cajun food, right? Rice was found in West Africa, you know, first found in West Africa. So, you could see the rice connection between jollof rice and jambalaya.
((Courtesy: Zella Palmer, The Story of New Orleans Creole Cooking: The Black Hand in the Pot))
Gumbo.
Perhaps, it might not be a Senegalese dish, but I would say it's definitely West African.
((Courtesy: Zella Palmer, The Story of New Orleans Creole Cooking: The Black Hand in the Pot))
Gumbo is French by standard,
((Courtesy: Zella Palmer, The Story of New Orleans Creole Cooking: The Black Hand in the Pot))
what people know of it, but it's actually from West Africa.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Zella Palmer
Director and Chair, The Ray Charles Program, Dillard University))
You have to remember that Louisiana was colonized by the French and the Spanish. And at some point, just like we call ourselves American, and we come from many different backgrounds,
((Courtesy: The Historic New Orleans Collection))
at one time, Louisiana was Creole.
((Courtesy: The Historic New Orleans Collection))
Creole cuisine is a mixture of many different cultures.
((Courtesy: The Historic New Orleans Collection))
It's African. It's indigenous.
((Courtesy: Zella Palmer, The Story of New Orleans Creole Cooking: The Black Hand in the Pot))
It's French. It's Spanish.
((Courtesy: The Historic New Orleans Collection))
It's also Asian in many ways. And so, when we look at 1719, which was a pivotal time when about 6,000, over 6,000 Senegambians were taken in bondage to Louisiana, that period had a huge influence on
((Courtesy: Zella Palmer, The Story of New Orleans Creole Cooking: The Black Hand in the Pot))
the food and the culture and cuisine that was founded in this state.
((Courtesy: Zella Palmer, The Story of New Orleans Creole Cooking: The Black Hand in the Pot))
Also, if we look at fried fritters, and in West Africa and Central Africa, you will find people on the side of the road, frying fritters all the time, akara, acaraje in Brazil.
((Courtesy: Zella Palmer, The Story of New Orleans Creole Cooking: The Black Hand in the Pot))
((Zella Palmer
Director and Chair, The Ray Charles Program, Dillard University))
We have beignets. They also have beignets in West Africa and Senegal. You also have beignets in the Cameroon, you have beignets. So, there's definitely this rich culture that already existed way before they were brought in bondage to Louisiana. Chef Serigne Mbaye is such an incredible chef. Young, rising chef. He's really working hard to embody what the city, just the historical connection between Senegal and New Orleans. I think many of the dishes that he serves isn't any different from the dishes that we eat all the time.
((NATS))
((Serigne Mbaye
Chef, Owner, Dakar NOLA))
How's the soup? Is it good? That's awesome. That's awesome.
((Serigne Mbaye
Chef, Owner, Dakar NOLA))
And then we go into the second course, which we call it, The Last Meal. This dish is probably one of the most talked about dish in our menu.
((Serigne Mbaye
Chef, Owner, Dakar NOLA))
This dish, The Last Meal, I mean, as we sit here, you know, it is hard to talk about.
((Courtesy: AFP))
Not every dish that we eat has a pleasant story, and we need to really acknowledge it, and respect it, and know where it comes from. So, one of my last trip to Dakar, I visited an island called, Gorée Island, which is where the Door of No Return is.
((Courtesy: AFP))
It's such a small, beautiful island. And our ancestors used to be in these houses. They call them the La Maison des Esclaves, which means the house of slaves. And they were living in these brutal conditions.
((Courtesy: 1619 US Slave Trade TV))
But before they shipped them out of the sea
((Courtesy: AFP))
through the middle passage, they weighed them. They had to weigh 60 kilos in order to pass the Door of No Return, because if they weren't 60 kilos,
((Courtesy: Ondine Saglio))
they weren't going to make it through the middle passage.
What they did was fed them black-eyed peas and palm oil to fatten them up quickly.
((Courtesy: AFP))
((Serigne Mbaye
Chef, Owner, Dakar NOLA))
In our restaurant, you know, we try to tell that story, but also let the dish shine in its own way, because it's a very beautiful dish as well. So, we have a lovely black-eyed peas that's grown here in Louisiana with some palm oil. We do some beautiful fish stock that we did in house, kind of cooked that together, let it smother for hours. And then we have a beautiful Louisiana rice that we cook to perfection, dehydrated to remove all the moisture, and then we fry it just to puff up the rice, and we put it on top of the soup, and it gives it this beautiful, crunchy texture while you're eating this soft black-eyed peas. I truly believe that this dish is going to be probably one of the most talked about dish within the next decade.
((Courtesy: Dakar NOLA))
Yeah, it's powerful.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Serigne Mbaye
Chef, Owner, Dakar NOLA))
So, I hope you guys enjoyed this experience, and thank y’all so much for coming into our home. We hope this food nurture your soul. We hope you guys leave here feeling inspired by West African cuisine. Thank y’all so much.
((Zella Palmer
Director and Chair, The Ray Charles Program, Dillard University))
What I really appreciate about Chef Serigne is his intentional approach to not only telling his own story,
((Courtesy: Dakar NOLA))
which definitely needs to be elevated, but also telling the New Orleans story. I think he's on the rise. I think he's just getting started, but with all of what he's doing already, I mean 10, 20 years from now, it's going to be amazing.
((Serigne Mbaye
Chef, Owner, Dakar NOLA))
What I see for the future of New Orleans food is more accepting every cuisine, because I think every culture has a story that I think that every culture could benefit from, and I think through the food we all realize how much we all have in common.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Serigne Mbaye
Chef, Owner, Dakar NOLA))
I want to share with you guys my beautiful restaurant that is inspired by my early childhood cooking experiences in boarding school.
((NATS/MUSIC))