Our joint heritage is a complicated one, but throughout history there have been some constants. One is climate.

Anyone living in the Deep South throughout history had to deal with extreme heat during much of the year.

Another is food. Our ancestors generally ate food that was raised or hunted in this area, and they ate fruits and vegetables that were picked fresh locally.

Many of these plants and the cooking traditions associated with them came to America from Africa with the forced migration of enslaved people. This Juneteenth weekend is a wonderful time to celebrate this common cultural heritage.

Join us Saturday when we will be learning about history and genealogy, and about heirloom gardening, and about seasonal produce for our area and historic cooking techniques.

The star of our show will be Michael Twitty, an energetic and creative young man who has achieved national celebrity as a culinary historian. He maintains a blog (www.afroculinaria.com) and website (www.thecookinggene.com) that focus on historic foods and cooking techniques, especially those plants and traditions brought here from Africa during the centuries of American enslavement.

Twitty is very excited to be adding Natchez to his “Southern Discomfort” tour. He relishes everything about traveling through the Deep South in search of his family’s cultural roots — even the heat — but especially the food.

The day’s events will begin at 9:15 a.m. at the Natchez Farmer’s Market on St. Catherine Street, where manager Helen Brooks will host an interpretive shopping discussion by Mr. Twitty. Fresh summer produce already coming in at the market this year includes tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, peaches, cucumbers and blueberries.

Then activities shift to the Melrose estate on Melrose-Montebello Parkway, a unit of Natchez National Historical Park.

At 10:15 in the Melrose Carriage House, Michael Twitty will present a lecture on heirloom gardening — especially the kind of produce gardening that was carried out by our ancestors but is largely lost to people today. This will be followed by a lecture on genealogy at 11.

From 12:30 until 4 p.m., Michael Twitty will present a demonstration of historic cooking techniques over an open fire at Melrose, utilizing a cast-iron spit, skillets and dutch ovens.

Special thanks to Alcorn State University, which sponsors the Farmer’s Market and has provided a pig from its swine farm. Other selections to be cooked will include peas, sweet potatoes, yams and peach cobbler.

Thanks also to Ser Boxley and the Friends of the Forks of the Road for providing food for the occasion, and to Darrell White and NAPAC for the donated hotel rooms.

The public is invited to dress in cool clothing and bring their own comfortable chairs and refreshments. Events will be in shaded but not air conditioned areas. There will be fans, and water will be provided.

Michael Twitty is especially eager to collect family recipes or other food traditions, so please come and share your own culinary heritage.

The Melrose gardens and slave cabin exhibits will be open to the public free all day, and free tours will be provide of the Melrose mansion on Saturday at the top of each hour from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.

For more information, call 601-446-5790 or visit www.nps.gov/natc.

 

Kathleen Jenkins is the superintendent of the Natchez National Historical Park.