America's Test Kitchen welcomes a sunny conversation about history, flavor, and memory in a delightful episode that celebrates cooking, recipes, bon apetit. Hosts Dan Souza and Elle Simone Scott chat with Dr. Jessica B. Harris about her new book, Braided Heritage, tracing the threefold influences that shaped American cuisine. The discussion ranges from Detroit-style pizza to batter-fried maple leaves, and lands on the plants and techniques that traveled with people across oceans. This piece captures those highlights and offers practical inspiration for home cooks eager to explore cooking, recipes, bon apetit.
A pizza conversation that starts the appetite
The episode opens with a lively ode to pizza—specifically Detroit-style. Hosts describe it as an inch-thick, airy, bubbly dough baked in black steel pans so the bottom gets buttery and crisp while a glorious "cheese skirt" caramelizes around the rim. That contrast—soft and pillowy interior, crunchy cheese edge, and rich buttery base—turns a slice into an experience: a slower, savoring bite that proves how technique and vessel transform simple ingredients.
Whether readers make a pan-style pie at home or seek out a local take (a Massachusetts referral called Volo gets a shout-out), the message is the same: small changes in equipment and method unlock whole new worlds of flavor. Try it and rediscover why cooking, recipes, bon apetit is such a joyous pursuit.
Braided Heritage: the magic of three
At the heart of Braided Heritage is a striking metaphor: a braid made of three strands. Dr. Harris highlights Native peoples, Europeans (especially first-contact groups like the Spanish, Dutch, French, and British), and Africans as foundational to American food. She draws an illuminating line from early contact in places like St. Augustine to the lived culinary traditions that followed, arguing that three is indeed a magic number that shaped technique, ingredients, and everyday tables.
Stories through recipes
Rather than a dry survey, the book foregrounds people—farmers, cooks, language reinvigorators, and chefs—invited to share recipes and histories. Dr. Harris selected contributors for compelling narratives and dishes that teach history through taste. The format—short bios, recipes, and context—encourages readers to cook as a way to learn.
Recipes that surprise and invite
Several recipes stand out as invitations to experiment. One vivid example: batter-fried sugar maple leaves served with a tart cranberry syrup—an inspired bite that nods to both Indigenous practice and Japanese tempura technique. Dr. Harris and the hosts marvel at the delicate texture and the photograph that makes the dish irresistible.
Other notable dishes—like a clear-broth clam chowder that celebrates pure briny flavor rather than heavy dairy—show how region, climate, and family taste shape what ends up in a bowl.
Ingredients as living histories
For Dr. Harris, certain plants act as calling cards for cultural journeys. Okra—related botanically to cotton and hibiscus—appears throughout her work, an ingredient with deep African roots and resilient culinary life in the Americas. Rice is another anchor: not merely a grain but agricultural knowledge carried by people who taught the Lowcountry how to cultivate crops successfully. Field peas, seed-saving traditions, and forgotten varieties make a compelling case for ingredient-led storytelling.
These conversations remind home cooks that cooking, recipes, bon apetit can be lenses for history: preserving seeds, reviving heirloom crops, and honoring techniques all connect to broader cultural narratives.
Playful moments and small rituals
The interview's lighter moments—Dr. Harris’s unabashed love of cotton candy and Haribo gummy bears, her sterling-silver corn holders, and egg-cracking quirks—bring warmth and approachability. They emphasize that food is as much about pleasure and memory as it is about scholarship. Recipes become doors back to childhood or prompts for new shared traditions.
"I've got okra on my calling cards. I've got okra on my stationery,"
The line captures how a single ingredient can carry identity and joy.
Make and share
Readers are encouraged to try recipes from Braided Heritage as invitations to connect—whether frying a maple leaf, testing a pan pizza, or simmering a clear chowder. Each recipe teaches technique, invites curiosity, and reinforces that cooking, recipes, bon apetit are ways to braid personal and collective histories.
Parting thoughts: the book and conversation celebrate an inclusive approach to food that is happy, generous, and deeply rooted. Dive into the recipes, taste the histories, and let simple ingredients teach big stories—because every time someone cooks, they add a new strand to the braid.
This article was created from the video Dr. Jessica B. Harris Explains Why 3 is a Magic Number in Culture and Cooking | In The Test Kitchen with the help of AI.
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