James Hemings (1765—1801) was the first American to train as a chef in France. He was African American and born in Virginia in 1765. At 8 years old, he became Thomas Jefferson’s slave through an inheritance. He was an older brother of Sally Hemings and a half-sibling of Jefferson's wife Martha Jefferson, with whom he shared John Wayles as father. As a young man, Hemings was selected by Jefferson to accompany him to Paris when the latter was appointed Minister to France. There Hemings was trained to be a French chef; independently, he took lessons to learn how to speak the French language. He returned to the United States with Jefferson, likely because of kinship ties with his large Hemings family at Monticello. Jefferson continued to pay Hemings wages as his chef when he worked for Jefferson in Philadelphia. Hemings negotiated with Jefferson for his freedom, which he gained in 1796, after training his brother Peter for three years to replace him as chef. Said to suffer from alcoholism, Hemings killed himself at age 36. James Hemings' Snow Eggs RecipeSnow Eggs
Take 10 eggs, separate the yolks from the whites and beat the whites as you do for the savoy cake, till you can turn the vessel bottom upward without their leaving it; when they are well beaten put in 2 spoonfuls of powdered sugar and a little orange flower water or rose water if you prefer it. Put a pint of milk in a saucepan with 6 oz sugar and orange flower or rose water; when your milk boils, take the whites, spoonful by spoonful and do them in the boiling milk; when sufficiently poached, take them out and lay them on a sieve. take out a part of the milk, ac- cording to the thickness you wish to give the custard beat – right page – up the yolks and stir them in the remainder; as soon as it thickens take the mixture from the fire; strain it through a sieve; dish up your whites and pour the custard over them. A little wine stirred in is a great improvement. James, cook at Monticello.
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[1] We march today for jobs and freedom, but we have nothing to be proud of. For hundreds and thousands of our brothers are not here. For they are receiving starvation wages, or no wages at all. While we stand here, there are sharecroppers in the Delta of Mississippi who are out in the fields working for less than three dollars a day, twelve hours a day. While we stand here there are students in jail on trumped-up charges. Our brother James Farmer, along with many others, is also in jail. We come here today with a great sense of misgiving. It is only befitting to begin our issue with the richest man of all time, a black man, the ruler of Mali, Mansa Musa Keita.Mansa Musa (about 1280 – about 1337) was an emperor (manse) of the Mali Empire during the 14th century. He became emperor in 1312. He was the first African ruler to be widely known throughout Europe and the Middle East, and is regarded as the richest person to have ever lived. His wealth greatly surpassing anyone today. Mansa Musa was the great nephew of Sundiata Keita, who was founder of the empire. He is famous for his Hajj (1324–5). His caravan was said to consist of 60,000 people carrying supplies and bags, 500 slaves each carrying a gold staff, and 80 to 100 camels each carrying 300 pounds of gold dust. On his journey, he is said to have given out millions of dollars worth of gold. He gave out so much gold in Cairo that the value stayed relatively low for many years. Mansa Musa stopped at multiple locations during his journey. These placed include Timbuktu, Gao, and Mecca. In Timbuktu, Mansa Musa made it a center of trade, culture, and Islam, which also helped increase the spread of Islam throughout Western Africa. Mansa Musa also helped to spread Islam. He was a devoted Muslim, and built many schools based on the teachings of the Qur'an, there also is a saying that every Friday when he stopped, while on his Hajj, he ordered a Mosque to be built, because that is a Muslim holy day. He sent students to Islamic universities in northern Africa was fames sens 1345. After his Hajj, European cartographers began to draw Mansa Musa on maps. As the empire of Mali fell apart Mansa Musa's reputation did as well; he was no longer drawn as a noble king on maps, but instead more uncivilized. He was drawn as a parody of European royalty, and a normal person with a crown. Mansa Musa was married to Inari Kunate. Mansa Musa, at his time worth $900 billion is still the richest man to date. article on wikipedia |