Hey y'all, welcome to Biscuits and Jam from Southern Living. I'm your host, Sid Evans,

and today I'm talking with someone who, as a friend of hers once said, does Southern better than most

Southerners. Jessica B. Harris may have been born and raised in New York City, but she has Tennessee

roots through her father and has spent much of her life split between homes in the Northeast

and the South, specifically New Orleans. For more than 50 years, she's been a college professor,

a writer, and a lecturer, and her many books have earned her a reputation as an authority

on food of the African diaspora, as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award from the James

Beard Foundation. A few years back, Netflix adapted her book, High on the Hog, a culinary

journey from Africa to America, into a four-part docu-series.

And I'm very proud to say that she's been a long-time contributor to Southern Living

with a regular column called The Welcome Table.

Jessica was here in our Birmingham studio,

and we talked about her mother's signature mac and cheese,

the cast-armed skillet she'd be sure to save if her house were ever on fire,

and her dear friend, the late New Orleans chef, Leah Chase.

All on this week's biscuits and jam.

Thank you. Dr. Jessica B. Harris, welcome to Birmingham and welcome to Biscuits and Jam.

Well, thank you, thank you. It's breakfast time, I guess. Is it Biscuits and Jam, or is it tea time?

It's always breakfast time here at Biscuits and Jam. It's great to have you here. Thank you. It's lovely to be here. It is a real honor. Get over that. Well, I don't think I will, but you have been

writing for us for a number of years now, and you've done a column called

The Welcome Table.

That was also the name of a book of yours, and I think a radio show.

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