On Apr. 26, author Sarah Lohman held a virtual talk for Delta students to discuss her new book Eight Flavors: The Untold Story of American Cuisine.
The event was held in part to commemorate National Library Week at Delta. Delta hosted a variety of events meant to highlight the services provided by the Goleman Library. These events included raffles, workshops, and book sales.
Wednesday’s event was hosted by history professor Dr. Sarah Seekatz, who is also chairperson of the Cultural Awareness Program at Delta.
Seektaz is featured in Lohman’s upcoming book Endangered Eating: America’s Vanishing Foods, where she and Lohman teamed up to research date fruits in California’s Coachella Valley.
During the National Library Week event, Lohman spoke extensively about Ranji Smile, an Indian immigrant chef, known for introducing Indian cuisine to Americans in the early twentieth century.
“Writing Eight Flavors was an honor,” said Lohman about her work shining a new light on the often disregarded roles people of color played in forming America’s overall culinary history.
Lohman’s book focuses each chapter on distinct flavors, like black pepper, curry, and garlic, among others, and how these flavors became a part of the greater American palate.
Ranji Smile’s role in American culinary history is prominently featured in Lohman’s chapter about curry. According to Lohman, Smile is known widely as the first chef to reach celebrity status. He became well known during his time working in the kitchen of Sherry’s, a high-end restaurant that operated in Manhattan during the early 1900s.
At the height of his career, Smile applied for citizenship in the U.S. but is denied. Citizenship laws at the time only allowed Caucasian men or black men to gain citizenship.
“In this case, it seems that Smile wasn’t white enough in appearance to become a citizen,” says Lohman.
After making a splash in the New York culinary scene, Smile trekked across America and continued to introduce Americans to the flavors of his home country in high-end restaurants and hotels. Census records show Smile working in kitchens in Philadelphia, hosting a high tea for wealthy diners, and introducing them to traditional Indian dishes.
As his fame faded, his life as an undocumented immigrant navigating the hostile and anti-immigrant landscape that permeated American society at the time became more complicated.
After a string of failed marriages to three different white women, a failed business venture, and the landmark Supreme Court case United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind of 1923, which denied the right of Indians to citizenship, Smile left the United States.
“At this point, we don’t know what happens to Smile in the end,” said Lohman about the historical figure. “But it’s really exciting to have his legacy back out there.”
Students who are curious to learn more about America’s first celebrity chef can access a free copy of Lohman’s Eight Flavors at the Goleman Library, or they can buy a copy on Amazon.
