Original Recipes from Steve Leavell: Soul Food Roots with Bessie’s Touch
Book signing
Feb. 26, 2023, 2 to 4 p.m.
Location: Roots 101 African American Museum, 124 N. First Street, Louisville, KY.
Steve was born and grew up in Robertson County, just west of Nashville, as last generation of sharecropper families from the segregation years, the oldest of 8 children during the 1950s and ‘60s. He carried the influence of “soul food” cooking from his mother Bessie, to Louisville, Ky. where he became a well-known caterer and owner of The Germantown Café on Goss Avenue.
According to Steve, “My mother is a natural cook- she seasons food wonderfully. Green beans, turnips, any kind of vegetable, she comes up with the magic touch to make them taste good. She usually fixed them on top of the stove. Seasoned with a pinch of sugar in everything and salt and pepper. Most of the time she used bacon grease but uses butter now. She grew up in a time when people used bacon grease and meat fats. She used fat pork and onions and cooked the vegetables, adding a pinch of cayenne pepper.”
With its proximity to Nashville, Robertson County contributed to Nashville’s “soul food” influence often defined with dishes like fried fish and chicken, chitlins with hot sauce and vinegar along with collards and cornbread. As a native of Robertson County, Steve carried these food basics influenced by Bessie into his own style of cooking and created recipes that became part of his signature food style as he developed his catering and food business at his Germantown Café. Now retired from the food business, Steve still does some catering.
The event is free and open to the public and is sponsored by Roots 101 African American Museum and the Oldham County History Center. For more information contact:
The Oldham County History Center, 106 N. Second Ave., LaGrange, KY 40031, 502-558-0421, info@oldhamkyhistory.com
Or
Roots 101 African American Museum, 124 N. First Street, Louisville, KY. 40202, 502-384-1940, info@roots-101.org