((PKG))  HEALTHY OASIS IN THE FOOD DESERT   
((Banner:  Oasis in a Food Desert))  
((Reporter/Camera:  Genia Dulot)) 
((Map:  Los Angeles, California))    
((Main characters:  2 female; 1 male))   
((Sub character:  1 male))   
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
((Taryn Cunnigham, Chef, Grilled Fraiche)) 
The history of Black cuisine essentially is, it’s food from slavery, 
scraps essentially of things that people did not want to eat.  We 
found beauty in them and we brought them to life.  Things are 
going to be cooked slow.  They're going to be cooked long.  
They're going to be cooked till they're tender.  They're going to be 
seasoned to perfection.  They're going to be spicy.  They're going 
to be sweet.  They're going to be texturally pleasing that has 
nostalgia when you eat it, reminds you of home immediately.  You 
know, these are the things that shape our food.  
((Kelly Tailor, Visitor, BlaqHaus)) 
Our family, we grew up eating bacon, turkey sausage, eggs and 
grits, would be kind of the hearty part of the breakfast that will 
keep you full for a couple of hours.  
((Takela Corbitt, Owner, BlaqHaus)) 
This is our triple cheese Mac Daddy, which is our take on a 
macaroni cheese, which is a traditionally southern dish, is 
considered soul food, at its core.  
((William Smiley, Visitor, Grilled Fraiche)) 
I still eat soul food.  Are you kidding me?  Mac and cheese, yams, 
string beans, collard greens.  Oh, yeah, but I was brought up on 
soul food.  I was brought up on soul food. 
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
Welcome, welcome.  
((Peace Love Reedburg, Owner, Grilled Fraiche)) 
It's been a hard journey in educating, as well as educating myself 
about food.  But then, educating others from communities like my 
neighborhoods that I grew up in, being from South Central, 
understanding that you have high blood pressure, diabetes and 
there are simple things that you can do to eat healthy.  But it's 
not, it's hard for change because it’s a mental thing.  It’s more 
mental than anything.   
((Taryn Cunnigham, Chef, Grilled Fraiche)) 
In the midst of survival, we've created this beautiful cuisine, but 
also have kind of fallen short on actually giving us the proper 
nutrients that we need, which is where I feel like I come in as a 
chef.  Providing a different perspective of what our soul food is by 
simply, instead of fried chicken, giving fried cauliflower.  
Something just as simple as that can have someone thinking, ‘Oh 
wow, maybe I don't need this chicken.  Maybe I don't need the fat 
from the chicken.  Maybe I can actually have a vegetable fried.’  
It's still fried, yes, but it's a transition.  
So, for this, for this one specifically I substituted meat for plantain, 
which is basically a fried banana, which is common in a lot of 
cultures around the world.  I've decided to put it in alongside with 
cabbage and bell pepper because that's what I think of when I 
think of home.  I'm like, what would I have if I had it home?  I 
would have cabbage.  I would have some type of pepper.  I would 
have some, something sweet to balance it out.  Plantain, why not.  
And then I want texture.  So, let's deep fry it.  We like our food 
very hot.  We like our food very spicy.  But we also like balance.  
We also like sweet.   These are micro sprouts which are actually 
superfood.  They actually hold a lot of nutritional value, even 
though they're so small.  Now I'm going to add just edible flowers.  
People typically like to eat with their eyes.  
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
((Taryn Cunnigham, Chef, Grilled Fraiche)) 
We try to give people another perspective, another option, 
recognizing they don't have to choose what has always been put 
in front of them. 
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
((Taryn Cunnigham, Chef, Grilled Fraiche)) 
In the neighborhoods that we put our restaurants, they’re food 
deserts.  So, you can't find a salad for miles.  But then, you put 
our restaurant here and you can get a salad, just here in the 
middle of a less fortunate neighborhood.  So, it's really, the 
mission is to create a food oasis for people to actually come and 
enjoy food that tastes like home, but not necessarily something 
that is hurting them in the long run, something that can have them 
feeling uplifted, vibrant when they walk out the door, opposed to 
tired, sleepy, so.  
((NATS/MUSIC))