Andre Fowles grew up in a tenement yard in Kingston, Jamaica, learning to cook from his grandmother Mama Cherry. Her spirit of warmth is at the center of everything Andre does, from his years cooking at Miss Lily’s in New York, to winning Chopped, to becoming a private chef for Bruce Springsteen and his wife Patti, to writing his debut cookbook My Jamaican Table. In our conversation, Andre talks about what Mama Cherry taught him that culinary school couldn’t, why Jamaican food deserves a seat at the same table as French and Japanese cuisine, and what it means to go back to Kingston and open a space right across the street from his uncle’s decades-old porridge stand.
We’ve got three recipes from My Jamaican Table: Coconut-Banana Pancakes, Crispy Coconut Shrimp with Spicy Chile-Lime Mayo, and Guinness-Braised Short Ribs.
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