Minnesota Now runs over the lunch hour and often covers what chefs around the state are making for lunch, but it’s not every day that the show gets to dig into the stories of food. There’s a history behind everything we eat.

On Feb. 15, a Minneapolis chef is celebrating Black History Month with a workshop about preserving the Gullah Geechee food traditions. Gullah Geechee people are descendants of Africans who were enslaved in coastal areas of the southeastern United States. They held onto traditions from Africa and mixed them with new ones, forming unique language, art and food.

Chef James Johnson is bringing Gullah Geechee food to Minnesota with his catering company, Cooks of Hope. He spoke to MPR News host Nina Moini about keeping the tradition alive.