The History
For the past 44 years, Bayview Senior Services has proudly hosted the annual Black Cuisine event. This event, deeply rooted in the cultural heritage of African American seniors, has been a platform to share their traditions with the wider community, particularly young people. What began as a soul food cooking contest among our esteemed seniors has now flourished into a vibrant cultural street fair with a diverse array of food, entertainment, and a bustling marketplace. As the longest-running cultural event in Bayview Hunters Point, it has evolved into a cherished gathering, fostering connections and celebrating African American cultural heritage. From its humble beginnings at the senior center at 1706 Yosemite, Black Cuisine has become a community-wide celebration, embracing organizations and individuals contributing to its cultural flavor.
This year's event will be held on April 27, 2024, from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. at 1753 Carroll Avenue. The agency's nutrition program uses this event to prepare and highlight cultural foods and engage the seniors in bringing their soul food to the cooking contest.
Along with the great food and an expanded Kiddieland, you can enjoy entertainers and vendors with roots in the Bayview Hunters Point Community. This year's event will include a raffle with the proceeds sales going towards the agency's goal of raising money to purchase a passenger van to transport seniors so that they can participate in cultural and social events throughout the City and Bay Area.
Roberta Hudson has been serving and cooking as a volunteer at Bayview Senior Services for over 50 years.
Her experience with black cuisine has been cooking quality soul food for the community, and her favorite part is the community gathering to socialize and the different types of food. Her primary role was food prep and cooking. She says, “I love feeding the people; sometimes this is their only meal. They used to call me Mother Theresa because every time someone comes and says they’re hungry, I'd be on my way home to give them a sandwich or fix them something to eat.”
Roberta's culinary skills are a treasure to the community. She recalls the menu in the earlier Black Cuisines, which included a delightful array of dishes. Pinto beans and greens cooked with ham hocks, ox tails, braised cooked ribs on the grill, macaroni and cheese with the starch washed off, sweet potato pie, and homemade ice cream were among the favorites. Her specialty dish, however, is her mouthwatering banana pudding and peach cobbler, a testament to her culinary prowess.
Roberta is from Florida, where she raised and cooked food on her family’s farm. She used to do nursing and caregiving before she started cooking as a volunteer.
Please consider donating to our work to ensure that our senior and disabled community members are fed, housed, engaged, and treated with