Family Recipes Gone Healthy

Could the "Fried Chicken Queen of Mantua" make her dish healthier? A Drexel course offered the chance...

Could the "Fried Chicken Queen of Mantua" make her legendary dish healthier? A Drexel course offered the chance, and West Philadelphia resident Josephine "Joe" Samuel rose to the challenge.

Samuel baked the chicken, added bread crumbs to maintain the crunch and seasoned for flavor — all based on techniques learned in "Local Culinary Traditions," a summer class from Drexel's Center for Hospitality and Sport Management in which four neighborhood residents and four Drexel students cooked together for 10 weeks.

Each participant brought a favorite family recipe that they "healthified" with the help of Chef James Feustel. The dishes were later shared at community dinners at the Dornsife Center for Neighborhood Partnerships, Drexel's "urban extension center" where the University collaborates with residents of the Powelton and Mantua neighborhoods.

"Drexel is interwoven into the fabric of the community," says Feustel, professor and director of the Department of Culinary Arts and Food Science. "We sought to engage the community to develop this program where we're improving their lifestyle and their cooking habits."

The Dornsife Center celebrated its grand opening in June, with programs ranging from law clinics to environmental health seminars to a neighborhood history exchange. A second community culinary class, funded by the same GlaxoSmithKline grant as Culinary Traditions, is teaching food preservation techniques to stem overreliance on canned foods.

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A Primer on the Promise Zone

What

An area of West Philadelphia was designated one of the first five federal Promise Zones, aligning federal agencies to support local plans for education, public safety, housing and economic opportunity.

Where

The West Philadelphia Promise Zone includes Mantua, West Powelton and Powelton Village — neighborhoods adjacent to Drexel's University City Campus — as well as nearby Belmont.

Why

This cluster of neighborhoods has consistently struggled with poverty, but new collaborations and partnerships among nonprofits including Drexel have created a momentum for change.

How

Drexel helped prepare the application along with the Philadelphia Mayor's Office of Community Empowerment and Opportunity, other city agencies and a coalition of community organizations including Mt. Vernon Manor and the People's Emergency Center. The University leads the education working group for the Promise Zone.