Can you share a bit about your culinary background and how your passion for sorghum developed?

I always say I’m a practically trained savory chef, a classically trained pastry chef, and I have a degree in culinary science. Essentially, that is to say, I learned to cook on my own or in restaurants and kitchens throughout my career, I trained under some of the foremost pastry chefs in the world in Baking in Pastry Arts at the Culinary Institute of America where I also received my degree in Culinary Science, which is a lot like food science, but rather than working in labs, we worked in kitchens.

I grew up in a small town just outside of Greensboro, North Carolina, and that is where I learned how to cook. Greensboro, much like the rest of North Carolina, is rooted in farming, so I was no stranger to fresh produce and farmer’s markets. My parents separated at a young age, and I was often home alone and needed to learn how to fend for myself since my father worked long hours and I wanted to be able to give him something to eat when he got home.

I learned how to cook out of necessity to feed myself and support my dad. It wasn’t until high school that I realized cooking was something I truly loved, enjoyed and wanted to pursue in life. At that time, I started spending more time at the local farmer’s markets, trying new produce, and testing new ingredients I had never tried before. That’s where I found sorghum. But rather than grain sorghum, I found sorghum syrup from local farms in my area of North Carolina.

I was immediately fascinated by its distinct, tangy flavor and similarity to molasses without the bitterness. I started using it on everything from glazing meats and vegetables to topping biscuits, even sweetening my tea. I enjoyed it so much that I always had a jar in my house, and, eventually, when I went to college, I always had a jar in my dorm. When I went to Culinary School, I brought my fascination for sorghum with me. I taught myself how to use it as a flour in gluten-free baking and later did one of my final projects in my baking degree around ingredients that remind me of home, which for me was a roasted black walnut mousse with a sorghum syrup glaze, peach compote, gluten-free sorghum cake, and candied black walnuts.

For me, sorghum has always felt like the ingredient that communicated my identity as a chef, and celebrated my past, my community and the hard-working people that I love. Throughout the last seven years of my career, I’ve worked to build awareness and knowledge around sorghum before it was ever even my job to do so. During my time as the Innovation Chef at Campbell’s Soup, I led projects testing the resiliency and functionality of grains in retort pressure cooking. During my time as a corporate chef for Dole, I developed numerous menu concepts that leveraged sorghum as a key ingredient for some of the largest foodservice operations in America.

Sorghum is an ingredient I feel not enough people know about, an ingredient that has too much value and versatility to continue to go underutilized. I couldn’t be more honored to have the opportunity to represent the hard-working sorghum farmers of America and want them to know that they have someone that loves sorghum as much as they do helping spread the word.

As the inaugural Corporate Chef Consultant for the United Sorghum Checkoff Program, what are your primary goals and objectives?

Well, first and foremost, my goal is to set a strong and sturdy foundation for the future of sorghum as it pertains to cooking and implementation in foodservice and retail products. That foundation setting comes in many forms, from developing standardized recipe formats to highlighting and refining versatile cooking applications for sorghum in its many forms to the development of tailored baking blends for sorghum flour.

To boil down my goals into something tangible, my primary goal is to build out a robust culinary portfolio that easily communicates the depth of functionality of sorghum and empowers chefs and consumers alike to use it—no matter their background, comfort with cooking or diet.

How do you envision integrating sorghum into various culinary applications, both in foodservice and home cooking?

Something I have said since beginning this role, “sorghum is so versatile in culinary application, I want to make it feel more difficult not to use it.” Sorghum as a whole grain is extremely user friendly, easy to cook and difficult to overcook, making it a perfect fit for home cooks and foodservice operations alike. This makes it perfect for consumer’s or operators with little cooking experience to instantly pick up sorghum and use it without any need to fear mushy grains or burnt pans, which is all too common with more ubiquitous grains like rice.

A culinary functionality that I think is currently underutilized is sorghum’s use in breading and frying. Whole grain sorghum flour can be used in place of or in conjunction with traditional wheat flour in breading and frying. Sorghum flour not only makes fried foods crunchier, but it can also extend the hold time of fried foods without the breading getting soggy or falling apart. It even works great in traditional beer batter and tempura applications.

I could go on and on about sorghum, but really, I don’t want people to feel like sorghum is something that they are switching out another grain for because they can. Sorghum is distinctly more flavorful, easier to use, more nutrient dense and often creates a more delicious product than recipes that don’t use it. Sorghum is not a swap-it-in ingredient. It is an ingredient so functional and delicious chefs should be using it just to make better food.

Are there any specific partnerships or collaborations you’re excited about in your new role, and how do you plan to leverage these to promote sorghum?

One partnership that I am extremely excited for and passionate about is the Sorghum Checkoff’s partnership with Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever. I’m an avid birdwatcher and extremely passionate about American wildlife, specifically game birds. Populations of quail and pheasants have dropped drastically across America in the last 30 years and the ability to work with the Checkoff to support the growth of more sorghum as a habitat for these iconic species that define American bird hunting is massively exciting to me.

I’d love to be able to host dinners to showcase the use and flavor of both pheasants and quail as well as sorghum. There is an old saying amongst chefs, “What grows together, goes together” this would be a perfect forum for showcasing that.

Something else that I think could be impactful would be to host corporate chefs from across Food Service and Consumer Packaged Goods to Kansas and experience what it’s like to walk along the sorghum fields and potentially even host a hunting outing. So many chefs across America are just as passionate as me about knowing where your food comes from and celebrating the great country that we live in. I know we could make a massive impact from just getting more people out to meet the farmers, see the fields and understand the ecological impact that goes into growing sorghum.

What do you perceive as the biggest challenges and opportunities for sorghum in the culinary industry?

The biggest challenge is also the biggest opportunity at the same time. As it stands, there is a lack of name recognition with sorghum. I am always talking to chefs from all parts of the food and beverage industry, and one of the biggest takeaways I’ve found is many chefs just haven’t heard of sorghum.

Once chefs hear about its uses and functionality, they’re always interested and want to know a bit more. Many want to test it, work with it and eat it. Chefs are a naturally curious bunch, so this naturally leads to a lot of great conversation around how sorghum can be used and how different chefs might look to menu it.

To sum it up, our biggest challenge is also our greatest advantage, people don’t know about sorghum and it makes it feel new and exciting. This also allows us to build messaging and position sorghum however we want, rather than having to break preconceived notions on how to use it or challenge any established consumer understanding of sorghum.

Could you share a sneak peek of any innovative sorghum recipes you’re currently working on or planning to develop?

I’m always working on and thinking about new applications and recipes showcasing sorghum’s functionality, so this is harder for me to narrow down a favorite. My current focus however is building out a globally inspired recipe database to show how sorghum is currently eaten or could be applied to cuisines from across the globe. I’m only at the onset of the project, but I’ve got a lot of delicious results and recipes on the way from savory to sweet in both food and beverage. One of the first recipes that I’ve had a great time developing and testing is a new sorghum-centric take on the Cajun classic, Gumbo. Which is a hearty and spicy stew with sausage, shrimp, vegetables and of course sorghum. It comes together in a beautiful way. It’s rich, meaty, savory and perfect for a cool day. Another personal favorite I recently completed is a twist on a traditional Japanese green tea called Genmaicha, which is a blend of steamed green tea leaves and toasted brown rice. Mine however, of course, removes the rice and utilizes toasted whole grain sorghum. It’s the perfect tea for an early morning or cool evening with both the flavor of green tea and a really comforting grainy flavor from the toasted sorghum that makes it feel more substantial, roasty and nutty in a way that is extremely satisfying.

I’ve got plenty more recipes coming to showcase French pastry, South American cuisines, tortilla and taco applications, Asian dishes and stir-fries—you name it! Keep an eye out for updates, because you won’t want to miss what we’ve been working on.

What message or advice would you like to share with sorghum farmers about the impact of having a dedicated chef promoting their crop?

I want the farmers to know that not only do they have a chef that is dedicated to spreading the word on sorghum, but they have a chef who is deeply passionate about American agriculture, farming and rural communities leading the charge.

Sure, I can say that I’m building applications for sorghum, talking to chefs daily about its uses, benefits and ability to strengthen their companies at a global scale. I can say I’m advocating sorghum’s use as a solution to the largest companies in America, but I don’t think that means anything if they don’t know that I have their best interest at heart. I want the farmers to know that I come from a community and background rooted in close relationships with farmers and understand the hard work that they do every single day to even get their crops to the point where I can work with it and use it in my recipes.

My lasting message would be this, farmers are the hardest working people in America, and I do not take lightly the responsibility placed on me to represent their tireless work. I will do everything I can every single day to justify my position as a voice for their work and champion the application of the crop that we all love on menus and in products across America.

Sorghum is often praised for its nutritional benefits. How do you plan to highlight these benefits in your culinary creations?

Nutrition is a key reason why some consumers want to eat sorghum. Whether it be for specialty diets, child nutrition, healthcare or elderly care, nutrition is an important aspect of building recipes that meet operators and consumers where they are. As a starting point, I like to choose specific qualities that can be highlighted, whether that be protein content, fiber or antioxidant content and build around that as a canvas. That generally looks like creating leaner and protein rich soups such as a bison and sorghum soup or creating antioxidant-rich snack mixes with popped sorghum, dark chocolate, pistachios and sumac.

The possibilities are endless. Sorghum’s naturally nutrient dense profile allows me as a chef to find other ingredients to synergize with the distinct nutritional qualities I am looking to highlight. With that, I plan to build concepts to fulfill and maximize those qualities while still delivering something delicious at the end of the day.

Can you tell us about some of the innovative projects or recipes you developed during your tenure at Campbell’s Soup Company and Dole Packaged Foods that might inspire your work with sorghum?

I’m very proud to say that while I was working at Campbell’s, I was able to work with many of the different sub-brands within the Campbell’s portfolio, so I have been able to be a part of a large range of products. One of the brands that I was most heavily involved in was “Well Yes!,” which is essentially a line of better-for-you canned soups that were primarily driven by and made up of grains and vegetables. I was a part of the launch of several SKUs and was the first person to develop and build around a line of power bowls that were launched under the “Well Yes!” brand as well. A lot of those concepts and line extensions were heavily anchored in using new grains to reach a different and more health centric consumer. That said, making relatable bowls and soups with more nutrient dense ingredients actively plays a role in my thought process as I develop recipes and concepts for the Sorghum Checkoff.

I was also able to get a behind-the-scenes look at the Plum baby food world during my time at Campbell’s, and while I can’t speak to the work that I did, I am still extremely interested in child and infant nutrition. As a father to a 1-year-old (named Milo!), and with another on the way, I know how difficult it can be as a parent to find and choose products that you feel are good for your baby and align with your values as a parent. I think sorghum has a natural fit in infant nutrition that is currently filled by other, lower quality, less nutrient dense grains.

During my time at Dole, a large part of what I did was focusing on pure innovation and ways to apply products into new or novel applications or cuisines that previously hadn’t been thought of. This is a major driver for my mindset while representing the Sorghum Checkoff. We have the incredible opportunity to decide our destiny as we build out the messaging, understanding and applications for sorghum to the masses. We also have the incredible opportunity to define who we are as a culinary resource and position ourselves not just as people who know and love sorghum, but to show we are people who love food, global cuisines and want to celebrate the cultures of the world through the lens of the grain we love.

My background in practical concept and product development paired with innovative thinking and messaging gives me the distinct ability to help present sorghum in a way that highlights how special it truly is for anyone and everyone to enjoy no matter their background, diet or ethnicity.

How do you see the future of sorghum evolving in the culinary space, especially in terms of consumer acceptance and mainstream adoption?

I think that sorghum can be as popular as we have the will to make it. Many crops or ingredients can often feel limited in application, for instance fruit can feel difficult to make a center of the plate option, vegetables are hard to position in beverages or sweet applications. Sorghum does not have any of these restrictions and lacks a clear barrier as to where it can fit in a meal or on a plate.

Sorghum has a mild flavor that can deliver other flavors and serve as a base to build upon. Sorghum can fit in both savory or sweet, it can be used in center of the plate applications like risotto or veggie burgers, it can function as a flour in frying or baking or it can be a side like a grain salad or pilaf. It can fit into snacking as an extruded, puffed or popped product. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert are all dining occasions that sorghum can instantly and easily fit into. Sorghum’s versatility truly makes it an X-factor type of ingredient. The key opportunity now becomes making it so obvious to foodservice operations and manufacturers that they should be using sorghum that it becomes difficult not to use it in operation.

A growth in menuing and product application of sorghum would then lead to larger consumer understanding and recognition, which would in turn create more home use and application. While that may be a few years down the road, there is nothing stopping sorghum from being the next big grain in America, and I see it being used in large scale foodservice applications within the next couple years.

###

This story originally appeared in the Summer 2024 Issue of Sorghum Grower magazine.