02/01/2024
Daisy McAfee Bonner
The story, life and culinary achievements of Daisy McAfee Bonner exist in the same plane as countless other free and enslaved African Americans who have quietly cooked for presidents for decades. Adrian Miller, in his James Beard award-winning book “The President’s Kitchen Cabinet,″ amplifies the names and stories of these underscored culinarians, including those of Bonner.
Originally from Fort Valley, Georgia, Bonner was President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s primary cook at his second home in Warm Springs, Georgia. Bonner was loaned to FDR from a wealthy local family.
“Bonner took every opportunity to get FDR hooked on Southern delicacies like fried chicken, broiled pigs feet, turnip greens, hush puppies, and cornbread,” Miller writes in her book.
