Meet Black Girls Grilling
Why cook to eat when you can cook to bring your friends and family together? Fellowship is the philosophy of sisters Felicia Jordan and India Glass, the Atlanta-based grillmasters behind Black Girls Grilling.
Felicia and India were raised by the smoke; homegrown South Georgia recipes are practically baked into their DNA. They come from a long line of cooks and pitmasters passing down family recipes, traditions, and inspiration.
Their father, a major source of their love of the smoke, constantly had two or three grills fired up in their backyard. As a local farmer, he’d use his own freshly harvested vegetables paired with meats and accouterments from farmers’ markets and local grocers.
Over the years, through the pandemic, losses, and life changes, their family would return home to each other and gather around the grill. Making their meals was about more than just food; as life went on, spending time together was more important than ever. Handing down old family recipes and sharing new recipes became a passion that took on a new perspective when they challenged each other to recreate their family’s famous recipes on their Big Green Egg.
When a family friend raved about their 20-year experience cooking on the Big Green Egg, the sisters were inspired (with a little nudge from their father) to pick one up for themselves. They brought their first Big Green Egg home in 2021, and by the time EGGtoberfest came around, they were certified Egg professionals.
At the 2022 EGGtoberfest, the Black Girls Grilling team cooked two hundred pounds of oxtails and smoked gouda grits — a meal that was so spectacular they were voted the People’s Choice Award out of more than 250 cooks. The following year, they switched things up and made an entirely different offering: their sweet, comforting “Not Your Mother’s Butter Smoked Pound Cake,” which truly tasted like a warm hug.
What started as a family activity, meant to draw them all together to try new recipes, became a life-changing experience through fellowship. Felicia never forgets the moment she realized that all of the festival attendees, both professional chefs and amateur cooks alike, became instant friends. Sharing the love and passion for cooking on the Egg that day united everyone, creating one big family of Big Green Egg fans.
To this day, Felicia and India cook everything on their Egg. But not without some trials along the way. India tells all Big Green Egg newcomers, especially women, that grilling and smoking require patience. The most essential ingredient of all is trust in yourself.
From their famous smoked oxtails, to cheesy grits, to smoked seafood queso, and sweet smoked pound cake, Felicia and India prove there’s not a single thing that black girls can’t grill.