On Sept. 29, the UWF Historic Trust and Visit Pensacola hosted an exclusive tasting event at the Museum of Commerce to celebrate the premiere of the PBS show A Taste of History and the Pensacola episode airing in October. The episode, titled ‘A Gathering on the Gulf Coast,’ features host Chef Walter Staib as he cooks with three Pensacola chefs and discusses how the history of Pensacola shaped the cuisine of the region.
During the tasting, guests watched an exclusive first look at the episode while enjoying the same dishes prepared during the filming. Over $12,000 was raised from the event for the UWF Historic Trust from 100 guests in attendance.
“Chefs Irv Miller, Blake Rushing and Gus Silvos are some of the shining stars of the Pensacola food scene. I can’t think of a better group to put on a national stage and showcase the dishes produced in our city as well as the history of the first American settlement” says Darien Schaefer, President of Visit Pensacola.
The Pensacola episode features Chef Staib cooking with the head chefs of Jackson’s Steakhouse, Union Public House and Agapi Bistro + Garden. The group discusses the history of their favorite local dishes as they cook over the open hearth of the kitchen house in Historic Pensacola Village.
“As the city of Five Flags, our town has been shaped and refined by people, cultures and ingredients from across the globe. Just like the historical building footprints etched across our city, our cuisine has also been built upon the influences of the many people who have lived, worked and cooked in Pensacola over time,” says Rob Overton, Executive Director of the UWF Historic Trust.
The twelfth season of A Taste of History premieres locally on WSRE PBS starting Oct. 1. The Pensacola episode, “A Gathering on the Gulf,” will air at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 8, and it will be available for streaming on the PBS Video app and online at video.wsre.org/show/taste-history.
The UWF Historic Trust is a nine acre museum complex in downtown Pensacola including the Historic Pensacola Village, Pensacola Children’s Museum, Pensacola Museum of Art, Pensacola Museum of History and Voices of Pensacola. The site is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.