Juneteenth Festival: From fried fish to mac and cheese, a look at soul food options

“I plan to prepare 50 cases of fish on Saturday alone,” Lee said.

The Fish Lady is one of the soul food vendors visitors will find at the Juneteenth Festival June 15-16 at Martin Luther King Jr. Park.

Lee has been perfecting her fried fish recipe since she was a child growing up on the East Side. His grandmother Rose Carson sent Lee to the fish market every week so they could cook together on Fridays. When Lee had her children, she often fried fish for them.

“They didn’t think I knew how to cook anything else,” Lee said.

As a full-time postal worker, Lee cooked primarily as a hobby until her daughter Mykia encouraged her to share her fried fish with the public. Mykia wrote a nine-page business proposal for a fried fish catering company and paid the vendor’s fees for her mother’s first festival.

“She told me what I told her when she was getting ready to go to college,” Lee said. “She told me, ‘Mom, it’s your time to shine.’ “

Lee’s frying technique involves seasoning a piece of haddock, coating it in his cornmeal batter recipe, then dropping it into fresh oil in one motion.

A large fish platter includes a piece of fried fish and two sides for $20. Its sides include mac and cheese, green beans and fries. It is served on blue and white checkered paper in a blue plastic boat because presentation is important to Lee. She also sells her fish as a sandwich ($10) or fish and chips ($15). She makes her own desserts, offering slices of pound cake, red velvet cake and German chocolate cake for $6.

“When you go to a festival, sometimes you can’t afford to eat because they go through the roof with prices,” Lee said. “I wanted it to be affordable so someone coming with kids could afford to eat.”

Lee’s first festival as The Fish Lady took place on June 16, 2022. She said she underestimated its popularity and sold out, running back and forth between stores to meet on demand.

“It’s an incredible thing to see her pursue one of her passions,” said her daughter Mykia.

Lee has been participating in the Juneteenth Festival since childhood.

“It’s a way to unite yourself with the community,” Lee said. “You can celebrate our heritage.”

The Fish Lady will also be at the Pine Grill Jazz Reunion and Music Festival (August 4 and 11) and the University United Festival (August 10).

Here’s a look at two more food vendors selling soul food at the Juneteenth Festival.

Rae’s Dinner and Breakfast Club

Owner Raedel Jemes will be serving her specialty prime rib, which she says has won over several customers who love “die-hard pork ribs,” as well as collard greens that have made a name for herself among her customers.

Jemes will also be cooking a few new additions, including collard green spring rolls and Greek fries, as well as burgers, hot dogs and mac and cheese.

A nurse living on the West Side, Jemes started her home catering business a few years ago. She has a tight-knit community of customers in her neighborhood and hosts small parties and showers.

She said she hopes to one day start a food caravan and attend more festivals throughout the region. This is his second Juneteenth festival.

“I’m really excited, not only to sell the food, but it’s quite a celebration for us,” Jemes said. “Besides being delighted by all types of customers…it was beautiful. It was peaceful. It was a nice gathering to celebrate things about our history that people don’t know about.”

Tierra Jones, of Lockport, will also sell soul food from her vendor tent, SoulFood4Real.

Its most popular foods include spaghetti salad with broccoli, cucumber, carrots, tomatoes and onion, collard greens and grilled chicken breast shish kababs with onion and peppers. SoulFood4Real will also offer hot dogs, burgers, sausages and grilled chicken.

This is SoulFood4Real’s first Juneteenth festival, but Tierra’s husband, Shaquille, DJs at the festival every year.

The 49th annual Juneteenth Festival in Buffalo celebrates the federal holiday of Juneteenth commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. It is also an educational celebration of Buffalo’s Black community, heritage and culture.

When: June 15-16 at Martin Luther King Jr Park. This will begin with a parade at 10 a.m. June 15 starting at Genesee and Ivy streets and ending at MLK Park where there will be musicians, dancing, vendors food, shopping and activities for children and teenagers.

New this year: There are a few new activities just for teens, including a dance competition, airbrush tattoos, photo booth and games. From 1 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. on June 16, a new spade tournament will take place on the arts and culture stage. Families can also avoid lines at the Children’s Activity Zone, which houses carnival games, bubbles and other attractions, by pre-registering their children at buffalojuneteenth.com.