|
Memorial Day is the
unofficial beginning of outdoor cooking season in the
African American community. Ever since arriving on the
shores of this continent, food has been a means for black
people to connect and remain connected. How we prepare it
and experience it is very cultural.
We eat it, share it, and take
pictures of it. We dance, play cards and drink a variety of
non-religious libations. We tell and retell the same old
stories that become even more exaggerated with each recital.
Yet, don’t get it twisted.
African-American outdoor cooking is different.
We don’t do cookouts; we do
barbecues or grilling. Black heritage cooking is also
connected with farming and our agrarian past, according to
food scholar William Frank Mitchell, where men performed
hunting and fishing duties while women tended gardens.
Therefore the “physicality of grilling” comes with
gender-based expectations which means that the grill or BBQ
pit is a “man’s world” where male family members take pride
and even brag over their grilling prowess.
While perhaps the most
important feature of soul food is that the taste of each of
the traditional dishes must be “recognizable,” the essence
of black heritage food is, for me, a variation of the
cultural norms of my urban experience and the blending of
African practices with the regional Southern rural culture
that my ancestors brought North during the great migration.
To get a sense of how our
heritage has shaped the way our family prepares and enjoys
food, I queried my wife whose parents grew up in Virginia
and, like mine, also migrated to Toledo from Alabama or
Georgia.
Perryman:
Summertime means the coming of grilling season. For me, it
is also a time to ‘chill’ given the nature of urban ministry
and the conflict that is inherent in that work. It has been
nice to at last go through a season of relative peace from a
work perspective.
Willetta:
Well, love and happiness at work makes finding love and
happiness at home much easier.
Donald:
When barbequing, do you like gas or charcoal?
Willetta:
I used to prefer charcoal but I like gas also. When grilling
good cuts of meat, you don’t need the extra flavor of
charcoal, especially when you use good rubs or marinades.
The charcoal tends to overpower the flavor.
Perryman:
And when you do use charcoal, you should use a chimney to
start the fire because lighter fluid tends to permeate the
taste of the meat?
Willetta:
I don’t use lighter fluid, personally.
Perryman:
Soul food is heritage food and thus is traditional although
there are different recipes and techniques used to prepare
it. What does it mean to you when we say that the food must
be recognizable?
Willetta:
To me, that means that the food must be aesthetically
pleasing. Visually it must have the right amount of juices;
the herbs, spices and ingredients should shine through or be
bubbly so that merely looking at it makes you want to eat
it. It must also smell good. And most importantly, although
soul food dishes contain traditional ingredients, in order
to prepare tasty dishes that stand out, you need to be
skilled at adding extra ingredients that enhance the flavors
but don’t change the intent of the recipe.
Perryman:
(Laughing)…. In other words, you don’t add raisins to
collard greens or put cranberries in potato salad?
Willetta:
(Laughs) … No, you don’t want to add anything ‘foreign’ to
the dish. You want to include ingredients that enhance or
are complementary to the existing flavors.
Perryman:
Some of my friends would like to know what your typical menu
for a summer holiday might consist of.
Willetta:
You could go ribs. You could also plan a foundation around
steak, chicken, Back Yard burgers or bratwurst. You can add
something like tri-colored pasta salad with roasted peppers
and creamy Italian dressing or potato salad, baked beans and
something green. I would top things off with a tropical
fruit salad or my aunt Evie Lee’s orange pie and iced
lemonade for an exciting Memorial Day meal of family,
friends and fellowship.
Perryman:
Okay. I’m good with ribs. Do you have a preference for the
cut?
Willetta:
It has to be a good cut like baby backs or St. Louis and,
with ribs, I do prefer slow cooking using charcoal and
hickory chips.
Perryman:
What about chicken?
Willetta:
I like the chicken legs and thighs smoked on a charcoal
grill but prefer the breasts on a gas grill.
Perryman:
Why?
Willetta:
The gas grill tends to cook the thighs and legs too fast,
and they’re going to end up done on the outside, not done on
the inside. For breasts, you want a fast cooking grill,
because the breast cooks through quicker than the other
pieces. I also like brats on a gas grill. They already
have enough flavors and don’t need the enhancement of smoke
or charcoal.
Perryman:
What is the key to your variation on barbeque sauce?
Willetta:
The key is you have to have a tomato base and a citrus of
some type like lemon, vinegar, orange juice, Mustard or
something acidic.
Perryman:
Then you’re not big on rubs?
Willetta:
Yes, I always do rubs. I combine salt, paprika, basil,
parsley flakes, onion powder, and lemon pepper. I always use
that. Now I don’t actually rub into it, because that’s not
necessary, that’s just something cute. I sprinkle the herbs
and seasonings onto the meat.
Perryman:
When we talk about potato salad, that’s a classic, a staple
for black barbecues, right?
Willetta:
Well, people like a variety of types of potato salad. Some
people like a “sweet-flavored’ potato salad. Others like
more of a kind of a dill type of potato salad. Some people
like it with eggs, some people don’t. Personally, I don’t
like potato salad that’s sweet and I don’t like eggs in it.
It’s just that when you mix Miracle Whip and eggs together,
it doesn’t agree with me. Some people like peeled Russet
potatoes; I prefer redskin potatoes with the skin on.
Perryman:
Your mom makes the sweeter potato salad and I love it,
however I love yours equally. You do make your baked beans
similar to hers. What is the key to making good baked beans?
Willetta:
I do a variation of my mom’s recipe and the key, for me, is
using curry powder and a good quality thick bacon. And of
course I also like to use my barbecue sauce and brown sugar
in baked beans. Some people use molasses.
Perryman:
You also said that a classic barbeque needs something green.
What are some options?
Willetta:
You can have collard greens; you can have a mixed green
salad or green beans. Everybody always seems to do green
beans. I like green beans, but I actually like the real
thin fresh ones roasted in the oven.
Perryman:
Haricots Verts or French style green beans?
Willetta:
Yes, those are the best. With bacon drippings and just put
in a roaster and just let them cook in the oven and they are
so delicious. And I also like to use lots of fresh garlic
and onions on them. And the collard greens, a different
take on that is to fry them. Sauté some bacon, onions and
fresh garlic and then toss the greens in and let them cook
until slightly crunchy. Fried collard greens don’t get real
soft, but they don’t need to.
Perryman:
Finally, I am sure that everyone has his or her own
preference for libations. However, what can you recommend
for a tasty nonalcoholic beverage?
Willetta:
I like to use fresh fruit and mix it in with various fruit
juices. Add watermelon and pineapple chunks to Squirt and
orange, peach or other fruit juice and you can’t go wrong
with that kind of punch.
Perryman:
What does the Squirt do?
Willetta:
The Squirt is a grapefruit-based beverage that balances the
sweetness of the fruit. And, for those that drink alcohol,
you can take the punch and add champagne to it for great
mimosas.
Perryman:
And, finally, of course you’ve gotta have the music playing
while you are cooking and/or socializing.
Willetta:
Absolutely! It is a must. Old School R and B for me!
Perryman:
As long as its Grown Folks Soul music - R and B, NeoSoul,
Jazz or Blues all work for me.
Contact Rev. Donald Perryman, D.Min, at
drdlperryman@centerofhopebaptist.org
|
