February 18, 1988|By Barbara Sullivan.
There`s one thing that all black people look forward to with great relish, says Tondalaya Thomas, and that`s food.
Black food.
Soul food.
``There are a lot of areas that black people have stigmas about, or differences of opinion . . . like they might think they`re too light or too dark, or their hair is knappy, or their lips are too big, but those differences don`t extend when it comes to soul food.
``They`re still looking for the pot of greens with some chitlings on the side.``
This is Black History Month, and as Thomas, a Chicago caterer, and other blacks love to point out, black history and food are closely intertwined. As close as hamhocks and blackeyed peas, as close as biscuits and gravy, as close as overcooked beans and bacon, as close as-well, you get the idea.
``Sharing meals, breaking bread together, is very much a part of our black tradition,`` said Amina Dickerson, president of the Du Sable Museum of Afro-American History, 740 E. 56th Pl. ``It`s our communal sharing, a kinship system, everyone coming together to share.``
She adds: ``I`m a professional young woman, but part of me still wants to smoke in the kitchen. That means, I want to knock everyone`s socks off in the kitchen.``
Black history and black food-soul food, as it`s now called-became linked in the United States during the days of slavery.
Black women worked in white kitchens, creating dishes and carrying leftovers home. Sometimes the slaves had their own little garden patches ``and they grew leafy greens . . . combining those leftovers with those vegetables, and that became black food,`` Thomas says.
In his book, ``Southern Food`` (Knopf, $22.95), John Egerton comments that ``black cooks profoundly shaped the character of Southern food . . . segregation may have kept black and white Southerners from eating together, but it did not keep them from eating the same things-pork and chicken, cornbread and biscuits, the whole range of vegetables and fruits and a multitude of pies and cakes.``
Thomas, who is head of Pearadise Productions catering company, 3145 N. Halsted St., describes black food as ``filling food``-for good reason.
``People (blacks) didn`t have a lot of money to spend. Back in slavery days and after that, they were working in the fields, hard work. So emphasis was put on filling food. Like gravy. Gravy is heavy, it will lay in your stomach, it stays with you. Biscuits and gravy, cornbread and gravy, smothered chicken, heavy food.``
``You have to have gravy,`` Du Sable`s Dickerson agrees. ``Black people don`t like plain rice or plain bread, you`ve got to have gravy.``
Black food ended up on the menu early this month at Du Sable, when Thomas` Pearadise Productions catered the opening reception for the museum`s February tribute to black heritage with a ``Tribute to the Elders of the Chicago Blues Tradition.`` The monthlong event is sponsored by the museum and Kraft, Inc.
The original menu planned for the reception was sophisticated, including such items as tortellini and French pastries. ``When you`re doing something corporate, you think of a certain kind of fare,`` Dickerson said. ``But then the Kraft people said, `if we`re doing blues, it (food) ought to reflect the blues. So we ended up with catfish fritters, smothered chicken and ribs. It was a real hit.``
No matter how much the lifestyles of black people change, black food won`t change, say Dickerson and Thomas.
``It`s traditional,`` Thomas said. ``No matter how much money you have, whether you`ve been to college or not, the greens and gravy and chicken are going to be there.``
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Sunday dinner after church is traditionally a big meal for black people. By the time you get through eating, you are ``stuffed`` according to caterer Tondalaya Thomas, who can trace her ancestry back to James Madison`s Virginia plantation during the 1700s. Following are several recipes from Thomas that comprise a ``traditional Sunday dinner.``
HOT BUTTERED CORNBREAD
Six to eight servings
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Baking time: 20 to 25 minutes
1 cup white or yellow corn meal
1 cup cake flour, sifted after measuring
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sugar, optional
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup whole milk
2 eggs, slightly beaten
4 tablespoons butter, softened
1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix all dry ingredients.
2. Place 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in 9-inch pie pan or 8-inch square cake pan. Place in oven while mixing other ingredients.
3. Add buttermilk, whole milk and eggs to dry mixture. Mix in strokes, but do not overmix.
4. Remove pan from oven and pour 1/2 of oil into cornbread mixture. Stir just enough for oil to be absorbed.
5. Pour mixture into pan. Bake until golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately spread soft butter over entire top of cornbread. Cool on wire rack. Serve warm.
SUCCOTASH
Four to six servings
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 20 to 25 minutes
4 ears corn on the cob, or 3 cups frozen corn kernels
2 medium tomatoes
