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
2 medium to large onions
2 medium green peppers
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 package (10 ounces) frozen baby lima beans
1 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 cup water
1. If using fresh corn on the cob, strip kernels off cob with sharp knife.
2. Blanch tomatoes and remove skin. Dice onions, green peppers and tomatoes. Chop garlic fine or use garlic press.
3. Melt butter until sizzle point, but do not allow to brown.
4. Add fresh corn, onions, green peppers and garlic to butter and saute over medium heat. Add lima beans, salt and pepper to mixture and continue to saute another 3 or 4 minutes. If using frozen corn, add at the same time as adding lima beans.
5. Add diced tomatoes and water. Cover and cook over low heat until vegetables are tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
SMOTHERED CHICKEN AND RICE
Four servings
Preparation time: 40 minutes
Cooking time: 30 to 35 minutes
1 whole frying chicken, cut up
1 teaspoon each: salt, black pepper
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup vegetable oil or clarified butter
3 cups water
3 chicken bouillon cubes
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 medium yellow onions, halved, thinly sliced (or 1 1/2 cups chopped green onions)
1. Spread chicken pieces flat on table or cutting board. Sprinkle evenly with half the salt and pepper. Turn all pieces, and repeat with remaining salt and pepper.
2. Thoroughly dredge chicken in flour on all sides. Save remaining flour. 3. Heat oil in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Place chicken in hot oil. Cook, turning pieces when they become dark golden brown (use tongs so chicken will not be pierced). When chicken is browned remove to a plate.
4. Stir remaining flour into pan juices. Cook and stir, scraping up browned bits from bottom of pan until flour is tan in color. Add sliced onions and continue to cook until dark brown. Remove from heat; cool about 5 minutes. 6. While cooling, bring water and bouillon cubes to a rapid boil in medium saucepan. Pour bouillon mixture into skillet and whisk briskly. Add garlic. Heat to a boil; stir, reduce heat. If using green onions, add at this point.
7. Add chicken pieces, cover and cook over very low heat until chicken is cooked and tender, about 30 to 35 minutes.
COOKED RICE
Four to six servings
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 15 to 20 minutes
1 1/2 cups long-grain white rice
3 cups water
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1/4 teaspoon salt
1. Put all ingredients in 2-quart saucepan. Heat to boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until rice is tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
2. Fluff with fork. Serve rice with smothered chicken.
CARAMEL CAKE
Eight to ten servings
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Baking time: 25 minutes
Cake:
2 cups cake flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup milk
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon rum flavor
Icing:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 can (5 ounces) evaporated milk
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 cups confectioners` sugar, sifted, or as needed
1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour two 8-inch cake pans.
2. For cake, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into large mixer bowl. Beat in softened butter and 1/2 of the milk and mix at medium speed, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add 1 egg and blend. Add remaining milk. Add remaining egg, vanilla and rum extract. Beat for 5 minutes.
3. Scrape batter into prepared pans. Bake until cake springs back when touched in center, about 25 minutes. Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely on wire rack.
4. For icing, mix butter, milk and brown sugar in medium-sized saucepan. Cook slowly until mixture sightly bubbles and sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat; cool slightly. Stir in vanilla.
5. Stir in confectioners` sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, until mixture is spreading consistency.
6. Put one cake layer on serving plate. Spread icing over layer. Top with second layer. Spread icing over top and sides of cake. Let stand about 30 minutes before serving.
