Africa-America food classics

[Pepper Pig Profile]

Collard greens anybody?

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/j ... ton-martin

[Earthmaiden Profile]

I think to sum up that whole cuisine with just two recipes, even if staples, doesn't really do it justice.

Like most people of my age in the UK, I was brought up with the main meal of the day often being meat, potato and some kind of greens. I am always surprised how many people in the USA treat greens as a gourmet food they've rediscovered. I am very interested in genuine cookery as mentioned here and what was done with the combinations of available ingredients to make delicious meals but I just can't ever get ecstatic about greens.

[Pepper Pig Profile]

The entire Guardian food supplement today is devoted to American/Afro American stuff EM. Independence Day. Just thought I wouldn’t post it all in one but I will now. Not all online yet I suspect.

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/j ... -succotash

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/j ... th-of-july


https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/j ... er-pudding

[karadekoolaid Profile]

It´s a bit mean to include two such uninspiring dishes as collard greens and mac&cheese , just to get on the African American bandwagon. Actually, I think it´s poor - there must be a thousand other recipes thy could have used. What about Jambalaya, for example? What about the versions of Fried Chicken (which is heavily consumed over there).
Succotash? Well, Ok - but tater tots - not inspiring at all.
For an Independence Day article I´d have wanted to see recipes like Gumbo, New England chowder, hush puppies, sloppy joes,chile con carne, crab cakes, boiled dinners, shrimp boil, lobster, slow -cooked brisket, etc., not to mention some of the brain-tingling sweets and pies made with local ingredients - blueberries, pumpkin, cranberries, huckleberries.

[Amyw Profile]

I think that’s true , they’re pretty basic, but maybe they included them as safe options to appeal to the masses . I love greens to be honest . When I first got into cooking as a teenager , I loved Jamie Oliver . The first time I tried greens cooked his way , with olive oil , lots of seasoning , garlic and a squeeze of lemon was revelatory as I was just used to plain boiled veg .

I know this could be seen as a little hypocritical as on another thread , I agree he uses olive oil too much but in that instance it works great

[karadekoolaid Profile]

Agree, Amy. It´s amazing what can be done with olive oil - including the divine croquetas in Spain which are fried in it - but ever since Rachael Ray on the US Food Channel began cooing about "EVOO" and then Jamie started slugging the stuff on everything, I think it´s sort of been overused.
A bit like the "Balsamic vinegar" and "Sundried Tomato" craze some years ago.
I´m all for experimenting with different oils, vinegars and sauces; but some just don´t work.

[MariaK Profile]

Totally agree - not very inspiring.

Succotash? Well, Ok -

Except that it's not Afro- American - the native inhabitants had been making it for centuries before Columbus bumped into a Carribean island in October 1492. Don't know about Venezuela, but there's a similar dish - Locro - in northern Argentina, Bolivia, Peru .....
The beans used vary from region to region and country to country - depending on what they grow. But they all have one thing in common: dried beans and dry maize grains.
I found this sentence in Meera Sodha's recipe particularly annoying :

Traditionally, there are lima beans in a succotash, but given that they’re not readily available in the UK, I’ve used delightful, kermit-green broad beans instead. This is perfect for dipping, scooping and mopping up with crusty bread.

Broad beans - whatever next? !! The beans used vary from region to region and country to country - depending on what they grow. But they all have one thing in common: dried beans and dry maize grains as it was made all the year round.

Sorry - rant over.

PS Agree about the abuse of EVOO - And as far as I know there was no oil in what is now the US until the 16th century when Spaniards introduced olive trees (California)

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Traditionally, there are lima beans in a succotash, but given that they’re not readily available in the UK, I’ve used delightful, kermit-green broad beans instead. This is perfect for dipping, scooping and mopping up with crusty bread.

Broad beans - whatever next? !! The beans used vary from region to region and country to country - depending on what they grow. But they all have one thing in common: dried beans and dry maize grains as it was made all the year round.

The use of broad beans is because UK versions of American recipes invariably suggest replacing fresh or frozen lima beans (as opposed to dried lima/butter beans) with broad beans, and it probably is the best substitute there

Most recipes I've seen for succotash over the years have used fresh or more often frozen ingredients - I'm pretty sure Moosewood did 30 years ago, and it seems commonplace among US recipes on the internet, for example the one below, so I guess like the rest of us it has moved on. There are Emeril Lagasse versions of a Creole or New Orleans succotash that I can't link to because on US sites with security walls, but they seem pretty similar from what I can see to the first version here, and I wonder if that's what the Grauniad lot were looking at?

https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/ ... ash-recipe

Even a versions with edamame
https://www.thepioneerwoman.com/food-co ... sh-recipe/

And finally a version using dried beans (though fresh corn)
https://newengland.com/today/food/summe ... -scallops/

[karadekoolaid Profile]

Odd. I get the feeling succotash has suffered serious mutation over the years.
I made a leisurely investigation on the w.w.w. ( well leisure time is what I´ve got plenty of, right now!) and my general impression is this: First of all, the word "Succotash" is an anglicised version of a Narragansett word meaning " Boiled or broken corn kernels" The Narragansett were indigenous to Rhode Island. Secondly, the original version seems to be lima beans and corn with butter and cream. I looked in two of my ancient American cookbooks ( one from the 60s, the other from the 70s) and their recipes were: corn and lima beans. Then, just for the heck of it, I looked at my 1910 version of Mrs Beeton. " An American recipe", she states: corn, lima beans , cream and butter.
Then I looked at some recipes from the 90s, early 2000s, when "Food TV" was alive and kicking.
Blimey - add onions, tomatoes, peppers, courgettes, okra, basil, bacon, andouille sausage, ham hocks, corned beef. It morphed into an American version of ratatouille or Del Monte´s tinned "Mexican Corn" - with cream!
Transmogrifications apart, it´s a yummy option; it´s preparation is what ever rocks your boat.
But African-American, it is not.

[Earthmaiden Profile]

That's interesting KK. I read this thread and was quite surprised because I had thought Succotash was a simpler dish (and something I have not tried but always wanted to). You have confirmed what I'd thought.

Both sound nice but I don't think I'd want the meaty additions even though I'm not vegetarian.

[Badger's Mate Profile]

I would imagine there must have been many variations on 'corn and beans' throughout the pre-Columbian Americas.

as far as I know there was no oil in what is now the US until the 16th century when Spaniards introduced olive trees

I take the point, but presumably there was animal fat of some sort. I know that the indigenous people of the West coast use salmon oil for all sorts of things.

[herbidacious Profile]

When I stayed with my Bajan friend in Grenada he (or his housekeeper - he's a Dominican priest and at that point was very well looked after ) made us mac cheese, but without a white sauce. I wonder if it was more like this. It was quite 'set' - not loose and 'saucy' like the UK version. I think his diet perimarily consisted of chicken when we (vegetarians) weren't there! (His favourite.)

[Stokey Sue Profile]

West Indians in my experience make macaroni cheese by layering cooked macaroni and grated cheese and pouring over a mixture of egg and milk before baking, it’s often served as a side dish with a roast or another meal

[herbidacious Profile]

Yes that sounds more like it. I think they were a bit non-plussed as to what to serve me.

I didn't have any problems eating out in Barbados though, before we arrived at his place.