Did Someone Say African-American Baking?

Baking is something I always enjoyed. I remember buying my first box of red velvet cake mix from the store with my dad and creating a huge mess. Not knowing whether I was doing it correctly or not, I got down to work. Mixing and pouring, it seemed like the red velvet cake mix was everywhere. Fortunately though, I've picked up some baking skills throughout my years. In this blog post I'll be making an African-American baking dish called Spoon Bread.

In the beginning of the baking section, Jessica B. Harris includes a short story of a woman talking about the foods she's eaten as she was growing up. Even though her family didn't have a lot, she mentions throughout the story that the food was always delicious (Harris 184). Personally growing up in a large family I always remembered creating big servings of food but it never lacking the "wow" factor.

You might think to yourself about all of the food you've ever tried, The good and the not so good, but what determines delicious food and bland food? The answer lies in text of The Welcome Table, "We use fresh seasonings whenever possible, so that when the food comes to the table it has flavor... you've got to have the flavor" (Harris 184). Harris includes this portion into the book to show that flavor is very important.

I created one of the recipes in this book named "Spoon Bread". This was a bread that was created with cornmeal and an indication of it's Deep South origins (Harris 188).

  

Spoon bread!

 After creating this bread I thought of additional things I could add in order to create more flavor. I figured I would add almond meal and sliced almonds on top. Not only did this add a nutty flavor but it also created a crunchy texture on top. I very much liked this modification. I think it did justice in the flavor department!



Spoon bread with extra flavor.



What artificial flavoring is your favorite? Would your favorite foods still be your favorite if they had less flavor?

Thank you for reading!

Black-Eyed Pea Soup

Growing up I've always heard people talking about the Black-Eyed Peas. Never have I assumed that they were an actual food and a band! Soup was always something I needed help with, incorporating flavor. I wanted to try out this Black-Eyed Pea soup to see how good African-American roots really taste like.


Not adding too many actual black-eye peas to the soup, creating the soup was fairly simply like any other. Incorporating flavor is what I was most focused on in creating this dish.


I didn't expect it to take so long to make some black-eyed pea soup but that was only because I had to soak the beans in cold water over night. In the book The Welcome Table it tells you some directions, "Pick over the black-eyed peas to remove any stones and hardened beans. place them in a large stockpot, cover them with cold water, and allow them to soak overnight" (Harris 63). This was new for me, having never cooked with beans before.


I thought it was pretty cool to try out new techniques and working with a food I haven't before. The flavor was a little bland so I decided to add some additional seasoning. I threw in some more thyme, salt and pepper which made the soup a lot more flavorful. 


Have you tried any new cooking techniques lately? If so, which techniques have you tried?

The soup I created

African American Foods

In fifth grade our teacher made us write down our dream occupation and decorate the letters on a piece of paper. My piece of paper had said "chef" on it. She then proceeded to take pictures of each and every one of us and posted them on her personal blog for us to see. I wanted to continue my cooking passion and create my own blog post to see how much I can grow and learn about the fine culinary arts.

The before photo.

 
I picked out an African-American Heritage Cooking book called The Welcome Table by Jessica B. Harris.
I chose a simple tomato, cucumber, and onion salad. I chose this because it was fairly similar to what my mom creates at home and I wanted to see how the African-American version of this salad was similar and/or different to our Russian version!







The after photo. Cut and peeled. Aesthetics, right?










"Several years later my admiration for Mrs. Lippman grew and when I found out that she and I shared a fondness for leftover salad eaten the next morning at breakfast."(B. Harris page 68-69)


Like any human, you begin to like them more and connect when you realize you have things in common with that person. Jessica began to admire Mrs. Lippman when she realized that they both had the same mindset. Nothing should go to waste. Simple salad for breakfast.



"If there's any left over, refrigerate it overnight and serve it the following morning as a breakfast salad. The vegetables will have marinated in the dressing and be even more intensely flavored" (B. Harris page 69).


This quote talks about how if you want more intense flavors in a salad or any food, leave it to marinate over night and eat and/or prepare it the next day.


This reminded me that nothing should go to waste. I cut the tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions, scraping up each little bit. Not only was this a side to my dinner that night but also breakfast the next morning. The next morning I got up and tried the African-American culture by eating it in the morning. The juices from all of the vegetable released making it more flavorful than the night before.


Even if this was a fairly simple salad I learned that intensifying flavors isn't terribly hard. Just needs a little bit of time!


Question for you:
What are some dull foods you have tried that you could marinate over night to create more enjoyable flavors?


Thank you for reading(: