Southern What

So good it’ll make your tongue jump out and lick the eyebrows right off your head.

 

To be read with a southern accent to achieve the full flavour.

I don’t wait until New Year’s to cook Hoppin’ John, but a lot of people will wait. I love it to the point, where I say, “Who promised me tomorrow?” – Sallie Ann Robinson

Southern Cuisine, now there is a phrase I would never have thought of tagging onto food. Food I thought was called “Just shut up and eat it”, “Be thankful you have it,” was always another favourite of mine, and for Sunday supper it was, “Don’t go bragging.’ “

Tilly: My home cuisine was known as, ‘Take it or leave it’.

It is hard for this southerner to grasp that red beans and rice would now be considered a cuisine, or hoppin’ John, and corn bread-cooked in a number 8 skillet. Food that raised me up good, proper and safe is now being served in the likes of London, England, way across the way.

Tilly: The origins of the name “hoppin’ John” are unclear, but some sources say it originated from the Gullah people and was Lowcountry dish before spreading to the entire South. Some say an old, hobbled man called hoppin’ John was known for selling peas and rice on the streets of Charleston. Others say slave children hopped around the table in eager anticipation of the dish, a traditional New Year’s meal. The first recipes for hoppin’ John appear in cookbooks in the 1840s, although slaves in the South made this dish of dried peas, rice and pork long before then.

How did this all come about you ask? How did those foods among others become a cuisine? Well, if truth be told it was big city, school-trained cooks, chefs I do believe. It is sad to know that their mammas couldn’t love them enough to teach them “Chefs” the workings of a good winter soup.

How did I come to write this you might be asking yourself? Well sit back, sip some cooked coffee and I will tell you of a night that horrified me to my core.

Tilly: What is ‘cooked’ coffee’? Brewed?

Olive: It is a stovetop coffee pot with coffee grounds thrown in and brought to a boil. Strained into a cup.

It all started one Sunday night. Nothing special about that Sunday, dinner was done, wine poured and I was ready to settle in for a good murder.  Poirot, with his little gray cells, Inspector Lewis and his Oxford educated side kick, even Midsomer Murders, better yet Foyle’s War what would be perfect to calm the nerves than viewing one of those shows.

But that was not to be. Oh no, nothing but the wine was going to calm my nerves. You see, Masteriece Theatre was being replaced that night.  PBS was having a fund drive with the same dribble they have every six months.  Performances given by the same 50s’ artist, doing the one hit they are known for.  Specials filmed ten years ago, with the announcer saying, “
Support shows like this.” Which we only get when they want a hand out, mind you!

Running through the channels to see what would be worth viewing. I came across an international cooking channel. Interesting, I thought, Two Fat Ladies. “Hum” murmuring a loud, “It is British made, and having had no problem with British shows before.

Watching, I slowly became entertained by the show until one of the two fat ladies stated that she was going to cook a “traditional southern dish”. Perking up I waited to refill my glass of wine so as not to miss anything. What were they going to make I wondered.

Jennifer announced “a wonderful southern dish, Hoppin John”

Intently upon seeing how the Brits would handle a dish which was in its beginning a main dish not a side dish. Yes, I know today it is used as a side dish.

First, she fried the bacon, bacon mind you. Now, I know some of you might think bacon would have been used way back then, although mind you, some of the working people might have had a bit of salt bacon in the larder, pantry for you Americans. But she did not have the one ingredient that gives this dish its wonderful flavour.  A smoked ham hock, yes you read that right, a smoked ham hock.

Tilly: Some of the historical references mention thick slices of bacon,  smoked neck bones, pig tails, pig’s trotter, fatback, hog maw and chitlins. 

She did get one thing right, mind you. She soaked the black-eyed peas overnight. It’s real easy, don’t ya know. Just put the peas in a deep bowl and cover with water, place either in the icebox or on a cool shelf.

The next day, or in this case after the commercial break, she took out the peas and commenced mixin’ things. First in the pot were the peas, water to cover, a chopped onion which she had smothered in the bacon grease. So far she was tendin’ the peas right nice.

After cooking the rice separately, which pays no mind to me, however you wish to do it. Either with the peas when they are done, or as a standalone, don’t hurt my mind none.

She made a few errors along the way, but not bad for someone not southern born and reared. But as soon as I turned my back, she struck. It was a knife in my heart, she hit me hard.

Mixing the ingredients together she had grabbed a bunch of Cilantro, chopped it up real fine like and mixed it in the Hoppin John.

Tilly: Sounds rather tasty to me …

Catching my breath and still able to hear her say, as she presented the final dish, “This, ladies and gentlemen, is HOPPIN’ JOHN, a traditional southern dish.

Standing in my family room, I found myself screaming, screaming mind you, “NO.”

Followed with, “TRADITIONAL SOUTHERN DISH MY ASS BITCH-Cilantro does not and never has been a fixin’ in traditional southern dishes.”

But did she listen?

Tilly: You do know they can’t hear you?

Hell no! She just kept ramblin’.  I needed more than another glass of wine.  Some sippin’ whiskey would calm the nerves but I had let my cupboard go bare of the “good stuff”, so another glass of wine would have to do.

I knew right fast what my lot in life was. Learnin’ people the world over about southern foods.  Not a cuisine, but genuine southern foods. The history, the tales, and of course the right and proper way of fixin’ them, maybe even a picture or two.

What better time to start than now. Using a pad and pencil I started to write. Below are the beginnings of my journal, a diary of sorts.  Recipes and their history mixed with the ways of the southern cook and her kitchen.

First thing is the black-eyed peas, about two cups, no exact science needed here. If you have a few more, just throw them in with the others. Sort through the peas for tiny pebbles or a bit of dirt, rinse them carefully, and cover with water and allow to soak a right nice time – overnight will do it.

Next day, once the peas have soaked up a bit of the water receiving a good night’s sleep, place the peas in a large pot, a smoked ham hock, onion and bring to a boil. On the first boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 1 ½ maybe 2 hours. Remove the ham hock and cut into pieces so as not to fill the mouth too full. Stir in 2 cups rice, return the ham and cook another 20 to 25 minutes. Now that it is done, season with a bit more salt and pepper if needed.

Tilly: More sacrilege for you to suffer … the ham hock is often replaced with turkey thighs – less fat but still some flavour. And breadcumbs to top the entire dish … crisped in the oven, obviously. Serving it with collard greens was  thing, too – eaten to ensure prosperity in the new year, the collards represent greenbacks and the black-eyed peas coins.

Now mind you there are some modern-day southern ways of making this wonderful dish. Cookin’ the rice separately is one, flavour with red pepper flakes will add a bit of warmth for that cold night. Why if company is comin’ you might chop up some green onions, spring onions I think some call them and sprinkle on top. Just to make it look like you had worked hard in the kitchen. And for the love of everything that is right “LEAVE THE DAMN CILANTRO OUT OF IT.”

Tilly: Found one cook who uses chicken stock, and garlic … sacred blue, Olive! You can read more here https://www.seriouseats.com/southern-hoppin-john-new-years-tradition. When you’ve recovered from the vapours, naturally.

Olive: GARLIC, OH HELL NO.

Here’s a recipe that will make you hoppin’ mad, courtesy of  https://www.thesimplethings.com/blog/2012/11/27/recipe-hoppin-john-a-real-winter-warmer-starring-black-eyed-peas

Hoppin’ John, Simple Things style

200g smoked pancetta, cubed

500g passata

1 large handful kale, chopped

1 can of black-eyed peas, drained

1 large pepper, diced to 1cm

1 large onion, diced to 1cm

1 handful coriander, finely-chopped

4 garlic cloves, finely-chopped

2 bay leaves

1/2 chili, finely-chopped

1/2 vegetable stock cube

1/2 glass red wine

Olive oil

Fry the cubed pancetta in a olive oil until it starts to brown.

Add the chopped pepper, red onion and chili until they soften.

Add the garlic and bay leaves, then the red wine and the veg stock cube (dissolved in a little hot water).

Add the passata, black-eyed peas and half of the coriander.

Bring to a simmer, add the kale, cover and simmer for an hour.

Remove the bay leaves, turn off the heat and add the rest of the coriander.

Serve over long grain rice, topped with grated cheese and sour cream, if you wish.

Now for the next bit of irritation with the Brits, and their cooking shows please stop insulting the baked beans. Baked beans came to y’all as a gift from America. Enjoy the full body of these wonderfully slow baked legumes, and for the love of Pete, stop putting them on toast. They are a side dish, not the main dish.

Tilly: Dont talk tosh – it was the US company, Heinz that foisted beans on toast on the UK, post war, I believe. The canned beans are hideous … sweet, mushy and not at all to my taste. The treacle replaced with sugar … gah. The real thing is a different matter – but many people have neither the time or the inclination to tackle long, slow cooking.

Oh, I do have my work cut out for me. I sorely do.

Chapter one:

Southern foods are just good eatin’ not a cuisine.   Bit of history, a bit of food, cooked coffee and of course a good laugh or maybe two.

Tilly: All food should be good eatin’ … and when shared with family and friends, there should be lots of laughter, too.

‘Now hoppin’-john was F. Jasmine’s very favorite food. She had always warned them to wave a plate of rice and peas before her nose when she was in her coffin, to make certain there was no mistake; for if a breath of life was left in her, she would sit up and eat, but if she smelled the hopping-john, and did not stir, then they could just nail down the coffin and be certain she was truly dead.’ – Carson McCullers

Olive and Tilly