The 1965 rebellion against police brutality in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles is closely connected with the genesis of Kwanzaa, a festival celebrating the African American culture.
Last year during winter break, at the Reston public library in Virginia, I came across a book of recipes and stories by Maya Angelou, Hallelujah! The Welcome Table, that I couldn’t stop reading. I just got my own copy and went through it again. In it, she writes about how her grandmother, her Moma, Ms. Annie Henderson, supported her young father and physically-handicapped uncle as a single woman, in the turn of the twentieth century, Stamps, Arkansas by making and selling Fried Meat Pies.
Earlier this summer, I came across, A Date With A Dish, by Freda DeKnight (video footage at 6:37), a book published in 1948 based on more than a thousand African American recipes collected over a twenty year period by the author from all over the country. About the people behind these recipes, the author writes in her preface, “...they just seem to have a “way” of taking a plain, ordinary, everyday dish and improvising it into a creation that is a gourmet’s delight. Whether acquired or inherent this love for food has given them the desire to make their dishes different, well-seasoned and eye-appealing”. One of these recipes that stood out to me, for The Soft Molasses Cake, was attributed to Ms. Jennie Goodman Jeter’s family in Birmingham, Alabama. The author says, “Jennie Goodman Jeter thinks there is so much in the future of culinary arts that she has devoted her career to it as a teacher of cooking in the public schools of Philadelphia”. I made the recipe for the cake exactly as described and I am glad that I did.
In her recent book, Jubilee: Two Centuries of African American Cooking, Toni-Tipton Martin writes about a drink made with dried hibiscus flowers that she describes as a celebratory Christmas drink in Jamaica. After helping to make the drink and taste it and being enthralled by its deep crimson hues, my six-year old declared that it was such a delightfully democratic drink for her to have when the adults had wine. I too found a new drink.
Historian, Jessica Harris in her book, High on The Hog: A Culinary Journey from Africa to America, says about the final day of Kwanzaa, “...designed to celebrate African American communities past and present by honoring African American elders and community leaders as well as African American ancestors. The day is traditionally capped by a communal meal with people bringing dishes created from family recipes or foods from around the African diaspora.”
Thanks Bala for this piece. We love discovering good southern Soul food restaurants. And I have tried quite a few recipes. By giving us the personal stories you have made the food and the people come alive with much warmth and love. I wish I could have a conversation with these women and invite them to my kitchen.
Looking forward to trying the hibiscus elixir. 💕
Thank you, aunt. And yes, how lovely it would be to have a conversation with these women over a meal. The books, I think, might provide an alternative to that experience.
Happy New Year Bala.
I hadn’t known of the tradition of hibiscus elixir at Christmas in Jamaica.
I once made a dessert using Hibiscus jelly and mixed berries with grains of paradise and creme fraiche after looking up how grains of paradise might be used (a spice I had not encountered until I learned of it at the HEG). Grains of paradise originated in Africa. Not sure if they are commonly paired with hibiscus but I thought they were excellent together.
As your daughter enjoyed the hibiscus elixir perhaps she would enjoy this dessert!
Hibiscus Jelly: 1 cup water 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup dried hibiscus flowers, 1/2 tsp gelatin. Stir 3/4 of the cup of water and the sugar over high heat until dissolved. Bring the syrup to a boil, stir in hibiscus flowers and remove from heat. Allow the flowers to steep for 14 min and then remove them. Sprinkle gelatin over remaining water to soften for five min then whisk into the hibiscus syrup. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Mix 3 cups of berries (blackberries, raspberries, strawberries) and 3/4 tsp of ground grains of paradise. Divide among six dishes. Spoon on a scoop of the hibiscus gelatin and a scoop of creme fraiche, ice cream, or yogurt.
All the best for a healthy, happy, 2021.
Sarah Copeland
Happy New Year, Sarah!
It's been a long time and I trust you've been well.
Thank you for this thoughtful recipe, I'll be sure to try it for my daughter. I first read about Grains of Paradise in a book by Paul Freedman and like you later heard about it at HEG during Bruno Laurioux's lecture; however, I've not cooked with it and I've not come across it being used with hibiscus. Now, I have another reason to try it. Thank you for this suggestion.
Wishing you and yours a healthy and happy new year!
Happy New Year Bala. I wish you and your family a wonderful 2021. Thanks for this very interesting article. We can discuss this a little further because as you know, some regions of Brazil have a strong African influence in religion and food.
Big hug!
Lovely to hear from you, José! Happy New Year to you and yours! I will look forward to discussing the topic of the blog and Brazil with you sometime. I trust you've been well and I hope you have a healthy and happy 2021. Big hug!
Hi Bala
Happy New Year.
African food is novel, exotic at the same time rustic.
Thank you for sharing your culinary experience so well researched. Its a joy to read the personal experience of the authors you have referred.
The meat pie looks rich and flaky. The molasses cake is mouth watering and moist and the hibiscus drink reminds me of the kokum drink popular in india.
The real time experience of the authors gives the food a new dimension.
I could visualize the content on your six year old happy at being to able to raise a toast with her parents.
Looking foward to many more of your researched work in 2021
Thank you!
I have never had the kokum drink you refer to or kokum in any other form. It sounds interesting - thank you.
Happy New Year Bala. It is always a delight to read your writings. I relish every word. Looking forward to your own cook book.
Thank you, Nandini aunty. I don't know about the cook book but for now I like the blog and the interactions with people and their stories about food.
Happy New Year Bala! This blog is so timely. Soul food history is fascinating to me.
The Hibiscus drink looks juicy and makes me want to check out Toni Tipton-Martin's book.
High on the Hog is one of my favorite books. It was my introductory book about soul food and history. Harris' narrative is fascinating and left me with great knowledge of African-American cuisine.
I am currently reading 'The Cooking Gene' by Michael Twitty. If you haven't already read it, it's definitely worth a read. Looking forward to reading 'A Date With A Dish.'
All the best!
Jayashree
Happy New Year, Jayashree aunty!
Thank you. And yes, I agree about 'The Cooking Gene' by Michael Twitty - I have the book, have read some of it and hope to read more - and about Jessica Harris' work. I think you will like Freda DeKnight and Toni Tipton-Martin's book which use recipes as a source of social history.
Wishing you and yours a healthy and happy 2021 and best wishes for your culinary projects!
Bala