Preparing the filling for the Kosher/Soul Rolls

Questions and Answers

The Pizza Oven was for the Hamantaschen

A Happy Audience is a Good Audience

Note the familiar aspects of Brazilian and Southern cuisine–rice, beans, rice and beans, the pigs feet , collard greens, hot peppers, all of it…This is Africa in the America’s at its best!

Leticia!  Fantastic job!  Looks delicious

Just over 100 people showed up and participated, 70 of which were die hard beginning to end 2.5 hours worth of audience members..

On the menu: Kosher/Soul Rolls (recipe to come–with pastrami and collard greens inside) with a ginger and scallion based dipping sauce,   Southern style hamantaschen–with benne brittle (sesame candy), peach preserves and blackberry preserves, and black eyed pea hummus spiced with heirloom peppers and special soul-style seasonings. Culinary historian and food writer Jane Ziegelman, author of 97 Orchard of the Tenement Museum in New York was in attendance with her family!  What prestigious company I had!  Special thanks to Karen Falk–curator of the fantastic exhibit Chosen Food, Ilene Dackmann-Alon, and Rachel Cylus who inherited the massive task and pulled it off beautifully.  Thank you Jewish Museum of Maryland!

I cannot emphasize this enough:  PLEASE support The Cooking Gene. http://www.indiegogo.com/The-Cooking-Gene-Project-The-Southern-Discomfort-Tour   If you can give up Starbucks for just 2-3 days you’ve done a lot to support our project. We have 70-odd days and if we do not raise the money, we are giving it back and not doing this project which has the potential to not only help us, and you, but innumerable people throughout the South.  We provide a lot of free content and recipes and tips and hints to our readers throughout the blogs and other social media and its time to give back. It is African American Heritage Month/Black History Month and it comes but once a year.  We can’t do this without you–and if you can give more than 10 bucks-that’s greatly greatly appreciated.  Please see what we’re doing and donate TODAY! We need you–if you’re reading this blog and getting a lot out of it–give a little back!  http://www.indiegogo.com/The-Cooking-Gene-Project-The-Southern-Discomfort-Tour.  I don’t want to give up on this project before it even gets off the ground, so please help us make it happen!

Michael

We had about 120 people come through, sit down, listen to an hour and a half lecture and also enjoy some piping hot cheb-u-niebe–black eyed peas and rice, okra soup and plasas greens!  About 80% stayed to the end which was great!  (Two classes showed up–one from Pitt and another from CMU, with a good handful of students from Chatham!)  Lots of people from the community and the faculty came as well—and overall–despite the fact that making all that food and being nervous as hell, I made it through.   This was MY FIRST EVENT CONNECTED TO THE COOKING GENE OF 2012!  (www.thecookinggene.com)  

Special thanks to: 

Carnegie-Mellon University, Dr. Edda Fields-Black, Sam Black, Tim Haggerty, M. Shernell Smith, Anna Hauck, Heather Pertz, Chef Sean Minnehan, Chef Jeremy Niederhiser, Chef Jason and Chef Victor and the entire staff of the CulinArts Kitchen who really made me feel at home and took great care of me as a cook and a presenter!  And a special thank you to the good people of Pittsburgh-I look forward to coming back in May and July.

Special thanks to Andy Moore for showing up and shaking my hand–he is the first person who donated to The Cooking Gene who I’ve been able to personally thank on behalf of my ancestors.

PLEASE don’t forget about us–we really need your help–we barely have 600$ of our 8,000 dollar goal.  We really need you if you’re reading this–and donations start at 10 bucks–if you can give up Starbucks for 3 days–you can help us do this really important project!  Please donate to your ability today!  http://www.indiegogo.com/The-Cooking-Gene-Project-The-Southern-Discomfort-Tour

Don’t Forget —WE REALLY NEED YOUR SUPPORT!–Please donate today:  
http://www.indiegogo.com/The-Cooking-Gene-Project-The-Southern-Discomfort-Tour

When I was a teenager the provocative song “Do Whatcha Like” came out by Digital Underground.  (This is where it gets TV MA real-quick…) They used phrases like “grab em in the biscuits,” and “big like a pickle..”  The two generations before me still used phrases like “sugar bowl,” and the jazz term “jelly roll,”  and all sorts of euphemisms that surprisingly eluded us for years on end.  My grandmother used to tell us boys to eat our carrots and greens because they put, “lead in your pencil.”  Now being a nerd, I naturally assumed that beta carotene was great your eyes, but it made no sense to me to compare eyes with pencils.  Then one night I overheard the grownups talking in code and all of a sudden I thought, “well what good does that do me?  I ain’t wrote nothing yet….”

If you’re thinking it all goes back to Africa–you’re right.  The European missionaries in Kongo in the 17th and 18th centuries complained about the way young men would “rap” in the marketplace, singing songs about how they went to the market to “eat” three “peanuts.”  Well this was a veiled reference to hooking up with young women and these “secular,” songs were a part of flirting and courtship.  All over West and Central Africa, the word “eat” is a euphemism for sexual activity or consumption, and terms like pot, kitchen, spoon, are used in sexual and romantic contexts.  Food is a medium of love in traditional West and Central African culture and plays a role in many traditional wedding rituals were sweet rice or millet cakes, pumpkin, sweet potato, honey, cowpeas, cinnamon and other portents of a good love life are eaten by a couple at their ceremony.  The children that may come out of the marriage are said to be “cooked in the hearth” (read bun in the oven).

According to my friend Fran Osseo-Asare:

“Cooking, family relationships, and sex are often linked by culinary images, words relating to sexual intercourse, marriage, family or fertility.  In Twi, the word for “to eat,” di, also means to have sexual intercourse….as a delicious meal is called , “sweet,” so is a good sexual experience.”

“In Cameroon, sex is hot just like really good music, a great joke, or a mouth-watering meal. “ —Food and Cooking in Sub-Saharan Africa, 2005.

“Candy-Cause you affect me, fascinate me
I thank heaven for the things that you do (for the things that you do)
It’s like candy
You sure are sweet – Sweet!
You’re so dandy
You’re taking my appetite – but it’s all right
It’s like candy
(ooh, vanilla! oh, chocolate!)”–Cameo, “Candy,”

“Do you want it on your collard greens?
Do you want it in your candy sweets?
Do you want it on your pickled beets?
Give it to me, give it to me, give it
Do you want it on your rice and gravy?
Do you want it on your biscuits baby?
Do you want it on your black-eyed peas?
Feed it to me, feed it to me, feed it.”  –Jill Scott, “It’s Love.”

My favorite example goes like this:

When you come to my house, come down behind the jail,
I got a sign on my door, “Barbecue for Sale”,
I’m talkin’ ’bout my barbecue, only thing I crave,
And that good doin’ meat, gon’ carry me to my grave.
I’m sellin’ it cheap, ’cause I got good stuff,
And if you try one time, you can’t get enough,
I’m talkin’ ’bout barbecue, only thing I sell,
And if you want my meat, you can come to my house at twelve.
Now some like it hot, some like it cold,
Some take it any, way it is sold,
I’m talkin’ ’bout barbecue, only thing I crave,
And that good doin’ meat, goin’ to take me to my grave.
Some people wants it, some people don’t,
If you buy my barbecue, it just won’t don’t-don’t-don’t,
Talkin’ ’bout barbecue, only thing I sell,

And if you want my meat, you’ve got to come by my house at twelve.

—Lucille Bogan, “Barbeque Bess,”  (I like Patti Labelle’s rendtion best…)

Something sweet to share:

Caramel/Sea Salt Glazed Sour-Cream/Cream Cheese Pound  Cake

(I’m more a of a cook than a baker but this is pretty damn good…)

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
• 1 1/2 cups butter, I prefer unsalted…
• 1 cup of sour cream
• 1 cup of organic evaporated cane juice (slightly blond colored organic sugar)
• 6 eggs
• 3 cups all-purpose flour (I am not brave enough to use cake flour…)
• 1 tablespoon of homemade Tahitian or Madagascar vanilla essence.

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees; grease and  lightly flour a 10 inch tube pan.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter, sour cream and cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar gradually and beat until fluffed.
3. Add eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition. Add the flour all at once and mix .  Finish off with the vanilla essence.
4. Pour into a 10 inch tube pan. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Check for doneness at 1 hour. A wooden skewer inserted into center of will come out clean with a few adhering crumbs.

“Ain’t nobody around can grind they coffee like mine!”  —Lucille Bogan

My Caramel/Sea Salt Glazed, Sour Cream/Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Don’t Forget–we NEED YOUR HELP TO FUND THE COOKING GENE: SOUTHERN DISCOMFORT TOUR–BE A PART OF HISTORY:
http://www.indiegogo.com/The-Cooking-Gene-Project-The-Southern-Discomfort-Tour

This is what you said to me:

“i owned 3 niggers but i had to give them away cuz the apratment i moved in didnt allow them as pets”

I have no earthly idea why you decided to comment on my blog.  It’s a food blog.  It’s a food blog that comes out of my culture, but is meant for everyone.  I started it because I didn’t see people like me doing a lot of this kind of work and I wanted to share my love of my history and civilization with the world.  I didn’t put it out there so you could violate or disrespect me.

This blog is really important to a lot of people.  They are not just Black, they are every color and are reading this on six continents.  Maybe you hate that I’m Black, or Jewish, or don’t think I’m human.  I’ve got white blood too–so does that mean you hate only 2/3 of me?  My godson is white and Jewish, do you hate the fact that he’s Jewish or love him because he’s white with blond hair and blue eyes? Now I don’t know you–and you don’t know me–good enough reason for you not to have sent that message to me…But here’s the deal…

If you want me to hate you, I won’t.  If you want me to overreact–I won’t…I’m just telling you through this post that you will not hide behind the Internet and troll looking for cheap thrills.  My great-grandfather told his children, “When the Klan comes marching by, stay on the porch…because your Father’s house is where you don’t run from nobody.”  His blood is in my veins.  His blood is telling me to tell you—this is my house and here is where I run from no one.

A few weeks ago I taught my 8-9th grade students in Hebrew School all about individuals like you and why they should refrain from talking like you and saying things like, “nigger,” or “that’s so gay,” or “that’s retarded.”  In that synagogue we are white, brown, tan, dark brown—representing people from across the world who are also Jewish.  I’m really really proud of my kids right now because they get it and you don’t–and what’s great is that they can spell better than you too.  Like it or not, the rest of us are moving on and leaving you behind.

You know the funny part?  More than likely you ate or drank something that comes from Africa or originated in Africa.  Since that’s the case you should learn some history while you’re here.  Who knows, you could learn a lot from a “pet.”

Sincerely,

Mr. Michael W. Twitty–An educated Black man who loves G-d more than he could ever hate you–which makes me my Ancestors best fantasy and your worst nightmare.  like evil doesn’t like light, ignorance and hate don’t like love.

From Joseph McGill:  As a Civil War reenactor for the last 20 years and sleeping in slave dwellings for the last two years, I have gotten similar comments. Your passion and mine are similar, we have found creative ways to honor our ancestors. For our ways of making our history relevant, we often put ourselves in harms way. Comments like that will not be the last, in fact, I’ve come to expect them, they let me know that we are not there yet and there is more work to be done. Stay strong my brother and remember it’s not about us, it’s about our ancestors.

Don’t Forget WE REALLY REALLY need you:    http://www.indiegogo.com/The-Cooking-Gene-Project-The-Southern-Discomfort-Tour

This is whats coming up this week!

• A Tribute to Alex Haley on www.thecookinggene.com and Afroculinaria
• The African American Cookbook and Immigrant Cookbook sessions from the Roger Smith Cookbook Conference–Notes from the Field
• “You Can Come By My House at Twelve: Black Food, Love and Sex–The TV MA Valentine’s Day Issue.”
• The Caramel/Sea Salt Glazed Sour Cream and Cream Cheese Pound and a Half Cake Recipe
• EVENTS AND APPEARANCES:

AND !!

February 18, 2012 ROOTING DC!   Register NOW!!!

I’m presenting in the afternoon!

AND!

February 19, 2012

Kosher Soul
February 19, 1-3pm
Jewish Museum of Maryland, Baltimore

• 15 Lloyd St. , Baltimore , MD , 21202
• Phone:
  410-732-6400 (Phone)

Join culinary historian and Judaics teacher Michael W. Twitty for a cooking demonstration and discussion of how he blends his African American roots in the Deep South with his adopted Jewish culture and faith. Kosher/Soul is about how cooking can reflect personal identity while honoring family, faith, and our common future in food.  Join Mr. Twitty as we nosh on soul food that “answers to a Higher Authority.”

Don’t forget–WE NEED YOU:   http://www.indiegogo.com/The-Cooking-Gene-Project-The-Southern-Discomfort-Tour

So I need to write more about this in depth before I head off to Carnegie Mellon….but I have to give thanks to  a lot of people and recognize how grateful I am for their openness and encouragement.  In this world its not often that you find some semblance of community especially when you are a young’un like myself.

Hey Andrew (Andy) Smith—thanks for taking the time out to give me that pep talk before I came   up and thanks for having me present at the Conference.

Hey Anne Mendelsohn and Cara De Silva–thanks for being personal heroes as well as the kind of people who encouraged me to keep going and pushing forward…and for those “I’m proud of you!” moments that made me feel a part of something.

Hey my new sister Tonya Hopkins—its all about the kindred spirits and being kin to one another—more strength to you!

Hey Toni-Tipton Martin and Donna Pierce—when you looked at Tonya and I and said that it was a “new day,” and how proud you were of the next generation–it was the kind of moment that is pure catharsis.  Donna I will see you in Mobile!  Toni–keep em real–can’t wait to plug The Jemima Code.

Hey Ken Albala–you’re genuine and real and a clear through and through mentor.  You’re fantastic for encouraging me to get off my butt and do….and now….

Hey Sandra Oliver and Linda Civitello–gosh–I never would have thought two of my favorites would be know me in a crowd–the kippa helps though! Sandy Oliver–per your instruction I will “keep going!” Linda Civitello–thank you for laying down the truth on the “documentation issue.”

Annie Hauck-Lawson! —-WHOA—you gave me the two best hugs and told me the greatest stories and I just appreciate you for the encouragement and letting me thank you for your fantastic approach to food studies.

Jane Ziegelman—thank you for your work and the wonderful session on immigrant cookbooks! We will be in touch!

Joan Nathan–thanks for everything past and present, it was so nice to see you again!

Hey Mary Margaret, Miriam Rubin, and more for all the refreshing conversation and words of wisdom!

Last but not least, blessings and thanks to my friends Andrew and Heather of Forest Hills who gave me a place to stay and a grand Shabbos meal

Don’t forget–WE NEED YOU:   http://www.indiegogo.com/The-Cooking-Gene-Project-The-Southern-Discomfort-Tour

If you want to see me at work in the “field” tune into the Roger Smith Cookbook Conference live broadcast from 501 Lexington NYC between 1:30-2:45 PM EST…Panel: Cookbooks and the African American Experience with Donna Pierce, Toni Tipton-Martin, and our moderator, Tonya Hopkins. Link to Broadcast: http://cookbookconf.com/.

I’m the first one up–so don’t miss it!

Don’t forget–WE NEED YOU:   http://www.indiegogo.com/The-Cooking-Gene-Project-The-Southern-Discomfort-Tour