1300 on Fillmore closed last year.
I wish the writer had at least mentioned Bryant Terry, chef, food justice activist, and author of many cookbooks, including "Afro-Vegan."
1
Bryant Terry is quoted toward the end of the article, and his book “Afro-Vegan” is mentioned. Mr. Terry was interviewed in person on two separate occasions during the reporting for this piece, and a photo of him appeared in the print version.
4
What about Auntie Fee? One of my favorites. Top Ramen Shrimp, Asian style! The best!
3
I'm surprised NYT didn't hyperlink the mention of Toni Tipton-Martin's The Jemima Code to its review of it from December. That review is why I'm in the middle of reading it right now--it's great, I highly recommend it!
9
Southern 'soul' food' isn't restricted to America. Back in 1989 when I first visited India, I went to a national crafts 'mela' or fair in Delhi, a big and very wonderful deal. In addition to artisans demonstrating their work, there was FOOD! What my friends and I had for lunch was Punjabi, Sarson Ka Saag, Makki ki Roti. That is, mustard greens puree with cornmeal, served with cornmeal roti. Indian soul food, my Indian friends said. And it was delicious. My own efforts since: OK but not astonishing. Maybe making it in a 50 gallon kettle for a couple of days helps.
1
Please give your readers some recipes!!! This article is just a tease - I want to try some of these meals...
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We've had some wonderful updated Southern food around town. Brown Sugar Kitchen/Oakland CA, btw, for all its much-lauded PR, isn't really the best and never has been. Old Skool Cafe/SF and Pican/Oakland are better food with less attitude. Also, a shout-out to Chef Banks White, a transplanted Texan cooking at The Keystone/SF who makes the best biscuits I've had in all my 60 yrs!
As for those who diss the "old school" Southern, remember that cooking was loaded with fat as a cheap way of making do. No one needs that any longer, and better quality ingredients are what "old-style cooks" would have used if they could - better taste without the need for grease to hide behind.
As for those who diss the "old school" Southern, remember that cooking was loaded with fat as a cheap way of making do. No one needs that any longer, and better quality ingredients are what "old-style cooks" would have used if they could - better taste without the need for grease to hide behind.
5
new age soul food ?
give me pan fried chicken, black eyed peas, collard greens and biscuits w gravy any time
you can keep your designer plates
give me pan fried chicken, black eyed peas, collard greens and biscuits w gravy any time
you can keep your designer plates
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What I most love about food is the endless road of discovery that happens as cooks/chefs push the envelope and incorporate their personal ancestry into the mainstream. This can be seen in many of the descriptions here where Asian ingredients pop up. However, I do need to take exception to the comment that there was a time when people felt there was no cuisine in Africa. Firstly, Africa is a huge place and so there is no single cuisine. Secondly, I do not know where the comment came from. Back in 1968 Time Life published one volume in its groundbreaking series on Africa. In fact the very first thing I ever baked (and the first thing that I ever put out of the kitchen) was a bread from Africa.
7
Because it's the hardworking writers, historians and anthropologists as well as the chefs and cooks who have unearthed these ingredients and recipes, some of my friends are mentioned in this fine overview of this trend. I would like to add that my cousins who lead the Golden Krust Caribbean restaurant franchise are also making advances with delicious blends of old and new recipes. I am sure the ancestors who shaped this cuisine are smiling at the forward movements. Bravo.
7
I wish people were a little more careful about using soul food as a synonym for African American cooking in general. The great Edna Lewis said that soul food was urban, hard-times cooking, and that was not what she cooked, taught, and wrote about.
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Kaleberg, I share your sentiment about the careless use of the term "soul food." But I'll add, with respect, that while Ms. Lewis did indeed call soul food hard-times cooking," she did not call it "urban." I'm not sure she would use that word.
Ate breakfast at the "Brown Sugar Kitchen" three times over a 6-month period.
First time was killer, everything was right and tasty. The second time the fried chicken was warm (not cold, but almost there) and the crust tasted of uncooked flour. Third time, same thing. . food was not hot and the fried chicken tasted of uncooked flour.
The vibe there is very welcoming and the staff are clearly treated well, as they project warmth. Finish cooking the fried chicken and serve the food hot and I will beat a path back to your door.
First time was killer, everything was right and tasty. The second time the fried chicken was warm (not cold, but almost there) and the crust tasted of uncooked flour. Third time, same thing. . food was not hot and the fried chicken tasted of uncooked flour.
The vibe there is very welcoming and the staff are clearly treated well, as they project warmth. Finish cooking the fried chicken and serve the food hot and I will beat a path back to your door.
2
Great article. I ordered two books from my college bookstore before I finished reading the article. (I already owned/read others). Great bibliography embedded in the article. And I know where I am going to eat when I go to Seattle in August! THANKS!
8
Sounds great! Okra, parsnips, eggplant, peanuts, hot chilis . . . mmm. NY Times, please share a recipe or two (or three or four or maybe more) and make this cuisine "visible."
17
Chef Roble's StreetsBK on Broadway in Williamsburg draws a crowd that is equal parts African, Caribbean and Brooklyn. The global street food menu and cool ambiance seems to please everyone, but it's not generally Williamsburg's typical Euro hipster clientele. Try the Peri Peri Wings with African chilis and the Doubles and Bake N Shark from Trinidad And other things too - yum!
4
Maybe the NYT can help?
Using the Wynton Marsalis "mainstreaming" of jazz effort at Jazz at Lincoln Center as inspiration (an effort that stands out for its solitariness across the national landscape), perhaps the NYT can lead the charge of "mainstreaming" at least attention to African American and African American inspired cooking that we can all drool over.
If cooking schools tend to be "Euro-centric," as do many leading restaurants, how about a concerted effort not just to provide insight and recipes for Asian (or Asian inspired) and the same for Latin American inspired food, but also a great deal of REGULAR attention to African American cuisine, recipes and developments that shine a light, and through the focus, provide encouragement to the excitement, developments and evolution in this most American of cuisines.
Using the Wynton Marsalis "mainstreaming" of jazz effort at Jazz at Lincoln Center as inspiration (an effort that stands out for its solitariness across the national landscape), perhaps the NYT can lead the charge of "mainstreaming" at least attention to African American and African American inspired cooking that we can all drool over.
If cooking schools tend to be "Euro-centric," as do many leading restaurants, how about a concerted effort not just to provide insight and recipes for Asian (or Asian inspired) and the same for Latin American inspired food, but also a great deal of REGULAR attention to African American cuisine, recipes and developments that shine a light, and through the focus, provide encouragement to the excitement, developments and evolution in this most American of cuisines.
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No recipes? I'd love to know more about the eggplant-peanut stew.
11
Edna Lewis' shrimp paste recipe at www.foodandwine.com/recipes/shrimp-paste?xid=emailsharebar
Different chef, but one of my favorites: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/24/dining/243vrex.html
1
Years ago when living on the upper east side in Manhattan, a group of friends suggested we go to a place at the lower edge of Harlem that was featuring African American food.
When the menu's were delivered - this was not new food to me, everything from grits to fried chicken, biscuits and red eye gravy were what we ate as kids in S IN. I lived in Orange County, the poorest county in the state and it occurred to me how what you eat is a function of your socioeconomic station in life.
When working in the marketing research of a very large consumer products company. being the manager I suggested we look at soft drink consumption patterns by socioeconomic position. What we found was that high income truck drivers drank what poor people did and the biggest determinate of one's drink consumption patterns was education and then income.
I still grin when driving a local chain of "Just Biscuits" restaurants - no university degrees there.
When the menu's were delivered - this was not new food to me, everything from grits to fried chicken, biscuits and red eye gravy were what we ate as kids in S IN. I lived in Orange County, the poorest county in the state and it occurred to me how what you eat is a function of your socioeconomic station in life.
When working in the marketing research of a very large consumer products company. being the manager I suggested we look at soft drink consumption patterns by socioeconomic position. What we found was that high income truck drivers drank what poor people did and the biggest determinate of one's drink consumption patterns was education and then income.
I still grin when driving a local chain of "Just Biscuits" restaurants - no university degrees there.
4
Beautiful food. can't wait to try it.
2
Recently at Salare, those grilled parsnips were all I ordered (OK, dessert, too). They were a revelation. I especially enjoy reading the menu there and finding at least one ingredient in each item that's new to me. It makes for a great meal and an education. I'm grateful to Mr. Jordan for bringing his talent and imagination to a family neighborhood, too. He should keep listening to that little bird in his head.
16
Jane, those parsnips sounded amazing, but we went with the winter squash earlier this week on our first trip to Salare, and I have no regrets. We also enjoyed the duck and dirty rice dish, along with the salmon. Roasted eggplant puree, so simple and incredibly delicious! The flavors in every dish were amazing. Many thanks to Chef Jordan and his palette--we will be visiting again!
5
I'm delighted to discover Salare, a restaurant in my own town, in the pages of NTTimes. I clearly need to show up hungry!
Oh my gosh I'm hungry! I need to take a trip to one of these places ASAP.
16