De Knight - A date with a dish: classic African-American recipes

A Date with a Dish

Classic African-American Recipes

A Date with a Dish

Classic African-American Recipes

By Freda DeKnight

Dover Publications, Inc.
Mineola, New York

Bibliographical Note

A Date with a Dish: Classic African-American Recipes, first published by Dover Publications, Inc., in 2014, is a slightly altered republication of The Ebony Cookbook: A Date with a Dish, originally published by Johnson Publishing Company, Inc., Chicago, in 1962.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

De Knight, Freda, 1910-1963.

A date with a dish classic African-American recipes/Freda DeKnight.

pages cm.(African American)

Reprint of: The Ebony Cookbook : A Date with a Dish / by Johnson Publishing Company, Inc. Chicago, 1962

Summary An outstanding feast of distinctively American culinary genius, this comprehensive collection of authentic African-American recipes was assembled by a well-Known cooking columnist for Ebony magazine. Filled with the aroma of childhood memories, it will help modern cooks re-create hundreds of classic dishes for every meal of the day, from chicken and oyster gumbo to sweet potato pudding.Provided by publisher.

eISBN-13: 978-0-4867-8259-1

1. African American cooking. 2. Cooking, American. I. De Knight, Freda, 1910-1963. Ebony cookbook. II. Title. III. Title: Classic African-American recipes.

TX715.D326 2014

641.59296073dc23

2013021220

Manufactured in the United States by Courier Corporation
49276101 2014
www.doverpublications.com

To my mother

ELEANOR LEE ALEXANDER

and to

JOHN H. JOHNSON

who has given my

Date with a Dish

international exposure

Preface

THERE HAS LONG BEEN A NEED for a non-regional cookbook that would contain recipes, menus and cooking hints from Negroes all over America. I have attempted to present in these pages, with my own contributions, as complete a collection as can be found anywhere in the land. New recipes old recipes brought back to life that are original, traditional and exciting.

It is a fallacy, long disproved, that Negro cooks, chefs, caterers and homemakers can adapt themselves only to the standard Southern dishes, such as fried chicken, greens, corn pone and hot breads. Like other Americans living in various sections of the country they have naturally shown a desire to become versatile in the preparation of any dish, whether it is Spanish, Italian, French, Balinese or East Indian in origin.

Years ago some of our greatest culinary artists were unable to read or write but their ingenuity, mother wit and good common sense made them masters in their profession without the aid of measuring equipment or science. Needless to say, the old methods they used were tried and true, and no matter how advanced the art of cooking is today, therein lies the basic success of the old school cookery.

There are no set rules for dishes created by most Negroes. They just seem to have a way of taking a plain everyday dish and improvising a gourmets delight. Whether acquired or inherent, this love for food has given them the desire to make their dishes different, well-seasoned and eye-appealing.

The recipes in this book have been tested for the average cook to master, the culinary artist to elaborate upon, the home-maker to experiment with, the gourmet and the family to enjoy.

A Date With A Dish has been written to help you! So make the most of it and plan your menus so that they will be worthy of praise and give your efforts the professional touch. Then you will enjoy to the fullest the meaning of Culinary Art.

FREDA DE KNIGHT

Theres Magic in a Cookbook

CONFIRMED COLLECTORS OF RECIPES are eternally on the prowl for new treasures to add to their cooking lore. Ten minutes or ten thousand miles from home, theres no telling when or where a prize may be found. And of this choice company is Freda De Knight. She boasts, with not the slightest humility, of having assiduously collected over a thousand wonderful recipes from Negro sources, during the last twenty years.

At seven, she started her schooling in Salem, South Dakota, but she spent her summers cutting out recipes and playing cook instead of cutting out paper dolls and playing house. I feel a great kinship with those youthful culinary pursuits of Freda De Knights. When I was eight years old, it was my special privilege to prepare the midday lunch during the summer holidays. I remembered that I loved gravy. So there was gravy every day, often strange of hue and texture; mostly so thick it could be cut like a pudding! I doted on tomatoes. Day after day we had them fried and baked and stewed and sliced and es-calloped. I wonder now how the family survived.

But young Freda was differentby the time she was five, she was able to bake her first loaf of bread, garnish plates, make biscuits and generally make herself useful. Even at the tender age of five, Fredas efforts smacked of artistry. You can know by this that Freda must surely have begun to gather her wonderful collection of special recipes at quite an early age. Todays version of that energetic little girl is a slender, bright-eyed and charming woman with a fine zest for living and with quite an independent turn of mind as well.

Freda De Knight is a cultivated Negro woman, writing the first book of its kind, a cookbook of American Negro cooking. I purposely mention this fact far from the beginning of my introduction to her work. It is important that here is an authentic collection of very fine Negro recipes. It is equally important that the book can stand on its own merit in competition with any other cookbook. It can be appreciated for its practical handling of directions for cooking and table service, equally valuable in homes of very limited means and those of greater comfort.

All in all, need I say that this cookbook puts magic into cooking. I can urgently recommend it for every household where cooking sometimes seems to sink into the doldrums. There are many Negro chefs recipes given here that have some special little twist that makes them lively and different. Such is the Damson Pie that comes from the famous caterers George and Daisy Harris of Richmond. Possibly you have served a Tomato Cream Soup made by a recipe that includes salt pork. I had not, but I followed Freda De Knights directions and from this time forth, Fredas Tomato Cream Soup will have first place in my recipe file.

Freda De Knight is a brave woman, too; she plays no favorites. A delectable Filet Mignonexpensive as expensive!prepared with chicken liver paste, fresh mushrooms and garlic, takes its place in her book to serve your more expensive moments. An Apricot Bread is to be found on another page. It is not exactly Plain Jane, but inexpensive to prepare. A Buttermilk Pie should tempt the gourmet. Smiling peanut cookies fill the cooky jar for all the children.

There is the savor of good living in every page of this book, stamped unmistakably with the personality of its author. In your leisure moments you will enjoy reading it.

GERTRUDE BLAIR

Table of Contents

A Date with a Dish

Classic African-American Recipes

1. A Guide for the Housewife

HERE IS THE LITTLE BROWN CHEFS guide for the housewife. If you read it thoroughly, you are bound to know all the answers of how to prepare and cook most any of the dishes you eat. Do you know your oven? Watch your baking, broiling and deep-fat temperatures and tests. Know your measurements and can sizes and how to buy. Attach a great deal of importance to all these facts for your own benefit and efficiency. Remember, cooking is not a problem. Its just knowing