Selasa, 22 Desember 2009

A Christmas Feast Without Chow-chow?

Photo of some good old fashioned Chow-Chow



Maya Angelou’s grandmother operated a country store in Stamps, Arkansas. Angelou’s grandmother used a combination of store profits, bartering, subsistence farming, canning, and the preparation of nitty-gritty, good-tasting food to survive the Depression with dignity. Angelou and others I read expressed the view that a Christmas feast in the south would not be considered complete without chow-chow. I later served on a panel with Chief Donald Barickman, owner of the Charleston, South Carolina restaurant Magnolias http://www.magnolias-blossom-cypress.com/, in which he talked about serving chow-chow, a truly southern condiment, on his menu. I became interested in learning more about this Asian sounding condiment that neither of my two southern grandmothers (North Carolina and Virginia born and raised) ever made or talked about. Essentially chow-chows are sweet and spicy hot pickled and canned end of the season garden vegetables such as green and red tomatoes, some times okra, carrots, onions, cabbage, and beets. They are served with/on black-eyed peas or pinto beans, corn bread, and meats to spice of the meal. Chow-chows come in chunky or relish forms. Now that I am writing this, I do remember my Grandma Opie keeping a chunky version of chow-chow on the shelf of her refrigerator door. Here are some chow-chow recipes that you could do to spice up your Christmas meal.



Chow-chow recipes:

http://www.familyoven.com/recipes/search?terms=Chow%20Chow


0 komentar:

Posting Komentar