Selasa, 08 Desember 2009

Savannah Red Rice: A Georgia Christmas Tradition


I interviewed Roy Miller and Ruth Thorpe Miller for my book Hog and Hominy http://cup.columbia.edu/book/978-0-231-14638-8/hog-and-hominy. Ruth was born in Harlem in 1932. Her mother migrated from Savannah, Georgia, to Harlem, where she worked as a professional cook. Ruth had vivid memories of her mother’s Christmas holiday cooking including or mother’s “[Savannah] red rice, okra, and tomatoes” dish. As in Cuba and low country South Carolina, low country Georgia folk both black and white viewed a huge rice dish like Savannah red rice as an absolute essential at any meal they served. Roy Miller, born in Harlem in 1924, said, “that’s interesting because that’s a crossover. Because my [West Indian] aunts used to do red rice and all of that. I can’t say that is a purely West Indian dish, it may be part of an assimilation . . . it emanated from the South, but my aunts used to do that beautifully also.” My research shows that indeed Savannah red rice is an adaptation of a similar dish made all over West Africa called jollof rice. Here are recipes for traditional and one vegan Savannah red rice. Enjoy this Savannah culinary Christmas tradition wherever you live.


Traditional Savannah red rice: http://www.grouprecipes.com/47133/mrs-wilkes-savannah-red-rice.html

Vegan Savannah red rice: http://www.recipezaar.com/Savannah-Red-Rice-218552

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