Traditions, Systems, Campaigns, and Movements for, About, and Involving Food
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Hog Killing Food Traditions and Christmas
Christmas time for rural folk traditionally became associated with “Hog killing.” Families slaughtered several hogs in cold of December to insure they’d have an abundance of food in the house during the holidays. The collective community event would start early in the morning, sometime around 10:00 am and last late into the evening. Historically, in parts of the south, seasonal workers in the logging, farming, cotton milling, and ice making industries participated in the strenuous work of butchering the hogs in exchange for parts of the meat for their service. Joyce White of Alabama remembers black workers would remove the skin and throw the white fat into cauldrons set on top a fire to make cooking lard. “Mama would cut up the skin into pieces and drop it into the hot oil to make crisp cracklings.” Her mother and the other women folk passed out the crackling to the workers, along with pans of “hot cornbread, roasted sweet potatoes, and a can of molasses” says White.This description of hog killing food traditions reminds me of how good easy to make comfort foods like roasted sweet potatoes and cornbread taste with molasses as a condiment. Baking sweet potatoes and cornbread in your oven on a cold December day also warms your home and makes it smell sensational. Here’s a corn bread recipe below for the Christmas Holidays.
Sweet corn bread recipe:
3/4 self-rising cornmeal
1 cup Spelt flour (it’s better tasting and healthier than white or wheat flour)
1/2 cup cane sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup vanilla soymilk, (a fortified soy milk is a very good tasting healthy choice, I suggest the Vitasoy brand for newbies)
1 egg or egg substitute (beaten)
2 tbsp canola oil
2 tbsp butter (Try I Can’t Believe It’s not Butter available at most supermarkets and Costco)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400; Combine dry ingredients. Add milk, egg and oil. Mix well. Spray a large cast iron skillet like the one in the photo or a 9 inch pie pan with Pam. Bake until tooth pick inserted in center comes out clean (about 25 minutes). Melt butter and brush over the top of the bread when it comes fresh out the oven; serves 8.
HOGKILLING TIME There's a chill in the air And holidays are near, Thanksgiving's just 'round the bend; There's a feeling amongst country folks That's absolute prime, Everyone senses it's hogkilling time. Oh what a spectacle! Oh what a show! You'll find nothing like it, If you look high and low. From sunup to sundown, It lasts the whole day; And once it gets started, Horses couldn't pull you away. Everyone has his own part to do, With all the commotion, It feels like a zoo. The poor victim for this ocassion Has long been picked out, And soon will become food, From his tail to his snout. There's a shot and a squeal And he's out for the count; A cut of the throat, And blood spews like a fount. In a barrel of hot water, He's cleaned and de-haired; Amongst all the men, This giant task is shared. A skillful knife separates all parts of meat, Including pig ears, pig tail, land pig feet. The women's task is always chittlin's to make. There's a boatload of goo and muck They must rake. When nightime falls, All surround the black pot; Where the oil is bubbling, And boy is it hot! Pieces of skin are stirred with a surge, And after some time, Crisp cracklings emerge. Sweet potatoes are roasted, Right in the fire; And of these simple treats, No one ever does tire. When it's all finally over , And the day is all done; The grown-ups are weary, But the kids just had fun.
MAKING CRACKLINGS First, you have to kill a hog, Then, carefully take off the skin; Cut it up in little squares, And then the fun begins. Take a big, black iron pot, Then put in some lard; As you'll see, it's quite simple, Nothing very hard. You wait until the oil is bubbling And it's boiling hot; Then get the pieces that you've cut And toss them in the pot. Now, just stand around and tell some tales And maybe a few jokes; It's best when you've got a crowd, Of good ole' country folks. After some stirring and simmering, The skins are crisp and puffed; Then, you have a delicious treat, Of which you'll never get enough.
poems from Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia-A Life in Poems Copyright 2008 Patricia Neely-Dorsey
The Book’s grassroots approach to foodways reveals the global origins of food traditions, the forces that shape food traditions, and the distinctive cultural collaborations that have occurred among Africans, Asians, Europeans, and Americans throughout history. Hog and Hominy shows how food can be an indicator of social position, a site of community building, and cultural identity.
ADD Warning
For those, like my wife, who can’t stand typos, watch out! I have severe ADD which kept me from moving forward with this blog for too long. My friend encouraged me to start blogging and just disclose my disability the same way I do on the first day of class as a college professor. Folks I regularly make spelling mistakes because of my disability. In order to get two books and several academic journal articles published I use a professional copy editor. To blog that would take too much time and money. So if you can overlook my typos, enjoy my musings.
Frederick Douglass Opie is the author of Hog and Hominy: Soul Food from Africa to America, Black Labor Migration in Caribbean Guatemala, 1882-1923, and the forthcoming book Black and Latino Coalitions in New York 1959 to 1989. He has appeared in the NYC cable TV series Appetite City hosted by former New York Times food critic William Grimes,the History Channel's "101 Fast Foods That Have Changed the World," and Film Maker Byron Hurt's documentary Soul Food Junkie. Opie is the Sheila Biddle Ford Foundation Fellow at The W. E. B. Du Bois Institute at Harvard University and Professor of History and Foodways at Babson College
1 comment:
HOGKILLING TIME
There's a chill in the air
And holidays are near,
Thanksgiving's just 'round the bend;
There's a feeling amongst country folks
That's absolute prime,
Everyone senses it's hogkilling time.
Oh what a spectacle!
Oh what a show!
You'll find nothing like it,
If you look high and low.
From sunup to sundown,
It lasts the whole day;
And once it gets started,
Horses couldn't pull you away.
Everyone has his own part to do,
With all the commotion,
It feels like a zoo.
The poor victim for this ocassion
Has long been picked out,
And soon will become food,
From his tail to his snout.
There's a shot and a squeal
And he's out for the count;
A cut of the throat,
And blood spews like a fount.
In a barrel of hot water,
He's cleaned and de-haired;
Amongst all the men,
This giant task is shared.
A skillful knife separates all parts of meat,
Including pig ears, pig tail, land pig feet.
The women's task is always chittlin's to make.
There's a boatload of goo and muck
They must rake.
When nightime falls,
All surround the black pot;
Where the oil is bubbling,
And boy is it hot!
Pieces of skin are stirred with a surge,
And after some time,
Crisp cracklings emerge.
Sweet potatoes are roasted,
Right in the fire;
And of these simple treats,
No one ever does tire.
When it's all finally over ,
And the day is all done;
The grown-ups are weary,
But the kids just had fun.
MAKING CRACKLINGS
First, you have to kill a hog,
Then, carefully take off the skin;
Cut it up in little squares,
And then the fun begins.
Take a big, black iron pot,
Then put in some lard;
As you'll see, it's quite simple,
Nothing very hard.
You wait until the oil is bubbling
And it's boiling hot;
Then get the pieces that you've cut
And toss them in the pot.
Now, just stand around and tell some tales
And maybe a few jokes;
It's best when you've got a crowd,
Of good ole' country folks.
After some stirring and simmering,
The skins are crisp and puffed;
Then, you have a delicious treat,
Of which you'll never get enough.
poems from Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia-A Life in Poems
Copyright 2008 Patricia Neely-Dorsey
www.patricianeelydorsey.webs.com
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