A Culinary Look at Women in History: The Cast-iron Skillet

Corn bread, recipe below

On the morning of this last day of women’s history month, my thoughts turned to all those delicious comfort foods that women have made over the centuries in one of those big old cast-iron skillets. For example my great aunt Maggie from Windsor, North Carolina, made wonderful biscuits, spoon bread, and homes fries in hers. I came across a great story from the WPA's America Eat's project which I found in the University of North Carolina special collections archives. It went like this, In New Orleans, folks called Elizabeth Henry of Garfield Street the “Queen of Fish Fries.” During the Depression she fried fish in a cast-iron skillet and sold them to raise bail money for folks from her neighborhood. I have also seen sources on how African, Caribbean, and Latin America women used them to fry plantains and all kinds of fritters. Finally, for years, women around the world have brandished cast-iron skillet like a weapon against intruders and abusive males in their households. Today I pay homage to women and their creative use of the cast-iron skillet over the years. Here is my recipe from some southern skillet baked corn bread:

Southern Country Cornbread
2 cups of buttermilk (or 2 cups of vanilla soymilk)
½ teaspoon of baking soda dissolved in a tablespoon of hot water
2 large eggs
¾ cup corn, canola or vegetable oil
Mix eggs and milk together
Sift in 2 cups of corn meal with a teaspoon of salt and 2 teaspoons of baking powder or use self-rising cornmeal (I add just a little high source of fiber, just a little!)
Mix ingredients and if you’re northerner like me add a ¼ cup of sugar
Spray hot cast Iron skillet with nonstick cooking spray
Preheat oven at 425 then turn down to 375 and bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown
Brush with melted butter when done and enjoy!

A Culinary Look at Women in History: Afro Peruvian Women

Turrón de Doña Pepa, recipe below

The Spanish started importing enslaved Africans from the Congo, Angola, Ghana, Mozambique, and others to Peru between 1520- 1530. Enslaved Africans worked in the highland mining industry and on lowland sugar plantations. In Lima, the capital city, enslaved Africans did all types of work including domestic work like cooking. Every October Lima is the site of one of the biggest Catholic processions and feast in the world. Hundreds of people walk the streets of Lima carrying image of a miracle working Black Christ (Señor de los Milagros) that a divinely inspired and gifted enslaved Angolan convert to Catholicism painted on a wall where people regularly gathered for prayer in 1651. Similarly, an enslaved Afro Peruvian women named Doña Josefa Marmanill made an indelible mark on the country’s food and religious life with the creation of a anise based cookie coated with fruit syrup and highly decorated called the Turrón de Doña Pepa. According to Peruvian folklore, Doña Pepa, originally known as Doña Josefa Marmanill, received the recipe as a gift from God in a dream for the feast of the Señor de los Milagros. Here is a recipe for Turrón de Doña Pepa:

Turrón de Doña Pepa recipe: http://yanuq.com/english/recipe.asp?idreceta=423

A Culinary Look at Women in History: Incan Women and the Colombian Exchange

Aji de Gallina, A Peruvian spicy creamed chicken dish/, recipe below

Long before Francisco Pizarro and his band of Spanish conquistadors arrived in Peru, Inca women shaped the foodways of the Andean region from modern-day Peru, Ecuador, western and south central Bolivia, northern Chile, northwest Argentina and southern Colombia. With the Spanish conquest of the Incan empire in 1532, the material food culture Inca women had to trade in markets and prepare as food increased particularly with the addition of new animals like news species of poultry. While the typical chicken did not exist in Peru until after the conquest, Inca women did prepare a poultry dish with a local variety called the hualpa. Below is a traditional Andean poultry and rice recipe the Inca named after the last Inca leader Atahualpa. It’s made with thin roasted chicken strips covered in a creamy yellow spicy sauce and served over rice. Vegans there are plenty of vegan poultry substitutes you can use to make this recipe.

Aji de Gallina/Peruvian spicy creamed chicken recipe:

http://latinamericaforless.com/blog/2010/02/09/peru-travel-guide-aji-de-gallina-recipe/