The anthropology of poultry

[Fresser]

You'd be suprised what a simple piece of protein can say about you.

I was sitting there, minding my own business and enjoying a rotisserie chicken lunch from the grocery across from work. This was a common choice of foodstuffs for me, given that it came with tasty side orders and often lasted for two or three meals. My astute black co-worker Freddie had been studying my eating habits, however, and he looked at me and blurted, "Man, you're worse than a Brother!"

I nearly fell out of my chair, laughing--but taking care not to drop my drumstick. Freddie himself is partial to potato wedges for lunch, although he often gets a carbohydrate buzz from them.

But Freddie's unmasking me as an Undercover Brother got me thinking. When Freddie called me "Brother," was he keen to something that I myself had missed? Hell, I'm so white, I used to think crackers were named after me!

But the evidence is mounting. I had an English professor at the U. of Chicago who, to me at least, strongly resembled Colonel Sanders. And while in high school, my chum Puddin' Buns and I often bonded over jazz music and boxes of dark meat from Church's Chicken. You think green bean casserole is a Caucasian bonding ritual, Sandy? Try getting GBC from the drive-through at Brown's.

So while Sandy mulls over his "Inner Oreo," I sit eyeing my olive skin and wonder about my putative lineage to Poland and Lithuania. Is there some African in this American? Is my predilection for poultry really the siren-song of a long-lost Ehtiopian Jew?

I'll never look at an Original Recipe bucket the same way again.

[McDuff]

You are actually Wade Bogg's long lost cousin, now unmasked.

[Fresser]

You are actually Wade Bogg's long-lost cousin, now unmasked.

←

That would explain my stunning lack of athleticism.

But you might be on to something, McDuff. Super Bowl Shuffle frontman William "Refrigerator" Perry was known to wolf down large amounts of fried chicken when away from the football field. In fact, a reporter visited a diner where the Fridge often enjoyed his repast and asked the waitress, "So, how much chicken did Mr. Perry eat?"

"He ate a MESS of chicken!" replied the waitress.

"Well, how much did he eat, Miss? Four pieces? Six pieces? Eight?"

"He ate, well...he ate a MESS of chicken!!" the waitress stammered.

Here I see a possible ethnic connection. Puddin' Buns and I often would commandeer the corner booth at Brown's Chicken and order the 10-piece family dinner (dark meat, please) with side orders that typically included cole slaw, biscuits and (are you listening, Sandy) macaroni and cheese. Now, Puddin' Buns weighed all of 145 lbs. soaking wet, but between the two of us, we demolished that spread in a way that would make the Fridge proud.

Further muddying (or clarifying) the issue, the lily-white Puddin' Buns would often greet me by saying, "What's up, brother from another Mother?"

I must go look at myself in the mirror now. I'll look REAL hard...

[McDuff]

I'm sorry, I misspoke myself. You are Ignatius J. Reilly right down to the potato chip crumbs.

[MarketStEl]

Damn, Man!

First I hear you can barbecue (I did hear that, right?), now this.

We all know that every last European on the planet can ultimately trace his or her ancestry to some black woman in the vicinity of modern-day Kenya.

Your African ancestors must have taken the genetic bypass between there and Central Europe.

Unfortunately, there are no Brown's Fried Chicken outlets anywhere in the Greater Philadelphia region, though there are at least two Golden Krust Caribbean Bakery & Grill outlets where I can indulge my hidden Caribbean roots (Mom's side of the family, allegedly).

I can, however, stroll over to the Penn Center concourse for some Church's fried chicken and fried okra.

[moosnsqrl]

Are you sure it's not just a misplaced love of shmalz?

[I_call_the_duck]

Let's open up another can of worms.

It could be the inner Chinese in you. Speaking in a completely general and tongue-in-cheek manner, dark meat is the choice of my people. (My sister, who likes to lecture us all on healthy eating, has given in to her genetic calling and has been seen reaching for the dark meat when the poultry is passed around.) And if fried rice was a choice of sides, would you order that too?

[Fresser]

Let's open up another can of worms. 

It could be the inner Chinese in you.  Speaking in a completely general and tongue-in-cheek manner, dark meat is the choice of my people.    (My sister, who likes to lecture us all on healthy eating, has given in to her genetic calling and has been seen reaching for the dark meat when the poultry is passed around.)  And if fried rice was a choice of sides, would you order that too?

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One of my favorite characters on the T.V. show "Barney Miller" was Detective Yemana, played by Jack Soo, himself a Chinese Jew. Yemana was known to use pencils from his desk as makeshift chopsticks. Once, however, he peered into his box of takeout and murmured, "Oh, no. I ate my eraser!"

As far as ordering the fried rice, Duck, I usually fire up the wok and make it myself. However, my Cantonese vocabulary consists of just one word: gai!

A Jewish Chinese Brother's gotta eat!

So

[moosnsqrl]

OMG, if I had a nickel for every time I've used hotel pens as chopsticks to polish off my leftovers...you'd think I would learn and pack a pair in the ol' female equivalent of a Dopp Kit.

The s.o. once ate with the handle of a hairbrush when he grabbed and dashed back to his room to catch a KU basketball game and didn't notice they hadn't packed chopsticks.

Necessity is the mother of invention (with apologies to the late, great Frank Zappa and Ben Franklin, or whomever coined the phrase).

[I_call_the_duck]

One of my favorite characters on the T.V. show "Barney Miller" was Detective Yemana, played by Jack Soo, himself a Chinese Jew.  Yemana was known to use pencils from his desk as makeshift chopsticks.  Once, however, he peered into his box of takeout and murmured, "Oh, no.  I ate my eraser!"

←

Loved Jack Soo. Only I use the non-eraser sides, though the food tastes kind of leady...

BTW, Fresser, gai will get you what you want. Let's add to your vocabulary (so glad you don't speak Mandarin, because I wouldn't understand you...not that I do anyways ) from someone who speaks a mixture of Cantonese and Toisanese.

gai bee=chicken leg

gai yick=chicken wing

gai mee=the last part over the fence.

[mizducky]

Why do I keep hearing Cibo Matto's "Know Your Chicken" playing in my head whenver I look in on this topic?

Probably because I was going to say: at least by my admittedly anecdotal observation, blacks, Jews, and Chinese are three groups of folks who definitely know their chicken.

[annecros]

I've often wondered myself, when I examine the foods I love the most, if my Chemistry Professor in college was not correct when he told the entire class one day that I was an "inside out oreo, with the white fluffy stuff on the outside."

After the last week of eating various, very good, seafood dishes and beef wellington the day before yesterday, I am craving a pot of collards right now. I mean, really craving a pot of collards! I am sort of a family joke, in that I can live off pot likker and cornbread. I eat it for breakfast the next morning.

Chicken? Pan fried, and the wing is my favorite because I like to gnaw on the wing tip. Livers and gizzards battered, fried and served with a side of ketchup? I'm there! Pork BBQ? I want it so messy I need a bib and have to lick the grease off my fingers! Although I wouldn't bring them into the house because of the freakout factor from the rest of the family, I have enjoyed a plate of fried (not boiled, can't do boiled) chitterlings several times in my life.

Now, I am hearing that all this is "slave food" according to the food anthropology eggheads. Funny, it was just the way my lily white family ate. If I had to choose what cusine I would be limited to the rest of my life, give me the fried chicken, rice and gravy, cornbread and greens!

Yep, definitely a pot of collards going into the pressure cooker this afternoon.

[moosnsqrl]

Yep, definitely a pot of collards going into the pressure cooker this afternoon.

←

Interesting...I like the flavor of collards and love the nutrients but no amount of sauteeing, steaming, boiling has knocked down their leathery factor. I'll have to try the pressure cooker. I'm embarrassed to say I never thought of it. Any secrets you'd care to share? I assume there is pork fat involved.

[annecros]

Oh, the pressure cooker is really the way to go. It not only tenderizes the collards, but it pulls all that porky goodness out of the hocks!

My secret is a little onion and bell pepper sauted in butter at the start. Some people sweeten their greens with cane syrup, but I don't care for the flavor it imparts. A small yellow onion and about a quarter bell pepper, sauted in butter, is enough to sweeten the entire bunch of greens. I saute them in the bottom of the pressure cooker, throw in two smoked ham hocks, two knorr ham bullion cubes, water, and the collards washed, rolled and cut into strips. I try to remove the bigger stems when cleaning them, because I don't think ANYTHING will tenderize the bigger sticks, but my hubby kind of likes them. Snap on the lid, process the whole mess just at pressure for about an hour. Let the pot cool down, taste the pot likker for saltiness and add salt if necessary, and then simmer covered for another hour or two. The greens are always tender, the hocks have fallen apart, and the whole pot is full of sweet, yummy collards.

Done!

Now I am really hungry!

[I_call_the_duck]

I make collards in a different way. I starting making these when I was living in an area that offered very little Chinese greens. One day, having a hankering for Chinese greens and not finding any, I decided collards looked enough like them to give it a try. After chopping the collards in 1" strips, I blanched them in boiling water, then shocked them. Then I stir-fried them in a wok with a bit of garlic, oyster sauce, and sesame oil. A far cry from southern-style greens, but they tasted pretty good, and not leathery at all.

[annecros]

I make collards in a different way.  I starting making these when I was living in an area that offered very little Chinese greens.  One day, having a hankering for Chinese greens and not finding any, I decided collards looked enough like them to give it a try.  After chopping the collards in 1" strips, I blanched them in boiling water, then shocked them.  Then I stir-fried them in a wok with a bit of garlic, oyster sauce, and sesame oil.  A far cry from southern-style greens, but they tasted pretty good, and not leathery at all.

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I've cooked turnip greens in the manner you describe. Quite tasty, but will have to try the oyster sauce and sesame oil next time I do it. It sounds good, and turnip greens are tender enough.

I have also substituted Kale for Mustard greens when I was craving Turnips and Mustard and couldn't find any.

Call it "Southern Fusion".....

[hwilson41]

I usually cook collards according to Bill Neal's recipe in Bill Neal's Southern Cooking, but they do take several hours to become tender. The pot "likker" is heaven on earth with good homemade cornbread . One secret I have found very useful is to search out a good roadside stand that raises and sells their own collards. Greens that were picked the same day or day before have all the freshness you'll ever get and a wonderful flavor.

While doing a google on collards, I stumbled across this recipe by Robert Stehling for creamed collard greens. I haven't tried it, but anybody who studied under Bill Neal, as Stehling did while a student at UNC, is probably a pretty damned good cook, and well informed about Southern cooking traditions. The recipe looks to me to be collards prepared the usual way except using chicken stock for the liquid and adding a good dose of heavy cream for a final simmer. Definitely worth a try IMHO.

[I_call_the_duck]

I have that recipe too, but haven't tried it yet. But why does he tell you to discard the ham hock? I'd just remove the meat and eat it on the side. Why waste good meat?

[annecros]

I have that recipe too, but haven't tried it yet.  But why does he tell you to discard the ham hock?  I'd just remove the meat and eat it on the side.  Why waste good meat?

←

My husband would stage a revolt if I discarded the hock! He considers them his personal property, regardless of the source - greens, beans, peas or butterbeans! I can use some good quality salt pork from time to time, but he always pouts a bit.

The man is six feet tall, weighs only 150, and his cholesterol is non existant. Go figure.

[I_call_the_duck]

My husband is kind of grossed by the hock. Bless him, he loves just about everthing else. So I can have the hock all to myself!

[annecros]

My husband is kind of grossed by the hock.  Bless him, he loves just about everthing else.  So I can have the hock all to myself!

←

Hmm, so I guess you haven't explained to him that it is just the end of the ham? That's smart, silence is golden. And you get the hock without the wrestling match!

[I_call_the_duck]

We never had any euphanisms for food. It was simply just "pigs feet", "duck tongue", or "pig snouts". Sometimes, silence is golden.

[MarketStEl]

I've often wondered myself, when I examine the foods I love the most, if my Chemistry Professor in college was not correct when he told the entire class one day that I was an "inside out oreo, with the white fluffy stuff on the outside."

After the last week of eating various, very good, seafood dishes and beef wellington the day before yesterday, I am craving a pot of collards right now. I mean, really craving a pot of collards! I am sort of a family joke, in that I can live off pot likker and cornbread. I eat it for breakfast the next morning.

Chicken? Pan fried, and the wing is my favorite because I like to gnaw on the wing tip. Livers and gizzards battered, fried and served with a side of ketchup? I'm there! Pork BBQ? I want it so messy I need a bib and have to lick the grease off my fingers! Although I wouldn't bring them into the house because of the freakout factor from the rest of the family, I have enjoyed a plate of fried (not boiled, can't do boiled) chitterlings several times in my life.

Now, I am hearing that all this is "slave food" according to the food anthropology eggheads. Funny, it was just the way my lily white family ate. If I had to choose what cusine I would be limited to the rest of my life, give me the fried chicken, rice and gravy, cornbread and greens!

Yep, definitely a pot of collards going into the pressure cooker this afternoon.

←

You've alluded to this yourself in succeeding posts, but I'm going to wager that your family hails from the Deep South.

Yes, all the foods you love are "slave food," according to the food anthropologists, but there is significant overlap between "soul food" and "Southern cookery," and how could there not be?

After all, most African-Americans either live in or can trace their ancestry back to the former slave states, and all but three of those--Delaware, Maryland and Missouri--are in the South (though you can find pockets and remnants of a more Southern way of life in even these three). In many wealthy Southern homes, the black house slaves were responsible for the cooking as well, and such skills as well-off white Southern women had in that department were as likely as not transmitted to them by the slave cooks.

I will also wager, however, that your Southern ancestors, if indeed Southern they are, did not come from the upper strata of Southern society. For even though barbecue crosses all lines of class and race, some of the other dishes--especially the greens--do not.

Exploring this a little further: What's your attitude towards mayonnaise and Tabasco sauce?

[annecros]

I've often wondered myself, when I examine the foods I love the most, if my Chemistry Professor in college was not correct when he told the entire class one day that I was an "inside out oreo, with the white fluffy stuff on the outside."

After the last week of eating various, very good, seafood dishes and beef wellington the day before yesterday, I am craving a pot of collards right now. I mean, really craving a pot of collards! I am sort of a family joke, in that I can live off pot likker and cornbread. I eat it for breakfast the next morning.

Chicken? Pan fried, and the wing is my favorite because I like to gnaw on the wing tip. Livers and gizzards battered, fried and served with a side of ketchup? I'm there! Pork BBQ? I want it so messy I need a bib and have to lick the grease off my fingers! Although I wouldn't bring them into the house because of the freakout factor from the rest of the family, I have enjoyed a plate of fried (not boiled, can't do boiled) chitterlings several times in my life.

Now, I am hearing that all this is "slave food" according to the food anthropology eggheads. Funny, it was just the way my lily white family ate. If I had to choose what cusine I would be limited to the rest of my life, give me the fried chicken, rice and gravy, cornbread and greens!

Yep, definitely a pot of collards going into the pressure cooker this afternoon.

←

You've alluded to this yourself in succeeding posts, but I'm going to wager that your family hails from the Deep South.

Yes, all the foods you love are "slave food," according to the food anthropologists, but there is significant overlap between "soul food" and "Southern cookery," and how could there not be?

After all, most African-Americans either live in or can trace their ancestry back to the former slave states, and all but three of those--Delaware, Maryland and Missouri--are in the South (though you can find pockets and remnants of a more Southern way of life in even these three). In many wealthy Southern homes, the black house slaves were responsible for the cooking as well, and such skills as well-off white Southern women had in that department were as likely as not transmitted to them by the slave cooks.

I will also wager, however, that your Southern ancestors, if indeed Southern they are, did not come from the upper strata of Southern society. For even though barbecue crosses all lines of class and race, some of the other dishes--especially the greens--do not.

Exploring this a little further: What's your attitude towards mayonnaise and Tabasco sauce?

←

Very clever, you are. You would have won the bet!

Yes, white trash abounds in my family tree. I think the white trash subsistance farmers had as much a right to nourish themselves as the slaves, and could actually be pretty creative when facing the delimma of feeding a houseful of field hands (who happen to be children) with an egg and whatever you could spare from the pantry until spring.

Although there is an equal dose of magnolias in this same tree, and I am DAR AND UDC, through coercion, not choice! Rest assured, I have 7 "great grandfathers" freaking documented on the rebel side of the cause, and as many who dodged the draft during the war between the states. Also, thanks to the D of the A Revolution, I am the descendent of three, yes three, members of the original bunch that threw that little party. I just describe it as a LONG line of rebels! The trashiest side of my family, has a state senator to brag on. Yes, upper and lower strata intermarried in the deep south. Of course, much of that happened during the depression, or in the economic woes after the Civil War.

Now, Mom was not real keen on the odor that collards perfume the house with. But Grandma, her mother? Get out of her way and don't get between her and the pot!

Tobasco? Would rather have hot, pickled pepper sauce, homemade from the season before, on my greens, or most anything else. I love the bite of vinegar. Mayonnaise? Hate it on the sandwich, would rather eat one dry. Seriously. But in a salad? Miracle Whip or homemade.

Now, tell me what you think, young man, of the results of your exploration. I am very curious.

[divalasvegas]

I've often wondered myself, when I examine the foods I love the most, if my Chemistry Professor in college was not correct when he told the entire class one day that I was an "inside out oreo, with the white fluffy stuff on the outside."

After the last week of eating various, very good, seafood dishes and beef wellington the day before yesterday, I am craving a pot of collards right now. I mean, really craving a pot of collards! I am sort of a family joke, in that I can live off pot likker and cornbread. I eat it for breakfast the next morning.

Chicken? Pan fried, and the wing is my favorite because I like to gnaw on the wing tip. Livers and gizzards battered, fried and served with a side of ketchup? I'm there! Pork BBQ? I want it so messy I need a bib and have to lick the grease off my fingers! Although I wouldn't bring them into the house because of the freakout factor from the rest of the family, I have enjoyed a plate of fried (not boiled, can't do boiled) chitterlings several times in my life.

Now, I am hearing that all this is "slave food" according to the food anthropology eggheads. Funny, it was just the way my lily white family ate. If I had to choose what cusine I would be limited to the rest of my life, give me the fried chicken, rice and gravy, cornbread and greens!

Yep, definitely a pot of collards going into the pressure cooker this afternoon.

←

You've alluded to this yourself in succeeding posts, but I'm going to wager that your family hails from the Deep South.

Yes, all the foods you love are "slave food," according to the food anthropologists, but there is significant overlap between "soul food" and "Southern cookery," and how could there not be?

After all, most African-Americans either live in or can trace their ancestry back to the former slave states, and all but three of those--Delaware, Maryland and Missouri--are in the South (though you can find pockets and remnants of a more Southern way of life in even these three). In many wealthy Southern homes, the black house slaves were responsible for the cooking as well, and such skills as well-off white Southern women had in that department were as likely as not transmitted to them by the slave cooks.

I will also wager, however, that your Southern ancestors, if indeed Southern they are, did not come from the upper strata of Southern society. For even though barbecue crosses all lines of class and race, some of the other dishes--especially the greens--do not.

Exploring this a little further: What's your attitude towards mayonnaise and Tabasco sauce?

←

Very clever, you are. You would have won the bet!

Yes, white trash abounds in my family tree. I think the white trash subsistance farmers had as much a right to nourish themselves as the slaves, and could actually be pretty creative when facing the delimma of feeding a houseful of field hands (who happen to be children) with an egg and whatever you could spare from the pantry until spring.

Although there is an equal dose of magnolias in this same tree, and I am DAR AND UDC, through coercion, not choice! Rest assured, I have 7 "great grandfathers" freaking documented on the rebel side of the cause, and as many who dodged the draft during the war between the states. Also, thanks to the D of the A Revolution, I am the descendent of three, yes three, members of the original bunch that threw that little party. I just describe it as a LONG line of rebels! The trashiest side of my family, has a state senator to brag on. Yes, upper and lower strata intermarried in the deep south. Of course, much of that happened during the depression, or in the economic woes after the Civil War.

Now, Mom was not real keen on the odor that collards perfume the house with. But Grandma, her mother? Get out of her way and don't get between her and the pot!

Tobasco? Would rather have hot, pickled pepper sauce, homemade from the season before, on my greens, or most anything else. I love the bite of vinegar. Mayonnaise? Hate it on the sandwich, would rather eat one dry. Seriously. But in a salad? Miracle Whip or homemade.

Now, tell me what you think, young man, of the results of your exploration. I am very curious.

←

annecros that is so simultaneously hilarious and enlightening. You've already previously mentioned several of the "lucky" foods I'll be making for New Years: chitterlings (with maws of course), greens definitely with ham hocks, cornbread, potato salad (yes some Miracle Whip will be involved), and black eyed peas, again with some kind of smoky pork product. Why it will be a veritable porkathon at my house (no not that kind of porkathon; minds out of the gutter please!)

However, ahem, how do I bring this up politely? Actually I can't so I'll just say it and once again ask that MarketSt.El/Sandy backs me up. It is entirely possible that your "inner Negritude" may have some genetic basis. Even though it could be downright dangerous, secret interracial unions were not uncommon even in the days of the Civil War. Of course, that's not the kind of thing that gets brought up at the dinner table, especially in a household with its DAR leanings.

Now as for you Fresser and your current "condition" (as well as other things) we'll all have to put our heads together and design a very special twelve-step program just for you! And as for me, I'm having the opposite problem. Lately I've detected the unmistakable small voice of my "Inner Shvester" yearning to breath free. Oy.

Edited December 29, 2005 by divalasvegas (log)