The First Thing I Learned to Cook/ by Rich Hill, Dahlia Lounge Server
My mother was from Montgomery, Alabama, and the first dishes she taught me to cook were black-eyed peas, corn pone, and collard greens. I cannot remember a New Year’s celebration in my life without these staples on the menu.
The most difficult ingredients to procure were the greens. My mother had married a cowboy from Wyoming who had been stationed in Alabama during World Wall II, and after the war she came west with my father and my two older brothers. Collard greens are not native to Wyoming’s high, dry climate, and my grandfather would send seeds from Alabama so my mother could grow greens in our garden. In spite of the very short growing season at 5,000+ feet, our garden produced some delicious collards. Into the pot they would go with a hamhock, not from the local Safeway, but a fresh one from the “packing house” at the edge of town.
Next to the “collard” pot, another hamhock bubbled along with the black-eyed (NOT “black eye”) peas. Canned peas were unacceptable; these legumes were purchased dry, sorted through, soaked, then boiled along with the pork.
But the “piece de resistance” of this simple meal was the corn-pone or pone-bread. First, the cornmeal was poured into the big, crockery bowl. Then a generous dollop of bacon grease was added, followed by just the right amount of boiling water. After mixing this together, individual “pones” were hand-formed and placed on a greased baking sheets. I can still see the imprint of my fingers on these delicious…what were they?! Not cornbread, not crackers, not biscuits…. crisp on the outside, soft and slightly mushy on the inside…slathered with butter… crumbled into one bowl of black-eyed peas and another bowl of greens and “pot liquor” with vinegar… ooh, so good.
Family, holidays, home, tradition, love….
I made all these dishes for my brothers and myself after our Mom’s funeral in 2000. I’ve also made this meal for friends here in Seattle every New Year’s Eve since. I’ve experimented with adding sausage, rice, onions, green peppers, garlic, chilis, and many other ingredients over the years. Every addition has brought an interesting and unique touch to the meal.. but if I really want the essence, I stick close to the basics.
Home-grown greens, pork from the small-town butcher, hand-made savory ‘pastries’… more than enough to make me thankful that this was my first cooking lesson.
(Editor’s note: this is the 3rd entry in our “The First Thing I Learned to Cook” staff contest.)
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