the dough by touch, never overworking it. She would taste a pinch of the dough for flavor adjustment, then listen to the fire turning on and off in the oven, moving the rolls around so they would cook and brown evenly. Finally, the smell would tell her when the rolls were done just right.
Spending quality time with my grandfather, Frank, was also a real treat. He and I would go to Wade’s Barbershop in Clarksdale to get our hair cut. Wade’s was the place to hang out on Saturday afternoons, because all of the great amateur and professional blues musicians in the area would pop in for their haircuts. While waiting, many of them would fill the tiny shop with their music. Wade Walton was the owner of the shop, and he was also a blues musician who recorded one hit record in 1958 (that was widely distributed throughout Europe) titled “Shake’em on Down.” Wade was friends with the likes of B.B. King, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, and Ike Turner.
My grandfather, Wade Walton, and many of the local and well-known blues musicians have since passed on, but my memories of those Saturday afternoon jam sessions are still intact. Wade’s Barbershop has since been turned into a blues museum.
What Is Smothered?
The south has greatly influenced America’s culinary palate as signature food varieties such as Cajun, Creole, Gullah, Low Country, soul food, and Floribbean have moved from local to national to global. Chef Paul Prudhomme has successfully taken native Cajun cooking to the world’s kitchen table. Chef Paul’s line of spices and seasonings can be found everywhere, even in the capital of haute cuisine, Paris, and his cooking technique for blackened meats, fish, and poultry is embraced globally.
However, there are still some culinary techniques that have remained regional in this country with which most Americans are not familiar, smothered being one of them. No one knows exactly where this cooking technique came from, but the south claimed it many years ago.
Smothered is a method in which food is covered with another food or sauce while braising in a covered skillet. Smothering is easy as searing a piece of meat on both sides in a hot skillet, then pouring some broth or water over the meat, covering the skillet and letting the meat simmer until it becomes tender.
Many cooks in the south, or cooks who have roots in the south know how to smother food. The south comprises Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana.
Florida and Texas are also located in the south, but many food authorities do not consider their cooking style or signature dishes southern. Florida’s cooking is mainly Cuban, Haitian, and Spanish influenced. However, the panhandle part of the state, located south of Alabama and Georgia, has a cooking style just as southern as the rest of the southern states. Some signature dishes from this region include biscuits and gravy, fried apples, smothered chicken, smothered pork chops, and blackberry cobbler. Texas also gets dismissed because of its Tex-Mex influences. However, foods such as black-eyed pea caviar (pickled black-eyed peas), pinto beans, barbecue beef brisket, and pecan pie have a traditional southern flavor.
Like the rest of the south, slavery was legal in Texas. Many cooking techniques and ingredients were brought to this state by slaves. Texas was the last state in the union to free slaves, one year after the Civil War, on June 19, 1865. This day led to the celebration of the Juneteeth holiday, which many African Americans and southern whites celebrate today. A Juneteenth celebration often includes some type of prayer service, speakers with inspirational messages, a reading of the Emancipation Proclamation, and food—lots of food!
About the Recipes
This book contains 125 recipes for your enjoyment. They are divided into 6 chapters: Vegetables, Fish and Seafood, Poultry and Meats, Desserts, and Sauces. The directions are simple and flexible. I hope they bring you and your family many enjoyable meals. Here’s to good eating!
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