Cookbook Entry: Grandma’s Smothered Pork Chops with Rice

Origin of the term “Soul Food”    

The term “soul food” originated around the 1960’s soon after the civil rights movement emerged to regain the cultural legacy of African Americans (Lynn, 2017). During this time, African Americans associated everything with the term “soul.” They used words like soul sister, soul brother and soul music (Lynn, 2017). This is what led the way for African Americans to use the term “soul food” when referring to home cooked meals that originated from the South (Lynn, 2017). Soul food is a combination of Native American, European and African foods that were brought to reality out of necessity by Black slaves in the South (Regelski, 2015). These foods consist of beans, greens, cornbread, fried fish, peach cobbler, fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, chitterlings, and oxtails.

During slavery in America the Black slaves were given small rations of food that consisted of cornmeal, sweet potatoes, dried meat (usually pork) and some molasses (Miller, 2015). Since the rations they received were small, slaves had to be innovative in finding ways to enrich their diets (Miller, 2015). The slaves accomplished this by fishing, hunting, gardening (some plants native to Africa) and farming using ideas borrowed from Native Americans, Europeans and knowledge from their African homeland (Miller, 2015). The mixture of all of these factors came to equal what we know as “Soul Food” today.

What Soul Food Meant to my Family

My mother’s family is from Mississippi, so the women in the family know how to cook what we call “soul food.” Soul food to our family consists of home cooked meals that are comforting to the mind, body and soul. Everything that was cooked was made with love, and nothing was made without it! Some of our favorite soul foods are yams, macaroni and cheese, black eye peas, cornbread, smothered pork chops, fried catfish and collard greens. These foods have been cooked over the years and the recipes have been passed down from generation to generation in my family. With my family being from Mississippi, eating soul food on a daily basis is common. I remember as a child, my mother would make a big pan of cornbread everyday so we could have it with our dinner. The next morning we would have the cornbread with syrup and grits.

Cultural Significant of Sunday Dinner for African Americans

Sunday dinner is culturally significant for Black families.  Sunday dinner after church services is a tradition that Black families have maintained for generations (Evans, 2017). Sunday dinner was not only for immediate family, but was for extended family, family friends and loved ones. Sunday dinner for the Black families is about more than food. It is a time to bond, create new memories, reminisce about old memories and teach the family how to work together (Evans, 2017).

Story telling is a big part of the Black family Sunday experience (Evans, 2017). The families’ favorite aunt or uncle loves to hold court and share stories from the families past (most of the time exaggerated) that has everyone laughing and smiling. Every Sunday dinner, memories are being built. The younger generation is building memories based on the current interaction with the older generation and being taught the family’s traditions and recipes.  The older generation reminisces about being young, learning family traditions and recipes from their elders.  The expectation is that everyone contributes something to the family dinner. The family works together as a team from sharing cooking duties, to providing the house for the dinner. Others were responsible for setting the table, cleaning the table, washing dishes and other family members made sure all the trash was taken out. Every family member from the oldest to the youngest is an important member of the team and is responsible for making the Sunday dinner a success (Evans, 2017).

The most significant outcome of Sunday dinner is the family bonding that takes place.  Every aspect that happens during the Sunday dinner, the storytelling, the memories being created, and teamwork results in the family bonding across generations and it is irreplaceable experience and priceless to Black families.

My Family Sunday Dinner

My great grandmother, whom we called “M’dear,” always had Sunday dinner at her home. When she passed on, my grandmother continued the tradition of Sunday dinner. Every Sunday evening after church my entire family got together at my grandparents’ house for Sunday dinner.  My grandmother would not allow anyone to step foot in the house without bringing a dish. Everyone had to bring a dish or they could prepare and cook their dish at my grandparents’ house. Sunday dinner was very important to my family because it kept the family bonded and close. We would have a good time, catching up on life and enjoying each other’s company. My parents, aunts and uncles would share their fondest memories of their childhood and compare them to our childhood.

As a little girl, my grandmother taught my sister, my cousins and me how to cook.  She did not allow us to play outside while she was cooking. She believed that a woman was responsible for preparing meals and feeding the family.  She would tell us, “Girl, you can’t get a husband if you don’t know how to cook!” So every chance I got, I made sure I was in the kitchen watching my grandmother cook and learning all her secret recipes.  My fondest childhood memory is helping my grandmother prepare smothered pork chops and rice for Sunday dinner. Her smothered pork chops was everyone’s favorite; therefore, my grandmother made them often. When she made them, she always made a pot of white rice to lay the tasty chops on. She preferred rice because it is light and we would be able to eat all the other delicious food that was made by my family. I was responsible for seasoning the pork chops and flouring them by tossing them up and down in a big brown paper bag. I would make a mess in the kitchen by getting flour all over the place, but boy oh boy, the pork chops came out so good! I would be so proud when the family complemented me on how delicious the smothered pork chops were.

Gravy

Gravy is a sauce that goes well with a variety of meats, and foods such as mashed potatoes and rice (en.w.wikipedia.org). There are many varieties of gravy such as mushroom, onion, vegetable, giblet, egg, brown and white (en.w.wikipedia.org).The best gravy that complements smothered pork chops is brown gravy. Brown gravy is mostly used in Southern dishes (en.w.wikipedia.org).  It is called brown gravy because of the brown color it has once it is cooked.  What gives it the brown color is the juices and grease drippings of meat (en.w.wikipedia.org). To make brown gravy, you have to use hot grease and flour to get a brown texture. Once brown, you have to add a liquid, preferably juice from cooked meat, and cook until you reach a nice medium brown color and a rich favor.

History of Pork in Soul Food

Pork became popular with African American dishes during slavery. During these times slaves were only allowed to eat parts of animals that their master did not want (Grant, 2006). These scraps consist of pig tails, pig feet, hog jowls, ham hocks, neck bones, and pig intestines (Grant, 2006). These scraps became the main ingredients in their meals to make dishes flavorable for their families (Grant, 2006). Even today, these scraps are still a major staple in African American soul food dishes such as beans, cornbread, soups and vegetables to make them flavorable (Grant, 2006).

Memories

My grandmother’s recipe for smothered pork chops has been cooked the same way for many years. The recipe has not changed even though it has been passed down from generation to generation. I look forward to cooking smothered pork chops on special occasions and especially on Sunday for my family dinner. When I cook this dish, it brings back so many memories of my grandmother, mother and my childhood. It makes me think about the laughs, tears and good times we all had at my grandmother’s home. Now that my grandmother and mother have passed on, it is important for me to make sure this recipe stays in the family and gets passed on to the young women so they can prepare this dish for their families. Whenever I cook these delicious pork chops, I have my daughter in the kitchen with me, allowing her to take over what used to be my job when I was a child such as seasoning the pork chops and shaking the bag to get them coated with flour. I enjoy teaching my daughter how to cook this meal because it gives us the time to bond, laugh and make new memories. So far, I have taught my niece and daughter how to prepare my grandmother’s pork chops to carry on the tradition with their families in the future.  Smothered pork chops are just one example of the delicious taste of soul food.

Grandma’s Smothered Pork Chops with Rice

Ingredients/Utensils   

4-6 bone in pork chops (I prefer the center cut, but you can use any kind you like)

A couple sprinkles of salt

A couple sprinkles of black pepper

A couple dashes of paprika

3 big fists full of flour

½ cup vegetable oil

½ of onion thinly sliced

2 ½ cups of warm water for the gravy

4 additional cups of water for the rice

2 cups of white long grain rice

1 big brown paper bag

Medium size sauce pot with a lid

Cast iron skillet

Whisk

Big spoon

Directions

Rinse pork chops under cold running water and pat dry.

Season pork chops with salt and pepper.

Throw the flour, salt, pepper and paprika in paper bag and shake well. Then put the pork chops in the bag. Be careful not to pop the bag!

Heat the oil in the cast iron skillet on medium.

Put pork chops in the hot oil. Don’t overcrowd the skillet because the chops won’t cook well. They need air to breathe!

Cook on each side for about 10 minutes or until golden brown. The paprika should give it a nice brown color.

Put the pork chops to the side.  Drain them on a paper towel if you like.

In the same oil, add a big whopping handful of the flour from the brown bag into the hot oil. Stir the flour with the wooden spoon until you get a nice medium brown color.

Slowly and steadily whisk in the water, and watch out for the lumps!

Once well mixed, add the onions and season it well with salt and pepper to your liking.

Keep stirring and let the gravy get thick so you can add those pretty brown pork chops.

Cook pork chops on simmer for 15-20 minutes until they are done.

For the rice, put 2 cups of water into sauce pot.

Add a dash of salt

Once the water is boiling, add the rice and turn burner to simmer.

Cover with a lid and cook for 20 minutes or until there is no more water.

To serve, get a big spoon full of rice and top it off with one of those delicious pork chops.

Enjoy!!

 

References

Evans, K. D. (2017, December 03). Five ways the Sunday dinner tradition brings black families together. Retrieved February 27, 2018, from https://theundefeated.com/

Grant, T. (2006, February 22). Soul Food: Scraps became cuisine celebrating African-American spirit. Retrieved March 02, 2018, from http://www.post-gazette.com/

Lynn, A. (2017, September 21). What Defines Authentic Soul Food? If You’re Thinking Ham Hocks and Hush Puppies, You’re on the Right Track. Retrieved March 02, 2018, from https://www.thespruce.com/

Miller, A. (2015, August 25). An Illustrated History of Soul Food. Retrieved March 02, 2018, from https://firstwefeast.com/

Regelski, C. (2015, April 10). The Soul of Food. Retrieved March 02, 2018, from http://ushistoryscene.com/article/slavesouthern-cuisine/

(2018, March 01). Retrieved March 02, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page