Do Not Put That in Your Mouth

By John Currence | January 15, 2009 | Food

I spent New Year’s Day at our duck camp in the Mississippi Delta, where one of our members took the lead on cooking the traditional greens and peas for the New Year’s Day meal. As he was finishing up the cabbage, I asked whether he’d remembered to put a penny in the pot. A perfectly obvious question, I thought. An elder Currence had passed the suggestion/admonition along to my mother when I was very young, and as I understood it, the penny was supposed to give those who at the greens a kind of monetary superpower in the coming year. I’d never questioned it, assuming it was normal in all houses. But now, seeing Kirk’s face, I knew my assumption had been completely off.
 

Tradition notwithstanding, when I was a kid, the whole thing had created a terrible paradox for me. As we partook of the “wealth” portion of the New Year’s Day meal, I remember thinking I was violating an important life tenet.  “John McDonald Currence, do not put that quarter in your mouth, or you’ll be putting the fingers of everyone who has ever touched it in there too.” Why, on New Year’s Day, was I supposed to forget that particular rule and dig into the “filth cabbage” for good fortune?

Meanwhile, back at the duck camp, my question to Kirk about the penny led to a discussion on all New Year's superstitions: foods, beliefs, etc. One friend’s family ate field peas, while another’s had hoppin’ John, one for health, the other for luck. One’s family ate collards, another turnip greens. I was surprised to learn that plates in North Mississippi were painfully devoid of cornbread on January 1. Cornbread was a staple at our house, although I am not sure why, nor am I sure that there is any real answer to why any of these things are eaten for New Year's. All I can figure is that this is the intersection, or perhaps collision, of tradition and superstition. Whatever the case may be, I’m still not entirely convinced that my parents weren’t just trying to screw with me on the whole “money in the mouth”/New Year's Day greens thing. I mean, what’s a penny worth, anyway? Maybe next year I’ll just skip the greens and go straight to sticking money in my mouth.

Consider The Pumpkin

By John Currence | November 26, 2008 | Food

My sous chefs do not get enough credit…for that matter, most sous chefs don’t get enough credit. Bless you all, you Herculean bastards. My praise today comes from a genuine place and with an extremely concrete example.

I am guilty, as are all of you (so, I feel a little better), of overlooking the pumpkin. They’re everywhere this time of year: Jack-o-lanterns, pumpkin pie, yard ornaments, etc., but other than that (and as a teenager, smacking them with a baseball bat) I really haven’t given the pumpkin much thought, particularly since more often than not, it is used in canned form. In my mind, the pumpkin, for eating, is relegated to a compartment that also holds cinnamon, nutmeg and mace, so I don’t go there very often unless I am thinking about a spin on pumpkin pie. 

Recently, on a dinner menu that my two sous’ (Vish and Heath) took a crack at writing, they independently came back with two savory dishes with fresh pumpkin. One, a roasted pumpkin and andouille soup, the other, a cumin-sautéed pumpkin as a side for southwestern grilled achiote chicken dish, both of which made me painfully nervous.  Both are nothing short of outstanding. My twenty or so years at the stove are shamed at the admission.

So, here I am naked and exposed (and I hope my wife can hear it)…I WAS WRONG. A world of thanks to my visionary knuckle-heads for helping me see the pumpkin-colored light. There is a new weapon in the arsenal. Beware.

Go now to the farmers’ market or the grocery store. Pumpkin is plentiful. Pumpkin is cheap and pumpkin is good for you.* Remember: pumpkin, it isn’t just for pie anymore.

* (According to nutritiondata.com: This food is low in Saturated Fat, and very low in Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Thiamin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Pantothenic Acid, Iron, Magnesium and Phosphorus, and a very good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Riboflavin, Potassium, Copper and Manganese.)