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Home cooking was a big part of growing up for Jean Smith, who remembers the special cornbread pudding her mom made for Thanksgiving and on some Sundays.
Smith, who will turn 99 in April, has kept that recipe alive and passed along a taste of her childhood with a batch of the cornbread pudding she brought to a “Traditions in African American Cuisine” presentation last weekend in the Pullman neighborhood of Chicago.
A handful of other also women served their favorite dishes in this cozy event held in the community room of the 5th District Police Station, which drew several dozen people, young and older.
There were several tables with yummy dishes like brown stew chicken, jambalaya, mac and cheese, collard greens cooked in smoked turkey, cabbage, peas and rice and black eyed peas. Desserts included sweet potato pie, peach cobbler and Smith’s pudding.
Smith also shared the role of food in her everyday life. With three brothers and three sisters, Smith’s mother made sure each was doing their part as far as cooking was concerned. They took turns buying groceries, making their dad’s lunches and cooking dinner.
She said many of the traditional dishes she prepared were distinct from meals descended from European traditions.
“They don’t flavor food like we do,” Smith said. “They don’t cook hog maw.”
Hog maw, she explained, is made from a pig’s stomach organs and should be cooked in a large pot with onions and green pepper.
“It’s real good and good for you,” said Smith.
The “Traditions in African American Cuisine” program was a first-time offering of the long-running Black History Month programming in Pullman. Tom Shepard, past president of the Pullman Civic Organization, started the Black History Month free events in 2006.
“We have a number of folks on the Black History Month Committee participating and particularly the ladies really liked the concept,” said Shepard, who also chairs the Pullman Veterans Day Committee and Labor Day Committee. “They’re really into it and told their friends.
“They’re things folks grew up on or their moms might have made in the kitchen,” Shepard said.
The event also included essays by Pullman Elementary School and Edgar Allen Poe Elementary School students on African American Cuisine. There was also a table with memorabilia, historical family photos from cooking participants and books by local African American authors.
The Rev. Luther Mason, of Greenstone United Methodist Church, blessed the food and state Rep. Nick Smith, 34th District, said he was glad Pullman was getting positive recognition.
Longtime Pullman resident Drina Board, who made a collard greens dish and cornbread, said many of the scrumptious traditional dishes were handed down from generations past, starting with slaves who had to be creative in cooking their meals from scraps. But Board also said her parents introduced her and her siblings to a variety of food.
Lynne Collins, who helped coordinate the event, said the cooks at the event were “honoring our ancestors and heritage.”
“It’s been handed down to us by generations and we prepare this food with love,” she said.
The Black History Month Committee will also present “The Underground Railroad South of Chicago” on Feb. 9, with author Larry McClellan speaking about his book, “Freedom Seekers and the Underground Railroad” and “Black Cowboys and the Wild West” Feb. 16 with author Art T. Burton. Both events will be 3 to 5 p.m. at the Pullman National Monument Visitor Center, 11141 S. Cottage Grove Ave.
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The events are sponsored by the Pullman Civic Organization, Historical Pullman Foundation, A. Phillip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum and Ald. Anthony Beale.
Janice Neumann is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.