Page 6 Portland Observer April 10. 1980
New Epglapd:
Freedorp Fipdip’& Food Fixip’
By P. Elizabeth Wilson
f o r K ra ft, Inc.
Black people helped settle New
England, and p articip a ted in the
American Revolution. Blacks also in
fluenced the cooking heritage o f New
England.
Among the people contracted for
Ins recipes was Thomas Allen.
Mr. Allen has been a chef, baker
and caterer o f international cuisine.
For some 20 years he has been
cooking and baking. More recently he
has been instructing young adults,
ages 16 to 22, in the art o f cooking.
One o f the delectable dishes he
prepared for our visit was filet o f sole.
When asked how he kept it so hot he
imparted this philosophy, "m ake the
people wait on the food, not the food
on the people.” And it was certainly
worth the wait!
Casseroles are a style o f cuisine for
which New England is famous. And
to complete his buffet in the "proper
Bostonian” way, M r. Allen included
a yam, corn and custard casserole.
C oconut, a popular ingredient o f
Caribbean influence, sweetens this
delicious dish and adds both a texture
and fla v o r com plem ent to the
vegetables. This casserole is a prime
example o f how to m ix cu lin a ry
traditions for a successful result.
M any cuisines, however, are
m agnificent just as they are. Miss
Candida Baptista, a Boston resident
originally from New Bedford, retains
much o f her Cape Verdean heritage in
her kitchen. She prepared her cultural
Cape Verdean “ Jagaceda,” com
monly referred to as “ ja g ." It is a
co m b in a tion o f rice and beans
prepared with paprika (for coloring)
and is a kin to o u r ham-seasoned
black-eyed peas and rice and the West
Indian goat-seasoned rice and peas.
To transform this simple recipe into a
maindish she suggests adding linguica
(a Portuguese sausage), chicken or
any other meat you have.
C ape Verde Island is o ff the coast
o f Northwest A fric a near Senegal.
The people o f Cape Verde gained
their independence just a few years
ago. Until that time, they were under
Portuguese rule. Now, Candy tells us,
each July 7-12 the New England Cape
Verdeans celebrate their independence
with festivities, parades and pageants.
N a tu ra lly , everyone partakes o f
several variations o f “ jag,” which can
be prepared with any variety o f bean
as well as meat. Candy told us that
“ jag” and chicken are to Cape Ver-
Candida Baptista remembers her Cape Verdean heritage each time
she prepares ’jagaceda." While it's a common meal accompaniment at
home in New Bedford, Candy’s friends in Boston make special requests
for the dish at parties, too.
deans as hamburgers and french fries
are to A m ericans. One o f the
specialties her father prepares is
“ gofongo.” It is made with Hour and
oatmeal or possibly cornmeal, shaped
into donut-like breadsticks about six
inches in length. We also learned that
"ca n g a ,” a kind o f chicken soup,
"g o fo n g o ” and “ ja g ” were three
dishes enjoyed by New Bedford Cape
Verdeans often.
his day to market and theirs for the
movies. During our visit with Dwen,
she recalled many happy experiences
and many delightful productions o f
her mother’s from their country kit
chen - gingerbread, and Saturday
specials ot baked beans and brown
bread. The brown bread was made
using the basic recipe with the ad
dition ot raisins, molasses and onions.
The mixture was placed in shortening
cans and le ft to steam fo r ap
proximately 2 hours. On some Sun
days chicken, too o ld to fry , was
fricasseed and served with yeast rolls.
Dwen also remembered a lot o f
walking, touch football with her three
older brothers, sw im m ing in the
murky water hole, country fairs and
pot luck suppers. A t the pot luck sup
pers there was always plenty o f good
food. Baked apples cored and stuffed
w ith butter, sugar and nutmeg. A
smidgen or two o f nutmeg was also
used in rice pudding, apple cobbler
and other New England puddings and
casseroles. Another highlight was an
occasional straw berry shortcake
festival. A t such times, the thought o f
anything
less
than
pure,
unadulterated cream would have been
scandalous.
Today, Dad is busy with the Black
Studies Program at the University o f
Hartford and with his responsibilities
as an historian and organizer. Dwen is
busy w ith her husband and tw o
daughters, her responsibilities as a
leader and board member o f 4-H
Clubs and as a community liaison to
the Board o f Education.
She shared with us a new direction
in the 4-H Clubs. On her agenda, in
addition to the husbandry division, is
home economics. The children are
now participating in sewing classes,
arts and crafts expositions and
preparing fo r competitions in Con
necticut's home shows. Super snacks
known as Big Grinders are pan o f the
nurtition program. Big Grinders place
emphasis on the value o f eating
snacks like prunes stuffed with peanut
butter or peanut butter in celery sticks
instead o f candy. G ood snacking
habits contribute in no small way to
weight maintenance and nutrition.
Newcomers to the northeast have
another perspective on cooking
traditions o f the area. "T h e unusual
thing about New E n g la n d ,’ ’ said
Frances Johnson, manager o f the
Unity Plaza branch o f the Hartford
Through our warm and gracious
C onnecticut hostess, M rs. Ruth
Frazier, we had the pleasure o f
meeting some modern-day leaders o f
New England’ s Black com m unity.
Dr. John Rogers, already mentioned
lor his work "Inner City Bicentennial
Booklet 1776-1976, ” lived in Connec
ticu t countryside w ith his fa m ily
before joining the staff o f the Univer
sity o f H a rtfo rd . M rs. Dwen A n
drews, his daughter, remembers on
Saturdays being a ll starched and
polished and waiting for Dad. It was
N atio na l Bank, “ was they served
spaghetti sauce separate from the
noodles.” A native o f St. Louis, she
now resides in Hartford with husband
Verne and daughter Tish thriving on
the discovery o f culinary adaptations
o f all kinds.
A t the end o f each day she deposits
the change in her pockets in a recycled
cheese bucket. At the end o f the year
this accumulated stash is exchanged
for food for Christmas entertaining.
In the past, her feasts have included
shish-kebahs served with mushrooms
caps, m araschino cherries and
pineapple chunks, all prepared in
wine sauce and cream o f onion soup.
She offers fresh shrimp in a cabbage
shell with cocktail sauce and creole
pig’ s feet. The Johnsons also enjoy
fried porgies, a tasty sunfish-shaped
fish, very popular in this area.
Fran is presently experim enting
w ith ground cloves and nutmeg as
seasonings in meats and vegetables.
Her experiments show nothing con
clusive at this time, but if any o f her
discoveries equal the fla vor o f the
stulled bell peppers she prepared for
us, history is still in the making.
The
K ra ft
Kitchens
have
illu m in a te d the h ig hligh ts o f our
culinary collection on this heritage
trip by providing a number o f con
venient recipes based on those we
found in New England.
From New B edford’ s Cape Ver
dean Kitchens we suggest Parmesan
Oatm eal Sticks, a v a ria tio n o f
"gogongo,” and Cape Verdean Rice,
a one-step version o f "ja ga ced a.”
with African-Portuguese overtones,
these recipes o ffe r fla v o rfu l com
panions to most any dinner entree.
Add sausage or chicken to the rice
dish to make it the main course itself.
While casseroles have gained a par
ticular popularity in the northeast,
cooks throughout the country know
th e ir m erits. Inspired by Thom as
A lle n ’ s sumptuous fo od idea, the
Kraft Kitchens present this simplified
recipe for Yam and Corn Casserole. It
retains the call fo r coconut, com
plementing the sweet potato and corn
flavors, for an interesting wintertime
dish. This casserole is ideal to take
along to a pot luck supper, too.
uncooked
Kraft grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon baking powder
Parkay margarine
V4 cup milk
Combine flour, oats, Vi cup cheese
and baking powder. Cut in Vi cup
margarine u n til m ixture resembles
coarse crumbs. Add m ilk, mixing just
until moistened. Shape into ball. On
floured surface, knead dough ten
times; roll out to Winch square. Brush
with melted margarine; sprinkle with
cheese. Cut dough into 24 sticks;
place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake
at 425° 10 minutes or u ntil lightly
browned. Serve warm. 2 dozen.
CAPE VERDEAN STYLE RICE
2 cups water
1 16-oz. can kidney beans, rinsed,
drained
1 cup rice
Vt cup french dressing
Vi cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon paprika
V4 teaspoon salt
’/« teaspoon pepper
Combine ingredients; bring to boil.
Cover; simmer 20 to 25 minutes or
u n til rice is tender, s tirrin g oc
casionally. 6 to 8 servings.
V a ria tion : Substitute 16-oz. can
lima beans for kidney beans. Add Vi
lb. sliced cooked smoked sausage or
l - '/ i cups chopped cooked chicken
before simmering.
YAMS AND CORN CASSEROLE
1 17-oz. can yams, drained, sliced
Vi cup flour
1 8-%-oz. can cream style corn
3 eggs, beaten
1-V4 cups milk
Vi cup flaked coconut
'/« cup Parkay margarine, melted
Vi teaspoon nutmeg
Toss yams w ith flo u r. Place in
greased 10 X 6-inch baking dish.
Combine remaining ingredients; pour
over yams. Bake at 325“ , 40 to 45
minutes. Cool 5 minutes. 6 servings.
YOUR VOTE
DOES MAKE A
DIFFERENCE.
PARMESAN OATMEAL STICKS
1-% cups of flour
1 cup old fashioned or quick oats.
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Jagaceda is a traditional dish in New Bedford, Massachusetts,
brought from Cape Verde Island off the coast of Northwest Africa. The
Kraft Kitchens offer a convenience recipe for Cape Verdean style rice
with rice, beans and sausage for a tasty dinner entree.
BEEF
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