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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 17, 1981)
Page 2 Section II Portland Observer, December 17, 1961 Black man in the kitchen by Robert Elliott I f you get invited out to dinner during the holidays, chances are that you’ ll sit down to a meal pre pared by the man o f the house. A n in fo rm a l survey by K ra ft, Inc., revealed that surprisingly high numbers o f Black men are taking their turn in the kitchen for holiday entertaining. M any o f those surveyed learned their way around the kitchen at a fairly early age, largely out o f neces sity. They grew up in single parent fam ilies or in fam ilies where both parents worked. The children had to learn to cook fo r themselves and their families. Others learned to cook while stu dents in college. They found that cooking th e ir own meals was the best (and sometimes the only) way to stretch a meager allowance. with D e'A lan (nicknamed " D e e '') and is still able to be on call for the acting job that may turn up at any moment. Mann is, in fact, a very busy ac tor, but that still leaves him with a great deal o f time at liberty. Ironically, M ann’s first adult job was as a butcher. H e had been working at it for five years when he was laid o ff six years ago. Some o f his friends from am ateur theater groups helped him get work in tele vision commercials to tide him over. He never went back to cutting meat for a living. For fast, simple meals, Mann pre fers to use a toaster oven rather than a conventional range whenever pos sible. " I t costs less, and there isn’t as much cleanup when i t ’ s o v e r," he said. " I also like being able to keep an eye on the food without opening the oven door all the time. Dee likes to watch, too.” For this evening’ s simple meal, Mann wrapped frankfurters in slices o f Am erican process cheese food, inserted them in hot dog buns and placed them in the toaster oven. While Dee watched the hot dogs, his father opened a can o f vegetar- ian style beans in tomato sauce. He added a q u arter cup o f barbecue sauce and warmed them over low heat. By the tim e the beans were warmed up, the hot dogs were also ready. M ann said that occasionally he will add chopped raw onion to the beans in the last two or three min utes o f coo kin g , or use barbecue sauce containing onion bits. He didn’t use either o f those this time because Dee does not like his beans that way. D o u g ’ s hot dogs in cheese can also be served with all o f the usual hot dog condiments: onions, mus tard, barbecue sauce, relish and— if you like it really hot— jalapeno pep pers. This tim e, however. Dee felt he had waited long enough, and he began to eat without any extra frills. U nlike the quick and simple ap proach worked out by Doug M ann, George W h itfie ld has developed a laid-back approach to the culinary arts in which meal preparation and consumption are deliberate and un hurried, each to be savored and en joyed in its own right. Part o f the difference in approach may be attributed to the difference in age and experience. At 28, Doug M ann has been cooking seriously N o t all o f the men really enjoy cooking, but we did discover three men o f various lifestyles who take great pleasure in their cooking and love to share their skill with families and friends. Douglas A la n -M a n n is a young actor who has worked in television commercials, films and theater. He eats many o f his meals on the run, and even when he has time to cook fo r h im self, he tends to prepare meals that are quick and easy. Yet, he finds room to im provise w ith even the simplest o f meals. George W hitfield is a member o f a security force. He shares cooking chores with his wife, Eugenia, who also works away from home. Both enjoy preparing big holiday meals fo r their children and grand ch il dren. Scott Tyler owns and operates a successful real estate business. It keeps him m oving around the country. As a gourmet, he finds that situation very satisfying. It gives him an opportunity to sample the fare at some o f the country’s great clubs and restaurants. Increasingly, he finds that few o f them can sur pass the delights he creates in his own kitchen. In spite o f the difference in their lifestyles, the three men have a num ber o f traits in common. In addition to being lovers o f good food, they are also very positive and u n fla p pable in their attitudes toward their lives, their work and their futures. Doug Mann has great confidence in his ability to prepare a good meal, but he keeps the fare relatively simple for two reasons: He likes it that way, and he sim ply does not have the time or the space to explore the intricacies o f ethnic and gourmet cooking on the scale he would like. The divorced father o f an eight- year-old son, M an n has his hands D e’Alan and Doug M ann enjoy a father and son talk over their full juggling his time and com m it dinner of hot dogs wrapped in a blanket of melted cheese. It is a ments so that he spends enough time typical meal for the Manns before they go Christmas shopping. only since his divorce. H e cooks when he has to or when he can squeeze it in. W hitfield, on the other hand, has one grandchild in college and two others under the age o f 10. He has been cooking most o f his life, he says, and cooking is a major element o f his lifestyle. H e does it almost every day. Because he and his wife work dif ferent hours, W hitfield does most o f the shopping and cooking on week days so that his wife can come home to a ready m eal. M rs. W h itfie ld normally does the cooking on week ends. During the holiday season, in ad d itio n to the big, tra d itio n a l Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Y e a r’ s Day feasts, there are fre quent family get-togethers for which either or both o f the elder W h it fields may do the cooking. George W h itfie ld in vited us to share a typical meal for the Sunday between Christmas and New Year’s. He also allowed us to observe his preparation o f the meal and let us in on some o f his secrets. Several years ago, W hitfield was diagnosed as a diabetic. The discov- ery dictated a m ajor change in his lifestyle, especially his diet and food preparation. i "Black Man in the Kitchen" SPECIAL COUPONS! H eodeem able a t th a F o llo w ing S a fe w a y Stores: 1100 NE B r o a d w a y -6 4 0 0 N. In te rs ta te - 5 9 2 0 NE U n ion SAFEWAY SAFEWAY COUPON E A 8 Y C HEESE OOGS WOT Coupon Good 12/16/81 Thru 12/24/81 At 1100 NE Broadway, 6400 N. Interstate, 5920 NE Union S liced C heese Singles Kraft American 8-oz. 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