Stumping and Eating in the South
Courtesy of the Library of Congress
Gubernatorial candidates in Florida have been out stumping and eating across both states trying to connect with voters. Historically southern states means plenty of barbecue. Here is a great discussion of both sauce and barbecue I found WPA archives from the Great Depression era.
It’s not uncommon for stumping in eating in Florida take place around large event where chicken and rice is the main event. Closer related to our post yesterday here’s another WPA story from Florida.
African-American cooks assembled about 23 leg iron kettles filled with water, created fires underneath them that brought the water to a boil. They next dressed chickens and boiled them in the kettles. Next women remove the meat from the bones. The cooks next placed large quantities of rice in the kettles filled with chicken infused water. They cook the rice and then added the chicken meat to the kettles. An African-American cook used a large board to stir the concoction. A woman spooned in salt-and-pepper into each of the kettles. Another African-American cook made large metal drums of coffee. Long before they finish cooking the pilau people formed large lines to get a share of the concoction. No one received more than one paper plate. The cooks serve the pilau with a slice of bread, a pickle, a paper fork, and coffee with evaporated sugar served in a paper cup as well.
