Collards Greens And African American History
Courtesy of the Library of Congress
Collard greens have a long association with black folks and religion dating back to West and Central Africa. Sources dated before the 1800s show that Mande women from West Africa commonly served fried chicken together with collard greens and dumplings. During the antebellum period enslaved Africans only had time to make sides dishes such as collard greens on Sundays. Masters gave their slaves off on Sundays and on few holidays and religious days. Collards are a fibrous greens which required extensive cooking to make them tender and easy to digest. Collards are also full of vitamins and minerals.
Collard Greens Recipe
Wash collard leaves. They should not be too old and coarse. Cut finely. Boil until extremely tender, a matter of at least an hour, preferably longer- they can scarcely be cooked too long, and are equally good “warmed over”- in enough water barely to cover, with several thin slices of white bacon to each market bunch of the leaves. The water should almost cook away, leaving a delicious broth known to the South as “pot liquor.” Cornbread is always served with collard greens and it is etiquette to dunk the cornbread in the pot liquor. (Rawlings, Marjorie Kinnan. Cross Creek Cookery (New York: Fireside, 1942)
Vegan Collard Green Recipe:
Wash the collards good in plenty of slightly salted water. Start out with 3 bunches which will serve 6 people, they are big bug the cook down like spinach. I steam mine in a pressure cooker for 10 minutes until the fibrous leaves are easy to eat. Steaming preserves the water soluble vitamins that are killed when you just boil the greens down like most of my ancestors have done for years. Remove the collards from the pressure cooker and save the water to make the pot-licker. Season the water with 3 cubes of vegetable bullion, dried bay leaf, dried red pepper flakes, little vinegar, and some honey. Had a little liquid smoke which most grocery stores sell if you like that smoked meat flavor (the traditional recipe calls for a smoked ham hock or a hunk of smoked fat back). The pot-licker is full of vitamins and great seasoning for the greens. Sauté the steamed greens with chopped onions and garlic in olive oil with your preferred seasonings like pepper, salt, etc. Add sautéed greens to the pot-licker and let them marinade for 30 or more before serving
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