The postman knocked twice and look what he brought me.
Bianca Phillips is a girl true to her roots. A long time vegan, born within spit from the Mississippi River. She oozes love for her home town and her folks. She tells us Crunk = Passion. You certainly feel it come through in her writing.
I've not yet visited the Mid-Southern parts of the USA. Closest I've been s'far is a Soul Food Vegan restaurant in Oakland, the city that shoulders beside San Fransico…does that count? No. Ok. I took the book to bed with me that night, then on the train to London the next day. I was sticking my business cards in between the pages to tab what I wanted to try (first). I got all 'homey' at her Preface. She talks of wraparound porches, crumbling yellow cornbread and drops the g from so many words that I begin reading it in a Southern parlance.
Bianca has taken soul food and veganized it, in such a way I'd challenge any meat-eater to not flip out over it. I expect the USA gets a feel for Southern Cooking and 'classics' traverse the Northern USA. I'm doubtful of much in the way of Soul Food can be found in the UK right now. But much of it was new to me. This is not a 'health' book. She fries and batters and uses oil liberally, if it is called for. This book isn't about restraint, it's about celebration, gathering and letting go…once in a while.
So far, I've made two of her recipes.
The Hot Tamale Pie was changed up to become Tamale Dumplings, as I didn't have the cornmeal for the recipe but I had some masa flour that needed to be used up. I also sub'd the jalepeno for a chipotle. Dished up to a friend after a long bike ride along the beach, it went down a treat. We both had 'food glow' after throwing down our cutlery on cleared plates.
I picked the Choco-Chocolate Chip Praline Cookies to bake as making Candied Pecans has been put off for far too long. I halved the recipe, used coconut sugar instead of white sugar, and used a mix of gluten free sorghum flour and chickpea flour (2:1). They where soft and moist. It was a cool day outside and it was a welcome task that filled my kitchen with warm, candy sweet aromas. Lovely!
Dishes like Tempeh Gumbo, BBQ 'Pulled' Tempeh & Carrot Sandwiches, Brinner (breakfast for dinner) Grits (grits are a popular Southern dish, ground yellow corn - think polenta), Sweet Potato Hash. Americans love mixing their sweet and savoury flavours. Bianca does it in style with a Dijon-Pecan Seitan with Maple Mustard Glaze.
Desserts! man it's got those too. Lots of peanut butter, cookies, and pie action going on.
The book is well presented and sectioned into categories like - Come 'n' Get it (simple suppers), All the Fixin's (savoury sides), For the Potluck (casseroles and Pies).
You really feel drawn into Bianca's kitchen, with her mama and me-maw (mama's mama). Please indulge me a moment of soppiness.....you can feel the love in each dish. A story frames each one. It made want to be like Paddington Bear. Don a label, destination Deep South, and head over to her place! I dreamed of swinging back and forth on the porch, eating oven-warm, Mississippi Mud Cookies and listening to three generations tell their stories.
I may be doing a bit o' tweakin' to make the recipes gluten free, and sub out a few things here and there, but I'm going to take my time and choose a recipe when the need for soul food strikes. It's it sure to be a lip smackin' education.
My friends, this is a really good recipe book. Most, if not all of the ingredients can be purchased in the UK. The only criticism I'd have is that it needs more shots of glorious plates of food to drool over.
India Leigh xx
p.s If you've got the book already we'd love to know what you've tried and how it turned out. Go on…leave a comment below.
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