Chef and farmer Matthew Raiford celebrates Gullah Geechee culture through his cuisine.
WhenMatthew Raifordsteps onto his 50 acres of farmland in Brunswick , Georgia , he can practically feel his lineage in the soil . After all , Gilliard Farmswas where he was raised and has been in his family line since it was established in 1874 , when his bully - bang-up - great - grandfather , Jupiter Gilliard , buy the land for $ 9.05 .
Today , the farm is owned and operated by Raiford , his sister Althea , and his wife Tia , who all help rear kunekune hogs and volaille , rise countless crop includinghibiscusand over-embellished Irish potato , and are about to naturalise two acres of Elmer Rice and start acharcuterieand massacre program .
“ We ’re getting back to those quondam way on the farm , ” Raiford says . “ A good deal of it come from having written the Quran , which pushed us to jab deeper into regenerative Department of Agriculture and brought our constitutive farming to the next degree . ”
Mess o’ Greens|Photo by Siobhán Egan, Styling by Bevin Valentine Jalbert
The Christian Bible Raiford refers to isBress ‘ n ’ Nyam , whose deed of conveyance means “ bless and feed ” in the Gullah oral communication . Though often exclusively associated with South Carolina , Gullah Geeche culture and culinary art is really far more expansive , Raiford says , and he made it the mission of his cookbook and its recipe to show the great unwashed that versatility .
“ I ’ve always want to spell a volume about the Georgia coast and its foodways , ” he says . “ So many people believe thatAfrican - American solid food is a monolith . And many hoi polloi conceive that Gullah Geechee is just one affair . This acculturation incline from North Carolina down to Florida and it ’s part of many thing . The more people study it , the more they will understand . ”
Though he had been dreaming about and work on the Word of God for long time , Raiford says that 2021 felt like a very meaningful clip forBress ‘ n ’ Nyamto be released into the public .
“ Of course it is preceding prison term , but it ’s also the proper meter for the great unwashed to have these recipes resonate with them , ” he say . “ People feel quick and willing . It hap to descend out when people were doing23 and Me , interested in ascertain about themselves , actually having conversations about their elder . the great unwashed were talking about The Great Migrationand the reverse , which is what my dad did . ”
Not only did Raiford want his book , which he co - wrote with Amy Paige Condon , to provide a sense of spot , but also a sense of the plates he grow up eat . His Fatherhood was a gifted baker , and they truly live off the state and from the sea , feasting oneverything from oystersto angry boar . But he also made a pointedness to dedicate an entire chapter tovegetarian peach , which were a home staple .
“ It ’s interesting to hear masses go , ‘ humankind , you likely do n’t have any vegetarian recipe in there ’ when that ’s the whole first chapter , ” he read . “ A flock of people think Black multitude put pork in everything . But we ’re looking for the smokiness , not necessarily the meat . I protrude suppose about how I could reach the same flavors without the meat . ”
Photo by Siobhán Egan, Styling by Bevin Valentine Jalbert
One of his best representative is the Mess o ’ Greens , which uses smoked paprika , orchard apple tree cyder vinegar , caramelized Allium sativum and onion , and Montreal steak flavour to imbue that deep , umami flavor into a bowl of greens . Besides the regalia of seasoning , his best tip is to retrieve outside of the collards box .
“ Embrace other K , ” he says . “ I ’ve meet so many masses who are like , ‘ How do you make them so good ? ’ It ’s really all those dissimilar greens . Add some mustard greens to kale with some collard and turnips and you have a multiplicity of levels of flavors . Play with your green and enjoy the fact that the existence has given us all this . ”
And perhaps the best part of the greens ? What you ’re left with when they ’re done . Raiford ’s category would tope the nutrient - rich juice , or potlikker , dowse it up with cornbread or saving it to make boiled peanut or substantial line of descent . In many households , that clobber is as well as gold .
Photo by Siobhán Egan, Styling by Bevin Valentine Jalbert
“ We would never throw the succus by , ” he allege . “ Gullah Geechee cultivation was about using everything until it ca n’t be used no more . Even when you look at George Washington Carver and his thought summons of rotate harvest to keep using the same soil because ‘ God ai n’t making no more land . ’ That ’s my favorite expression . That is really what it ’s all about . ”
Mess o’ Greens
service 4 - 6
Ingredients:• 2 tablespoons European olive tree oil• 2 intermediate yellow onion , peel and finely diced• 3 garlic cloves• 2 red , yellow , or orange bell peppers , stemmed , deseeded , and cubed• 2 pound each collard green , mustard greens , and borecole , shredded• 4 quarts water• 1 cupful apple cyder vinegar• 2 tablespoon Smokin ’ blistering ’ n ’ Sweet Seasoning ( see below)• 1 tablespoon pink Himalayan salt
Directions:1 . In a large stockpot , heat the olive rock oil over medium - eminent heat.2 . tot the Allium cepa and sauté until semitransparent , about 5 - 7 minutes . summate the garlic and caramelize , about 5 - 7 minutes more . Then add the peppers , stirring until they grow tender.3 . bestow 1 pound of the green , 2 quarts of the water , ½ loving cup of the vinegar , and 1 tablespoon of the seasoning.4 . make down for 15 - 20 bit , then add the remaining honey oil and the remaining water and vinegar . The liquid will also make a inviolable lineage , full of nutrients pulled from those greens.5 . Just before they are done , stir in the remaining tablespoonful of seasoning and the salt . attend immediately . Reserve the potlikker ( nutritive - fat juices ) .
Smokin’ Hot ’n’ Sweet Seasoning
Makes ½ cupful
Ingredients:• ¼ cup smoked paprika• ¼ cup steak seasoning• 1 teaspoonful cayenne pepper
Directions:1 . Mix the ingredients2 . storage in an airtight container in a cool , dry space for up to 6 weeks .
