Saturday, November 16, we hosted a new type of event on the farm called “Culinary Journeys”. It was the first in a series to introduce different food-ways based on the travels, training and experiences of a featured local chef and a guest speaker to share gardening techniques from her training that can explain alternative and improved ways we can grow our own food. Last Saturday chef Takeya Meggett prepared a seafood stew reminiscent of Scandinavian and Germanic dishes that normally are filled with local fresh seafood and root vegetables.
Ms. Alexis Martin informed us of her role as a forester and introduced permaculture and silviculture techniques that can be used by folk in rural areas. She also shared information including diagrams with designs of the St. Helena Community Garden and Food Forest. The community garden will demonstrate practices that will benefit the community. Together, these speakers showed the connection between the food we enjoy preparing and eating with its journey before it reaches the kitchen; it’s a Culinary Journey.
Retired military family we’ve had journeys from one duty station to another, where we were introduced to regional foodways that were often quite different to the ones we were most accustomed. Each move to a new state or even new country was a difference experience where there were food adventures waiting to be had. The restaurants we discovered, or cultural festivals, fairs and fêtes offered the opportunity to experience local history, art and food in unique ways we would never forget. Our travels in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Poland, introduced us to more of the Nordic and Germanic recipes that came to mind as we partook of the dish Chef Takeya prepared for our event.
Most of the Norrlandic or Germanic soups are filled with modest flavors that are healthy comfort food throughout the year. The most common ingredients of these soups root vegetables, seasoned with salt and pepper. It is likely that a recipe would call for turnip, kohlrabi, onion, fennel or celery along with the carrots and gold or waxy potatoes. We along with our guests were served a seafood stew that included a delicious broth made from fish heads and shrimp shells, that included small potatoes, carrots, leeks, Red snapper, and large local shrimp, topped with fresh parsley. Let’s take a look at how our culinary journey allowed our paths to cross West African coastlines where Chef Takeya saw Red Snapper was is a prominent fish in meals.
Red Snapper
“Lutjanidae popularly known as snappers comprises a large family of the order Perciformes, important in both tropical and subtropical waters. In the Gulf of Guinea, snappers occur as incidental catches in trawl landings and are important components of the local subsistence fisheries (Allen, 1985). The Gorean snapper, Lutjanus goreensis (Valenciennes, 1830) is a medium to large and deep-bodied species of snappers (over 35cm) (Martinez-Andrade, 2003) common to 50cm but capable of attaining maximum total length of 80cm (Allen, 1985). It belongs to the subthermocline Lutjanid community in the Gulf of Guinea constituting part of the coastal demersal fisheries (Longhurst, 1969). Adults inhabit sandy, rocky or corally areas in the marine environment (Allen, 1985; Newman, 1995) while juveniles inhabit mangrove estuaries, creeks, coastal rivers and lower reaches of freshwater (Thys van den Audanaerde, 1966; Allen, 1985; Ezenwa, Alegbeleye, Anyanwu, & Uzukwu, 1990; Agboola, & Anetekhai, 2008).” (Life-stages, exploitation status and habitat use of Lutjanus goreensis (Perciformes: Lutjanidae) in coastal marine environments of Lagos, SW Nigeria)
Of course, the snapper we were served was local to the eastern coastlines having been acquired from a fish monger near Chef Takeya’s home in Summerville. According to the SCDNR, “Red snapper are among the most prized fish in southeastern waters, with their mild, sweet meat a quintessential offering at seafood restaurants. They’re exceptionally long-lived, topping out at around 50 years of age and 50 pounds. Snapper occupy multiple levels of the ocean food chain, serving both as prey for large, carnivorous fish and sea turtles as well as predator to smaller fish and crustaceans.
Though they are uncommon within state waters (fewer than three miles offshore), which tend to be shallower than their preferred habitat. Off the coast of South Carolina, red snapper are far more abundant in federal waters (greater than three miles offshore) and are most commonly found around hard bottom areas such as natural and artificial reefs.
Access to red snapper in federal and state waters has been limited in recent years. The species declined in southeastern waters over the last half century, and in 2010, federal officials closed the fishery to allow the overfished population to rebuild.
SCDNR surveys show that while the population of red snapper off South Carolina is increasing, most fish skew young; a sign that the population is still in the process of rebuilding.” (New legislation opens red snapper harvest in state waters CHARLESTON COUNTY, May 25, 2022)
This knowledge gives us a greater appreciation for red snapper and encourage us to keep an eye out for conservation measures to improve and maintain the opportunities for its population to improve. Accompanying the snapper in the stew was local shrimp. The combination of the seafood with potatoes, carrots, leeks and the fish broth was a superb choice.
For dessert Chef Takeya took us on another journey when she served a warm bread pudding topped with a lemon cream sauce that contained candied lemon rind. Bread pudding is a comfort food with origins in England dating back many centuries. “While bread is always at the heart of this dish, the original recipe was not as opulent as the custardy confection we now make. Frugal cooks in 11th and 12th century England, where it originated, could only afford to soak the bread in boiling water before pressing it dry and adding whatever sugar and spices they had on hand. After the 13th century, when the recipe began to add eggs, milk, and a form of fat to soak the bread in, the delicacy became known as 'bread and butter pudding' rather than 'poor man's pudding,' eventually being shortened even further to just 'bread pudding.' If you're wondering why it's called a pudding, it's because this dish has a cereal basis (the bread) and bakes up soft and spongy.”
Our taste buds were certainly given a dessert treat in a delicious bread pudding that contained coconut milk and raisins, then drizzled with a lemon custard infused with pieces of candied lemon rind. Friends, we had a wonderful time celebrating outdoors under magnificent moss draped live oak trees, around fires, with good company, helpful information, and delicious food.
The sharing of our own culinary stories, naming our culinary experiences with one another and even discovering the uses of the flora displayed in the centerpieces added such a sense of community and helped open the door of conversation with table members and other attendees. We ended with a better awareness of how important a community garden is to us from Alexis and how important it is to explore new foodways and reclaim traditional family food traditions from Takeya. We look forward to hosting another Culinary Journey in January and hope you can join us for a time to learn more about the journey our food takes to make it to our tables, different foodways and traditions. Our focus will be on local oysters supplied by local oyster gatherers and local oyster farmers served along with various kinds of tapas, regional and international. You will receive an update on the community demonstration garden and look at what’s good to plant during the winter months. We hope to see you soon!
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