Thoughts from The Chef

Thoughts from The Chef

Looking Forward While Looking Back

Summer always reminds me of being home in Texas. Visiting relatives on road trips that seemed to last forever. Whining “are we there yet”. Food memories conjured up by visiting family and sharing food. Each of my aunt’s and uncle’s had their own specialty. My Aunt Rose who I am named after would set the table with real china and silver every Sunday after mass. She grew peppers, lemons and pears in her yard. She was an avid canner (don’t know if that is a real word) but that was how she was described.

My family shared ingredients with each other. I remember my Uncle Abe bringing fresh shucked oyster, fish and shrimp from his fishing boat. A knock at the door” V”, I brought you some things. My mother’s nickname was” V” short for Virginia. She would put on the cast iron skillet with some bacon fat and dredge the oysters in cornmeal and serve them for breakfast on Saturday morning.

My Aunt Bobby lived a block away and she would walk over her freshly made cornbread with butter and cane syrup. I would put the softened butter on the plate and mix in the cane syrup and roll the cornbread around in my concoction. Syrup and butter dripping down my chin how wonderful it tasted. Each time I fry oysters I go back to those times in the kitchen with my mother by my side.

As I look forward to the next 10 Chairs NYC on June 8. I will be looking back to cooking some of my family’s favorite recipes and sharing them for the future.