Black History Month: Chefs share their culinary traditions

Entrepreneur Leslie Elston makes 22 different vegetable soups from Cleveland Central Kitchen.

CLEVELAND, Ohio – For Black History month, Cleveland.com reached out to several Black chefs and asked about the culinary traditions that they want to preserve to honor their heritage.

We learned about favorite food traditions and family gathering traditions. The folks we talked to insisted that food and family are interwoven, while sharing a few favorite recipes along the way.

Esther Ngemba has been selling her native Congolese cuisine from home for the past five years. Now she is selling freshly squeezed juices and ready-to-eat meals in the Glick Farm Store at the Ohio City Farm and offering pop-up dinners and hands-on cooking classes in the facility.

Heather and Jason Brooks, owners of Sweet Pork Wilson's, and a plate of brisket, collard greens and macaroni and cheese.

She particularly values cooking together and eating family-style.

“Me and my mom would cook together, you never had food alone,” she said. “You’d always eat together family-style and that time was for sharing what happened in your days.

“Having those moments, I learned so much more about my parents and our culture,” she explained. “In cooking classes, I learn more about people. In this world where we’re so disconnected and on our phones so much, it’s very important as a society to come together, to share food and share stories.”

Ngemba’s family makes fufu together. Fufu is a starchy, bread-like food made with cassava and commonly eaten in West Africa and the Caribbean. It can be made with other grains like corn.

“The process of making it is a community thing,” she said. “When we teach it, you always need someone to help pouring the casava from pot to plate. It’s really not a one-person job. You can make them alone, but they’re so fulfilling when you make it with other people.” — PW

Chef Eric Wells of Skye LaRae's Catering

Congolese Corn Fufu

2 cups (300g) fine white cornmeal

8 cups (1.9 L) water, divided

1 teaspoon salt

In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 cup of the cornmeal with 1 ½ cups of cool water until you have a smooth, thin paste. This initial step is key to a lump-free fufu.

In a large pot, bring the remaining 6 ½ cups of water to a rolling boil. Add the salt.

While stirring the boiling water with a wooden spoon, slowly pour in the cornmeal slurry. Continue to stir constantly as the mixture begins to thicken. This will take about 2-3 minutes.

Shawnda Moye owns the Roaming Biscuit and the Bake Shop and Cafe.

Once the base has thickened, gradually add the remaining 1 cup of cornmeal while still stirring. The mixture will become very thick and require some effort to stir – this is called “turning the fufu.” Continue to stir and fold the fufu for about 5-7 minutes to cook the corn meal and work out any lumps.

Reduce the heat to low. Carefully pour about ½ cup of hot water around the edges of the fufu. Cover the pot and let it steam for 8-10 minutes. This step is essential to ensure the fufu is cooked through and has a soft, pleasant taste.

Esther Ngemba sells ready-to-eat Congolese food like sambusas and sombe from the Glick Farm Store at Ohio City Farms. She also sells colorful aprons made by Congolese women.

After steaming, remove the lid and vigorously stir the fufu one last time to incorporate the water and achieve a smooth, uniform consistency. The final texture should be soft and pliable, similar to a thick dough.

To serve, you can shape the fufu into balls. A traditional method is to scoop a portion into a small, wet bowl and swirl it around to form a smooth ball. Serve immediately while hot.

Northeast Ohio Chefs Shawnda Moye, Eric Wells, Esther Ngemba and Leslie Elston talk about their culinary traditions and favorite dishes. Not shown, Jason Brooks and Phil Davis.

NOTE: Fufu is traditionally eaten with your hands, using a small piece to scoop up your favorite stew. It’s a wonderfully tactile and communal way to enjoy a meal. At our home, and at our culinary experiences at Ohio City Farm, we love to serve fufu with rich, flavorful dishes like a hearty vegetable stew or grilled fish.

Shawnda Moye feels specifically connected to her heritage with recipes that give her a sense of nostalgia, with one rising about the rest — her Southern grandmother’s coconut cake.

“For me, it takes me back to childhood,” she said. “It was based on touch, eyeballing things and just taste.”

Moye remembers her grandma making her famous coconut cakes every Christmas celebration for the entire family. The four-layer cake was completely from scratch, and Moye and her father were in charge of collecting all of the ingredients.

“He and I would crack open coconuts, we would shave them, we would grate them,” Moye recalled. “It was labor intensive.”

At one point, Moye’s mother studied her grandmother’s process and, with some trial and error, was able to nail the recipe. However, her mom’s written down recipe was misplaced, so her grandmother’s original version is lost in time.

“She would make her magic happen,” Moye said of her grandmother’s cake. “Some crazy way, it always came out perfect.”

To honor her grandma, Moye often makes her own version of a scratch-made coconut cake at the Roaming Biscuit and The Bake Shop and Café. The most important ingredient is fresh-grated coconut, exactly how her grandmother used to make it.

“It’s not the same, but it just takes me back to thinking about that time,” Moye said. — AD

When it comes to Black culinary traditions, Chef Eric Wells values dining together as a family.

“I think one of the best traditions we can get back to is sitting at the family table and talking,” he said.

Wells facilitates those gathering for others through Skye LaRae’s Culinary Services. As a private chef he organizes and cooks for everything from intimate dinners for two and dinner parties to cooking classes, hors d’oeuvres gatherings and catered events.

“I am blessed to cook for families and cook for couples,” he said. “With the busyness of everyone’s lives, we don’t sit down and converse with each other enough.”

One of Wells’ best-known dishes is his Fried Chicken with Honey Drizzle. — PW

Skye LaRae’s Fried Chicken with Honey Drizzle

18 pieces of chicken (wings, legs and thighs)

1 quart buttermilk4 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup cornstarch

¼ cup Kosher salt

¼ cup black pepper

3 tablespoon garlic powder 3 tablespoon onion powder 2 tablespoon sweet paprika 2 teaspoons cayenne Vegetable oil, for deep-frying

1 cup honey

¼ cup hot sauce

Put the chicken in a large container. Pour buttermilk over the chicken and marinate for about 20 minutes to overnight.

Mix the flour and cornstarch in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine salt, pepper, garlic and onion powders, paprika, and cayenne. Add half of the spice mixture to the flour mixture. Place chicken on a sheet pan and season with remaining spice mixture. Dredge seasoned chicken in flour mixture then place on a wire rack.

Pour about 3 inches of oil into a large, deep pot; the oil should not come more than half way up the sides of the pot. Put the pot over medium-high heat and heat the oil to 350 degrees F on a deep-fry thermometer.

Working in batches, add the chicken pieces to the hot oil, turning the pieces occasionally, until evenly golden brown and cooked through, about 8 minutes on each side. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and transfer to a rack to drain; repeat to cook the remaining pieces.

Meanwhile, heat honey and hot sauce in a small pot. Drizzle honey mixture over the chicken. Serve. Feeds 6 to 8.

When Jason Brooks of Sweet Pork Wilson’s thinks about food that celebrates his Black culture, it’s two soul-food staple side dishes — collard greens and macaroni and cheese.

“I’ve never been to a function where there are Black people and there’s never not been macaroni and cheese and collard greens,” he joked. “If it does happen, I don’t want to be there.”

Brooks said the two dishes are some of the most sold at Sweet Pork Wilson’s barbecue spot, with locations in Cleveland and Lorain. However, he recognizes that every person’s recipe is special and distinct.

“You can give six people the same ingredients, and it’ll taste six different ways,” Brooks said. “Each family, each region has their own little thing they do to it.”

Brooks’ favorite version is his mother’s, who grew up in Alabama. Her rendition included a mix of collard, mustard and turnip greens with cabbage, with flavor from a ham hock, smoked bacon jaw or pork fat back. At Sweet Pork Wilson’s, Brooks adapted the recipe to feature turkey tails to accommodate customers who don’t eat pork.

“My greens do not taste like my mom’s. I’ve tried to knock her greens off. She’s told me the recipe. It’s just one of those things I can’t get,” Brooks said.

As for mac and cheese, Brooks calls it a “hot topic.” Social media users these days are used to seeing creamy recipes with a cheese pull, but he thinks that traditionally, the soul food version is typically baked.

“It’s not going to have a cheese pull — it’ll be like a casserole,” Brooks recalled. He noted that he always hears opinions from customers about how he should be making his macaroni and cheese, but for the restaurant, he keeps it simple and delicious.

In his mind, the perfect bite of food includes a bit of meat, collard greens and macaroni and cheese all on one fork. “They all kind of complement each other,” Brooks added. — AD

“One food tradition that we keep in my family is not just for Black history, it’s biblical history. From Friday sundown to Saturday sundown my family keeps the Shabbat/Sabbath,” said Elston. For his family that includes gathering his mother, wife, daughter and granddaughter to prepare and share a meal.

“Everybody gets to participate,” he said. “Conversations open up and we ask ‘What was your week like?’ If there’s a concern, we get a chance to pray about it and come up with a plan on how to resolve it.”

He admits that modern schedules can be a challenge.

“A lot times we find ourselves only gathering on days like Thanksgiving,” he said of the fast-paced American culture. For Elston that’s not enough, a shared meal is sacred throughout the year.

“It gives me a chance as a man and a husband to pray over my entire family,” he said. — PW

Maraq Gourmet Soups are sold at Meijer Fairfax Market. 2190 E. 105th Street, Cleveland and Rego’s Neighborhood Market, 19600 W. 130th Street, Strongsville as well as online.

Phil “Felipe” Davis, Pasteleria y Café, 236 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland

Phil Davis thinks the best food transports you to a special moment in your life.

“Food is so emotional, it can transport you back to your childhood. That’s what I’ve always aspired to achieve when I’ve entered into a cooking environment,” says Davis, who has been involved in different food concepts.

“It’s all interconnected,” he said. “You have to have a great recipe and have the person who follows the recipe and interjects their love because they respect and care about the food.”

For him, those family recipes include black-eye peas and collard greens.

“I’ve taken my mother’s recipes and tweaked them a little it,” he said. “And my daughter has tweaked them a little bit. My mom cooked with ham hocks. We cook with smoked turkey, but the flavor is the same.”

“Recently my daughter has taken over making the black-eyed peas and collard greens for New Year’s Eve,” he recounted. “I taught her how to make them and now she’s really, really good at it.”

Davis considers it “cheating” to buy precut, prewashed collard greens.

“The giveaway is that there are lots of stems,” he explained. “My daughter will go piece by piece and make sure there’s not a lot of extra heavy stems in there. That’s the extra step, the extra love.”

He sees both black-eye peas and collard greens as a connection between generations.

“I realize that what allowed me to do what I did with Phil the Fire is that other people felt the same way,” he said. “It’s ultimate compliment you can receive as a chef, when somebody’s memories are stimulated by your food.” — PW