Southern Fare that has brought us together.

I really enjoyed our class activity of making a batch of Hoppin’ John today. The whole process of coming together to prepare something for all of us to share as a class was an experience that I found to be really pleasurable. It was nice to incorporate that social aspect into the preparation of food, and was fun just to stand around talking while waiting for the Hoppin’ John was simmering on the stove. I also liked the fact that we conducted taste tests, and as a group, decided what seasonings we needed to put in.

The whole social aspect of preparing the Hoppin’ John reminded me of the Rouse and Hoskins reading that we had to do this week. It described how food brings people together, and strengthens the bonds between them.

After our batches of vegetarian and non-vegetarian versions of collard greens and Hoppin’ John were done, we all tasted the fruits of each others’ labor. I found our Hoppin John to be a bit bland, and the vegetarian collard greens to be a bit bitter, but thoroughly enjoyed the collard greens with the bacon bits in it. Although I had not encountered this particular vegetable, I was amazed at how well it was prepared to mask the bitterness of the greens. However, the whole point, as in the reading this week was not to ‘simply fill one’s stomach’ but to come together and strengthen the social bonds between us all.