Cheerful ticket takers

Today was the USC-L Black History Month Soul Food Cook-Off.

I was born and raised white. For those who know me this isn’t a surprise. I’m of German and English stock and while Mom was a great cook, the kind and variety of food she served was less than, shall I say, ‘colorful’?

White potatoes, either mashed or baked, were staples on our dinner plates. One of my favorite Sunday dinners was Mom’s noodles with beef tips . . . cream-hued egg noodles served over white mashed potatoes. We ate our share of pork, ‘the other white meat,’ often with sauerkraut . . . which of course is white. And I don’t remember much in Mom’s spice rack other than salt, pepper, sage, cloves and . . . ? So a chance to sample authentic soul food? Of course I went!

The Cook-Off is in its 3rd or 4th year and this year raised money for the Emergency Textbook Fund for the students at USC-L. The word was you had to get there early or you might not get any food. I arrived at 11:29 for the 11:30 opening and it was already standing room only.

The competition was between six groups – Comporium, Founders Federal, An Expression of Taste, Leroy Springs Catering, USC-L Diabetes Education Center and USC-L Student Affairs. Each had their own soul food menu and decorated their area to fit the theme. Eaters visited each station however, whenever, and as often as they wished.

USC-L’s Dr. Ron Cox

First on my plate was a strip of smoked hog jowls. It was mighty tasty. Think of a thick, crispy slice of bacon. Also on this first plate – yes first, there were three – was a BBQ pork rib, creamy macaroni and cheese, corn bread and deep green collards. A waiter with a sampling of sweet potato pone also made a stop at our table about this time.

The second plate held the fried dill pickle-still a bright green under the tan batter, BBQ shrimp, flank steak, red beans and rice, and peach cobbler. And finally the third plate held something a bit healthier in a salmon patty, but the rest of the plate was filled with shrimp and grits swimming in herbed butter, spicy hoppin’ john, a short rib, and more collards. Oh! And a delicious cold peach soup.

Somewhere on these plates I also tasted two kinds of pulled pork – one with a tangy vinegar-based sauce, the other with a peppery white sauce – banana pudding, slaw, baked beans, red-skinned potato salad, another version of mac and cheese, a hush puppy, and a deviled egg.

Mix all those tastes, textures and aromas together, add a helping of soul and hip-hop music in the background that had people up and dancing and what a lunch we had! I usually tend toward a vegetarian diet but today was, as my dad says, ‘a special day’ and as a writer I’m always on the look-out for new experiences. Today’s Black History Month Soul Food Cook-Off was a treat in many ways.

But I still passed on the pigs’ feet.