Blue Ridge Country March/April 2021 - 8
MILL CREEK STORIES
'HERE, SON, HAVE A MEATBALL'
Humble but Mighty
Being a contemplation on soul food.
I
By MOLLY DUGGER BRENNAN | Illustration by JOSEPH MACKERETH
've been feeling nostalgic lately. I've been longing
for my grandmother, my summers on the farm, and
especially my Grandma Grace's food. Now I understand that what she served falls under the category
of soul food. This term, soul food, is enjoying a resurgence, a trendiness of sorts which surprises me since
it was sneered at for so long. You had to be an insider
to crave soul food before. Now any and all are flocking
to the oil-cloth covered kitchen table to enjoy the hearty
goodness.
What is soul food? I am no food scientist, but I have
been eating my whole life and I've developed some ideas
of what makes a dish soul food.
Rule 1: Soul food must be stick-to-your-ribs hearty. It
has to make you feel that you have eaten and eaten well.
It must have enough calories to support hours of handson labor whether you plan on getting out of the recliner
that day or not.
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Rule 2: Soul food must be craveable. When you have
had a bad day or you're exhausted, your mind doesn't
wander to lobster thermidor, it desires the food of family
tables and long-simmered love. For me, that will always
be Southern fare, but my first husband was Italian. When
he was sad or frustrated as a child, the line he heard from
his mama was, " Here, son, have a meatball. "
Every April, while figuring out our taxes, I would have
a pot of meatballs in sauce on the back burner of the stove
because we were going to need them. We were going to
need every single one of them. My point is, every culture
has soul food, not just Southerners, though we are the
chosen poster child for emotional support food.
Rule 3: The total cost of the ingredients in the dish
should be less than $5. Soul food is frugal food. If you
grow your own vegetables, have chickens and eggs, your
out-of-pocket costs will be quite low. That certainly helps
meet the less than $5 cost. My grandmother bought sug-
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Blue Ridge Country March/April 2021
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