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By Root 887 0

bark slipped into the stew by accident improved its flavor and from then on became an integral ingredient. As you might suspect, there are countless versions of Pine Bark Stew. One in my possession calls for bream, bacon, onions, a full bottle of ketchup, a little vinegar for tartness, some sugar to temper the tartness, ground cloves, and cinnamon, plus peppers both red and black. The ketchup put me off of that recipe. This one seems more authentic. Note: If you use catfish, make sure that they are home-grown; so many of the catfish now coming to market are from South Vietnam’s polluted Mekong Delta.

6 ounces salt pork or slab bacon, cut into fine dice

1 large yellow onion, coarsely chopped

2 large all-purpose potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes

2 large whole bay leaves, preferably fresh

1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

¼ teaspoon black pepper, or to taste

¼ teaspoon ground hot red pepper (cayenne), or to taste

6 bream, bass, catfish, or brook trout fillets (about 2 pounds) (see Note above)

3 cups boiling water

2 medium-large firm-ripe tomatoes, peeled, cored, seeded, and coarsely chopped or 1½ cups canned crushed tomatoes

1. Cook the salt pork in a large, heavy kettle over moderately high heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until crisp and brown; using a slotted spoon, scoop to paper toweling and reserve.

2. Add the onion to the kettle drippings and cook, stirring often, for about 5 minutes or until limp and lightly browned. Add the potatoes, cover, reduce the heat to moderately low, and “sweat” for about 10 minutes or until the potatoes are beginning to soften.

3. Mix in the bay leaves, salt, and two peppers, then lay the fish on top of the potato-onion mixture. Pour in the boiling water, then the tomatoes, and bring to a boil. Adjust the heat so the stew bubbles gently, cover, and cook for about 10 minutes or until the fish barely flakes. Taste the stew for salt, black and red pepper, and adjust as needed; discard the bay leaves. Note: Southerners cook pine bark stew for 30 minutes or more, but I’m not fond of falling-apart fish.

4. Using a slotted spatula, place a fish fillet in each of six heated soup bowls. Ladle the kettle mixture on top, sprinkle each portion with some of the reserved salt pork, and serve with Iron Skillet Corn Bread or Hush Puppies.

Although [Mary Randolph] and her husband were both of the Virginia elite, they suffered financial problems…and ultimately opened a boarding house. If it were not for these reverses, she might never have written a cookbook at all. Or, if she had, it might have focused on a richer, more patrician cuisine.

—JOHN THORNE, SIMPLE COOKING (ON MARY RANDOLPH’S THE VIRGINIA HOUSE-WIFE, THE FIRST SOUTHERN COOKBOOK)

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TIME LINE: the people and events that shaped Southern Cuisine

1764

The first Acadians arrive in Louisiana and settle in the bayous west of New Orleans. By harvesting the gifts of land and sea and preparing them the French way, they create the spicy, gutsy cooking called Cajun.

1765

Raising longhorns, a breed introduced years earlier by the Spaniards, the newly arrived Acadians build vacheries (cattle ranches) west of New Orleans.

1766

Now a town of 3,000, New Orleans is a melting pot of French, Canadians, Germans, Swiss, Creoles, Mulattos, Africans, and Native Americans, not to mention Spaniards arriving by the boatload.

After a 25-year decline, rice production rebounds in the South Carolina Lowcountry and prices remain high until the Revolution.

The Moravians begin building their commercial hub in central North Carolina near their earlier settlement of Bethabara; Salem, they call it. Now painstakingly restored and part of present-day Winston-Salem, this eighteenth-century Moravian town is a living museum offering tours and a variety of demonstrations. Old Salem’s biggest attraction, however, may be the 200-year-old Winkler Bakery, which sells Moravian sugar cake, love feast buns, and peppery ginger cookies.

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ROCK MUDDLE

MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

Captain John Smith, nosing the Susan Constant