Hallelujah! The Welcome Table_ A Lifetime of Memories With Recipes - Maya Angelou [37]
I pulled my souse from the refrigerator and ran a knife around the side of the dish and unmolded the contents.
She asked, “What is that?”
I said, “Souse.”
We looked at each other, then at our so different dishes. There was nothing for it but to laugh.
She asked, “You call that souse?”
“Everybody I know in Arkansas calls that souse and we call what you’ve got pickled pig’s feet.”
She said, “Of course you make souse out of pig’s feet. Here, have a taste.”
Her dish was wonderful. The skin on the pig’s feet was white and there were rings of onion and wedges of crisp green peppers. I ate the piece she pulled off and it was exactly what we called pickled pig’s feet.
I said, “Taste this.” Then I took a slice from my loaf-molded souse.
She ate it. “That’s good. That’s hog head cheese.”
I said, “Yes, but we also call it souse.”
When the guests arrived, we served them hog head cheese and pig’s feet and unending champagne.
When a person relished my dish, I would look over to Rosa and smirk. Each time her souse received a compliment, she would all but stick out her tongue at me. I imagined had we been alone and ten years old, she would have put both her hands behind her ears and moved them forward and I would have made a face and said, Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah.
For many years we brought in the new year in Central Park with champagne after having eaten souse, hog head cheese, and pickled pig’s feet in my apartment.
Pickled Pig’s Feet,
or Souse
SERVES 6
6 pig’s feet
2 tablespoons salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups cider vinegar (or more, to taste)
5 whole cloves
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 large green bell peppers, quartered
3 large onions, sliced into rings
Scrape and clean pig’s feet. Place in large pot, and add boiling water to cover. Cook over medium heat until pig’s feet are tender, about 4 hours. Add 1 tablespoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, 1 cup vinegar, 3 cloves, ½ tablespoon sugar, and ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes to broth. Cook 1 more hour. Remove pig’s feet from hot broth and cool.
Make another brine with remaining salt, black pepper, vinegar, cloves, sugar, and red pepper flakes. Boil 15 minutes, then cool. Pour over cooled pig’s feet. Place in refrigerator. Add wedges of bell pepper and rings of onion to cold brine. Serve cold.
Hog Head Cheese
MAKES 6 TO 8 BREAD-LOAF PANS
5 pounds pig’s feet
1 pound pig’s ears
2 pounds pork roast
1½ bottles Chardonnay
2 cups cider vinegar
1 large onion, studded with 6 cloves
8 stalks celery
5 bay leaves
10 black peppercorns
Five 1-ounce packages Knox gelatin
3 teaspoons salt
3 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 red bell peppers
Cornichons (optional)
In large pot, place pig’s feet, ears, and pork roast in wine and vinegar, and add enough water to cover. Place clove-studded onion, celery, bay leaves, and peppercorns in cheesecloth bag, and add to pot.
Mix gelatin in 2 cups cool water, and add to pot along with salt, pepper, and bell peppers. Bring to a boil, and simmer about 4 hours, skimming the surface as it cooks. Cool, then strain, reserving liquid. Carefully remove all bones.
Cut up pig’s ears, meat from pig’s feet, and pork roast. Place in large bowl, and mix well. Check seasoning and return strained liquid. Pour into 6 loaf pans, or more if needed. Cover with plastic wrap, and put into refrigerator for 5 or more hours. When cool and set, turn out of pans onto cutting board. Slice and serve like pate. Place each slice on salad plate, and add a few cornichons if desired.
DOLLY MCPHERSON AND I MET at a party in Rosa Guy’s home. Before she left, she invited me to her house for brunch the next morning. She said the invitation included Rosa. I thanked her and said I would come but that I wasn’t sure about Rosa. I knew that in Rosa’s house, after