I already like the way Shange blurs lines of genre in Sassafrass, Cypress and Indigo, and the choreopoem for colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf, and recommend listening to the author’s recitation rather than reading it yourself (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5T2FXEzmJI).
If I can cook is a personal account of mainly cooking and eating traditions (mainly) in the Americas by African-descended populations. It is largely inspired by Shange’s family’s cooking traditions and her travel experiences from places as far afield as Brixton, Bahia and Barbados. Reading the book is akin to having a history lesson on the whys and wherefores of certain cooking habits and rituals. It’s also a leisurely reading of a recipe book (with little insistence on quantities). I tried out one of the Brazilian dishes (Mungunza), consulting a friend for a few added tips. Although it’s not my favourite, it inspired me to create my own recipe, which took next to no time to prepare and was also motivated by there being some leftover bell pepper and butternut squash, which I didn’t want to go to waste:
Butternut Squash Dried Shrimp Soup served with Butter Milk Biscuits.
Boil chopped up butternut squash (adding a bay leaf and a whole chili pepper) until soft. Leave to cool and remove bay leaf and the seeds from the chili pepper. Drain the butternut squash (but keep the water for later).
Fry sweet onions until brown, adding chopped up bell pepper and dried shrimp (this latter ingredient adds texture and a light seafood and salty flavor).
Blend all of the ingredients. Pour into a saucepan. Add coconut milk and whole cream to some of the water used to boil the butternut squash. Boil for a short while.
In a bowl, mix flour with butter, buttermilk, ½ a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda, ½ a teaspoon of baking soda, ½ of icing sugar (buttermilk can be quite sour) and the juice of a teaspoon of sea salt. Use your hands until the dough has a consistency to shape into digestive-sized biscuits. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Place on a baking tray and bake for 15 minutes.
