Beans and cornbread are a bowl of humility, and my dad’s favorite meal
A slice of cornbread, a ladle of Southern-style pinto beans and a dollop of sweet pickle relish, and my dad is a satisfied customer. This meal is what I most associate with him when it comes to food — aside from his family-famous sweet potato pies — and is one that he makes for my grandmother now that she doesn’t have a kitchen of her own, as it is one of her favorites, too.
The love of beans and cornbread seems to have been passed on to me, as it’s a meal I prepare when I’m in need of comfort, nourishment and a taste of home.
It’s a signature dish of soul food and Appalachian cuisine. “Loaded with protein, carbohydrates and fiber, it was a healthy, satisfying reprieve from the 12-hour days a miner spent on his knees in a dark and unforgiving coal shaft,” food writer Kendra Bailey Morris wrote for NPR. An examination of the main ingredients — cornmeal, dried beans, smoked meat and pickled vegetables — show that they are all inexpensive, with long shelf lives, showcasing beans and cornbread as yet another example of how those with less turned humble ingredients into a filling, craveworthy meal.
The beans here are typically pinto, though any dried bean (or even a combination) would work. What truly makes Southern-style beans special is the seasoning meat — a smoked or fatty cut — that imbues the pot with flavor and depth. It’s the ingredient that really makes these beans feel like a warm hug. “Truth be told, the smoked or fatty meats give a lot of our food its deep, unctuous soul,” chef and food writer Amethyst Ganaway wrote when talking about Hoppin’ John. I often reach for smoked pork neck bones when building my pot, to add a hint of smokiness while the gelatin from the bones slowly leeches out into the cooking liquid, giving it body. Other options include smoked turkey neck bones, ham hocks, fat back or salt pork.
“In times when meat was scarce, neighbors often passed hunks of pork among themselves to season their beans, until all the flavor was cooked out of this ‘community sinker,'” John T. Edge wrote in “The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture.” If you aren’t trying to save your choice of meat for another meal, pick it from the bones once the beans are tender, and then stir the meat back into the pot for even more flavor.
The cornbread, preferably one that’s not very sweet, adds extra heft and acts as a lovely complement to the beans as it soaks up the pot likker. You could stop with just the beans and cornbread, but a dollop of relish or chowchow delivers a bright, acidic flourish, providing just the right amount of contrast for a more exciting bowl.
My father, born in the South Side of Chicago in the 1950s, made the most of his circumstances. He went from a very modest upbringing to one of the best universities in the country before recently retiring from a decadeslong career as a hospital administrator. We were by no means well off, but my father provided a life where I never really wanted for anything — aside from a dog, but he isn’t a fan — and he taught me how to navigate this world with a caring, giving spirit.
As I reflect on it, my father and this dish share similarities in what they embody and provide: humility, comfort and what one needs to make it in this world.
And though my relationship with my father hasn’t always been sunshine and rainbows, I am grateful for it and would happily choose it again to be the person I am today.