The Soul of Food 2023 Session 5: For the Love of Grains

Grains (Trinidad hill rice, red sugar drip sorghum, white African sorghum, and corn buried underneath) and thyme grown at the Deep Routes garden beds at East New York Farms’ UCC Youth Farm. Photo by Adder Chu.

The rainy weather of Brooklyn persisted but we still had a really beautiful session with an incredible group of folks this past Saturday as we closed out The Soul of Food for this year at Good Life Garden in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

We began getting grounded with the long awaited Trinidad Hill rice and corn, followed by some discussion of rice and corn dishes that have traveled throughout Black and Indigenous diasporas such as red beans and rice, arroz y gandules, jambalaya, and more. Then there was a demonstration of rice pilaf and creamy yellow grits using @rollensrawgrains that would accompany Smokey Gumbo and Gumbo Z’herbes (which are apart of the Deep Routes Core Curriculum recipe collection).

After some knife cut demonstrations, folks broke into groups to work on preparing our gumbo ingredients. And once everyone wrapped up on their tasks we came together to cook everything up, let the gumbos simmer while folks explored books from the Deep Routes collection, and others communed with each other before we sat down to eat. Later everyone was able to select one of the rice heads, grown and harvested at our East New York Farms garden beds, to take home and see about growing it in their own spaces.

Big thanks to @greenthumbnyc for making series like these free to the public and also capturing portions of the event, and lots of gratitude to Kofi Thomas for sharing the Good Life Garden space.

A beautiful fall day at Good Life Garden. Photo by Adder Chu/Greenthumb NYC

Our spread of farm fresh greens; Brooklyn grown rice, corn, and sorghum; and market vegetables. Photo by Sarah Robeson.

Kofi Thomas sharing about the garden space. Photo by Sarah/Greenthumb NYC.

Maya sharing about the ingredients we’d be cooking with. Photo by Sarah Robeson/Greenthumb NYC.

Folks listening in. Photo by Sarah Robeson/ Greenthumb NYC

Talking about some of the grains from Rollen’s Raw Grains. Photo by Sarah Robeson/Greenthumb NYC

Stirring up Sea Island Yellow Grits. Photo by Adder Chu/Greenthumb NYC.

Participants checking out the rice. Photo by Adder Chu/Greenthumb NYC

Demonstrating chopping up different herbs, greens, and roots for our gumbos. Photo by Adder Chu/Greenthumb NYC.

Participants chopping up elements of the Gumbo Z’herbes! Photo by Sarah Robeson/Greenthumb NYC.

Cooking demonstrations post-chopping. Photo by Adder Chu/Greenthumb NYC

Cooking demonstrations post-chopping. Photo by Adder Chu/Greenthumb NYC

Gumbo with rice. Photo by Maya Marie S.