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| Vertamae Grosvenor |
Charlotte’s fourth-grade class was inviting people of interest to visit with students and talk about their lives.“I signed you up.”
“And Grandma, can you bring a pan of rice?”
So Grosvenor woke up early and prepared a pan of rice, struggling to get the hot dish into a cab and to the school.
The children gobbled it up, listening to Grosvenor explain its African origins and its cultivation along the tidal rivers of South Carolina.
One asked, “Do you know how to make peas and rice?”
Another described the rice dish he ate in Jamaica. Another mentioned the rice she ate in the Dominican Republic. They all knew about rice, and Grosvenor was struck by the way different cultures share certain essential elements.
This recipe is from Vertamae Cooks in the Americans’ Family
Kitchen by Vertamae Grosvenor (KQED Books).
1 part long-grain white rice2 parts water
Rinse rice until water runs clear (or as Grandma Sula used
to say, “Rinse it three times, and then once more”). In heavy saucepan over
high heat, combine rice and water; cover with lid ajar. Bring water to a boil,
shift lid so it covers pan tightly, turn down heat to very low; cook for 20
minutes until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed. Never, never, never stir
rice during this time. Don’t even think about uncovering pot to peek. Remove from
heat; let rest for 10 minutes before serving. Your rice will be proper.
Per ½ cup cooked-rice serving : 169 calories, 3 grams
protein, 0 grams fat, 37 grams carbohydrate, 2 milligrams sodium, 0 milligrams
cholesterol.
Vertamae
Smart-Grosvenor: Writer, actor, cook looks at her many-sided life
Posted: Saturday, June 18, 2011 12:01 a.m., Updated: Friday,
March 23, 2012 5:05 p.m.
Born: About 72 years ago in Allendale County.
Children: Kali and Chandra.Grandchildren: Oscar Brown IV, Charlotte.
Early career: Acting.
Middle career: Writing.
Late career: Radio correspondent for NPR.
Cultural heritage: Gullah.
Most important movie parts: Hair braider (and food
consultant), "Daughters of the Dust" (1991); Grace (and food
consultant), "Beloved" (1998).
Book that made her famous: "Vibration Cooking."
Places lived: S.C. Lowcountry, North Philadelphia, Paris,
New York City, Washington, D.C.
By the early 1980s, she was living in Washington, D.C., and
contributing stories and commentary to National Public Radio. She reported on
the threatened Gullah-Geechee communities of the South Carolina and Georgia Sea
Islands as only someone can when they are reporting about their home.
She reported on the cultural significance of food. She
reported on the expatriate experiences of African-Americans in Paris. Her stories were gorgeously told, rich in characters and
dimension and unlike most of radio’s offerings, colleagues said.
Her cooking show “Seasonings” won a James Beard award. Her
renown led to many things, including a television show, part of America’s
Family Kitchen series produced in Chicago, called “Vertamae Cooks.”
“I exploit Afro-American dishes every chance I get,” Grosvenor
once wrote. “For instance, collard greens. A bowl of collard greens does for me
what a bowl of chicken soup does for others.”
"Verta came into the kitchen and said, 'Girl, give me
those greens.' " Then she started wrapping them a certain way and cutting
them a certain way and preparing them a certain way. Her way.
"It was like a religious ceremony for her,"
Spellman said, a chance to pay respect to her elders. "She always quotes
her references, and her references were people in her life, people in her
family. So she showed me how to prepare the greens, and I've been doing it that
way ever since."
When "Vibration Cooking" was published in 1970, it
made Grosvenor famous. Spellman remembered basketball star Walt Frazier of the
New York Knicks walking out onto the court before a game carrying the book.
"Not many preceded her in using food as a
lens," Goodwin said. "You know the saying, there's a universe in a
grain of sand? That's what she did with food. You saw the (entirety) of
America's history with race through food."
