This past fall, when we were filming for a segment with CBS Evening News, they asked if we had any old grains on hand they could shoot with the camera. Straight away we set to the four corners of the kitchen and the freezer to pull together everything we could, and on a random Tuesday in early October we had about a dozen on hand. We lined them up in little ceramic dishes and I went down the line with the camera explaining each one. That was one of the only moments in my life when I inspired myself, when I realized what I am doing in the present is special. It also made me want to do a dinner focused on these heritage grains.

You might say it is in spite of our whole animal cooking ethic, but I’d say it’s in sympathy, that over the last few years we’ve garnered a substantial vegetarian following because we cook with as much zeal when we’re handling vegetables as when we’re working with animals. A lot of folks with preferences for eating vegetarian have found us a reliable spot for creative vegetable cookery. I’ve mentioned many times that in spite of my omnivorous proclivities, I maintain a strong kinship with vegetarians because I was a vegetarian myself for several years.  For me it was a decision to check out of the industrial meat system, and as I found sources for responsibly raised animals, I gradually started eating everything again. Still, I know first hand how hard it is to find restaurants that 1) will cook vegetarian, 2) use quality ingredients that I myself would eat, and 3) do interesting things with them.

So, I hope to accomplish two things with this dinner – keep a place open at our table for our vegetarian friends, and showcase some stellar grains and field peas from our suppliers such as Anson Mills, Three Sisters, Giusto’s and Natural Way Mills. In these days of homogenized and commiditized everything, I hope this will be an eye opener to the possibilities of  renewal – a reawakening to the possibilities that are presented by heritage and heirloom grains, and a reminder of what we’ve had and what we’re in danger of losing.

The grains we feature for this dinner have all been grown organically, but more importantly, they are all old heirloom crops that are our common heritage – no one owns a patent on them, they haven’t been monopolized or sold out to the lowest common denominator. They haven’t been genetically engineered to withstand toxic chemicals or produce their own toxic pesticide. they’re just the same good, natural food that got us to where we are. And, they are phenomenally delicious.

Over the next week or so, I hope to tell some of the stories behind each of these grains and peas, so please check back and see what you might be able to learn. Either way, please come join us for this one-of-a-kind family-style dinner. I promise it’ll be one you won’t soon forget.

Heritage Grains of the South – Four centuries of the cultivated South

• Sea Island Red Pea Bisque with rustic bennecake flour biscuits and green tomato chutney

• Carolina gold rice risotto with garlic confit, cauliflower, yellow eye peas, and chives

• Bread service: House-Milled Red Fife Sourdough – House-cultured sour starter and house-milled antebellum red fife wheat bread served with home made pear butter

• Green Farro Salad – 0rganic green wheat, local black walnuts, parsley, and mint

• Heirloom Squash Noodle Casserole – local kuri squash & Farina di Maccheroni “00” heirloom flour noodles, leeks, tupelo honey, and pumpkin seed oil

• Rustic Aromatic Buckwheat Crepes with satsuma marmalade, toasted almonds, and laurel-aged Charleston gold rice horchata sorbet

25 dollars per person, children under twelve $1 per year Available 5-9 pm, changes weekly and with the seasons

Since long before Big Jones even opened, I’ve been looking for a reason and means to serve Savannah red rice, one of the iconic (and most historic) dishes of the Lowcountry. If you’re into cool stories, how’s this one – it’s now believed that the dish red rice arrived in Savannah with Sephardic Jews fleeing the inquisition in Spain during the 18th century. They brought with them the basic concept of the dish that now is a major footprint of Spanish cultural influence anywhere you find it on the globe – rice cooked with tomatoes. Once the seed was planted, it was a matter of time before the dish was Creolized, and salt pork was added in addition to other seasonings. Red rice dishes can be found in the Lowcountry, South Louisiana (Jambalaya,) Mexico, and beyond. It’s a beautiful example of a dish that ties many different people together through a common cultural influence.

We’ve never offered red rice before because when it’s done right, it’s so special that I really didn’t want to compromise it by making something to keep on a steam table. Now, with Lodge Cast Iron on our side and a family dinner format you can choose, we’ll make the dish the right way, starting it right when you order so that it’s ready in time for the main course, about thirty minutes. While we make red rice, you’ll enjoy a beautiful fish gumbo and cracklin’ cornbread to whet your appetite. Savannah red rice is best made in a cast iron kettle and taken straight from the stove to the table, which is how we’ll do it. In keeping with centuries of Lowcountry tradition, we will be using Carolina gold rice, plus house made sausages and smoked bacon.

The occasion is our new Family Meal based on Ben Green Cooper’s self-published treasure, Savannah’s Cookin’, from 1967. Most of the receipts in the book date from far earlier, as Mr. Cooper was well on in years by this time, so a lot of the stories and receipts from the book date from before the first world war, with others right up to the sixties. A natural storyteller and gourmand in true Southern style, I so enjoyed his book (complete with four different preparations for deviled crab) that I thought this a great chance to both feature some interesting vintage cooking from Savannah, notably a chance to do red rice the right way and serve it straight from the stove.

If you have a hard time understanding why I get so excited about something that is essentially a rice pilaf, I’d say on the one hand this particular dinner isn’t for you, but I’d say on the other hand you absolutely have to try it because you may finally have a chance to see just how special the humble grain of rice can be. For the poor in many parts of the world, rice is everything. When you focus on it and make it all it can be, it’s a chance to transcend time.

This family dinner begins this Friday, December 9 and is a steal at $25 per person. According to tradition, we ask that the entire table participates.

Savannah’s Cookin’

Receipts of Ben Green Cooper, 1967

Lakeside Fish Gumbo

Wreckfish & Trout simmered in a medium roux with house-cured bacon and smoked sausage, served over aromatic rice

Skillet Cracklin’ Cornbread

Savannah’s Cookin’ didn’t include any bread recipes, so we’re adding a special preparation traditional to the Lowcountry. Local artisanal cornmeal, cracklin’, and scallions

Savannah Red Rice & Deviled Crab

Two of the oldest – and most prized – dishes of Savannah, both
prepared in the traditional cast iron cookware. Red rice made with Carolina gold, house sausage, and preserved tomatoes. The book has several deviled crab receipts; this one a la McGee’s Branch – gratineed with bread crumbs and lots of butter

Steve’s Meatloaf with Collard Greens

Slagel Farm beef and house ground Gunthorp Farm pork seasoned with peppers, onion, preserved tomato, and chiles. Ben Green’s
collard receipt epitomizes simple – only greens and smoked jowl

Baked Apple with Farmstead Cream

Ben Green discovered this delicacy at the Nonesuch, an all-night café on Broughton Street just east of Drayton. Simply top-quality local tart apples baked with brown sugar and served with cream.

Please join us for a delicious meal in the best traditions of Savannah Cooking.