Down Home Healthy: Family Recipes of Black American Chefs Leah Chase and Johnny Rivers

48 Pages·1993·4.3 MB·English

by  National Cancer Institute

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NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH
National Cancer Institute
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Fat isvitalforthebodyto function, butmany .
BlackAmericanseatmorethan is needed. Too much fatcan
increaseour riskforcertain diseases. ?f TheNationalCancerInstitute
estimatesthataboutone-thirdofall cancerdeaths maybe relatedtothe food
weeat. Somestudiesshowthatdietshigh in fatand lowin fibermaybelinked to
cancers ofthecolon-, breast, andprostate. Theseare theleadingcausesofcancerdeaths
amongBlackAmericans. ?f Diets'lowin fatmayreducetheseriskswhile theyhelp us
to controlweight. Losingexcessweight, ifwe are overweight, helps to lowerhigh blood
cholesterol and high blood pressure, two ofthe major riskfactors forheartdisease.
Cuttingbackon fat, especiallysaturatedfat, andcholesterol isveryimportantfor
loweringbloodcholesterol levels. Andifyourdoctoradvises,,cuttingbackonsalt
andsodium can help lowerhigh blood pressure to reduce theriskofstroke.
?f These "downhome" recipes showhowwecan enjoyfoods thatare
lowerin fat, saturatedfat, cholesterol, andsodium; higherin
fiber; and promotegoodhealth.Andthat's
goodnews!
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OFFICE OF MlNO&lTY HEALTH
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1-800-444-6472
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Publicationafthe
National Cancer Institute
DEPARTMENTOFHEALTH
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HUMAN
'••AND SERVICES
PublicHealthService
National InstitutesofHealth'.
Things sure aren'twhat theywere. When we were kids,
growing up with our brothers and sisters, we thought nothing
ofgetting up before dawn to walk miles along back country
;'..-' roads pickingwild blackberries or going to the little fresh
vegetable market and buying butter beans and mustards
We
and then back the many miles to a big breakfast.
didn't eat standing up or in a rush; we all sat at the
table, savoring the food and the warmth ofthe
kitchen. Then it was offagain to help with the
chores or oh the longwalk to school and back.
Those were considered healthy habits.
.
Nowadays, who walks any distanceor eats
with the care we did? Now, ft seems that our
modern lifestyle.contributes to ill health; thatwe
exercise too little and eat too much ofthewrong
things and that this contributes to our getting sick
What's more,,statistics tell us that black folks have a higher
than average risk compared to others ofgetting heart disease,
cancer and other diet-relateddiseases and dying from them.
Now that's,bad news. But those same health professionals tell us
there's somethingwe can do to help change that, and that's the
good news. We can eat right. And that doesn't mean giving up •
our.wonderful "soul food." Not at all; By making the right
food choices forourselves and our kids when we cook "down
home-style," we'can reduce the.risk ofgetting those
diseases in the first place. That's pretty important
information., We're concerned and, in our small
way, we feel we can help. The health folks have
told us whatto do, we'd like to help show you i
howto do it.
M
¥
K m
I •.!,' followtheDietary GuidelinesforAmericans*
& Eatavarietyoffoods.
» Maintain healthyweight.
9 Chooseadietlowin fat, saturatedfat, andcholesterol.
o Chooseadietwith plentyofvegetables, fruits, and
grainproducts!
Br Usesugars onlyin moderation.
& Usesaltandsodiumonlyin moderation.
® Ifyoudrinkalcoholicbeverages, dosoin
moderation.
•
We
jlfllv you follow the dietaryguidelines. like to think
they'll helpstartyou on the roadto goodhealth.
Here's toyourhealth andhappiness.
.
Leah Chase
&
Chef Proprietor. JohnnyRivers, C.E.C.,A.A.C.
DookyChase's Restaurant ExecutiveChef, Resorts
NewOrleans, Louisiana Walt DisneyWorld
Orlando, Florida
*foracopyoftheDietaryGuidelinesforAmericans,
contacttheConsumer InformationCenter,
Department514-4, Pueblo,Colorado81009.
CHI5I
A M
Born in New Orleans in 1923, Leah was reared in a little
town across the lake called Madisonville, Louisiana. She was
the top ofthe line ofeleven children and though while
growing up, she'd do "anything to keep out ofthe kitchen,"
she learned all she knows bywatching her mother and
sisters whip up the family meals. Most ofwhat the
Chase family ate came from the rich variety of
' ' vegetables Leah's daddy grew in the familygarden.
In 1942, at the age ofeighteen, Leah returned to
New Orleans and found herselfwaiting tables in
the French Quarter ofthe city. Not onlydid Leah
love it, shewanted to own and run her own
restaurant. "I didn't intend to do any cooking at
first," Leah remembers, "but,you see, I had so many
ideas in my head about food andwhat to serve, and
I've been in the kitchen ever since." Her creative cuisine
and legendary Creole gumbo made Dooky Chase's, her
family-owned restaurant, into a national treasure. She uses
.
her skill and experience to toss together the cultures ofthe
French, the Spanish, a littleAmerican Indian andAfrican into
. her pot. "You have to put all your love in that pot," says the
master chef. Leah attributes the good health ofher family to the
limited meat in-their diet. "We were poor, but.my mother
never had anysick children because when we were coming
up, the.beans, the cabbage, and the greens were the
mainstay. We had lots of 'em." An active member in
the community, Leah often cooks up food for
housing units and homeless shelters. Her only
advice is not to limit your creativity byfollowing
anyhard rules. "Rules don't no more make a
cook than sermons make a saint," she says.
4

Ifyou askhim what his favorite dish is, JohnnyRivers
will tell you it's "whatever I'm preparing at the time," but
hewasn't always so enthusiastic about the art ofcooking.
Born in 1948, Johnny grew up in Orlando, Florida,
where his parentswere steering him toward acareer in
medicine. After brieflystuding pre-med at Emory
College, Johnny's interests turned toward the
culinary arts. Ever since hewas thirteen, he had
- worked in kitchens part-time. "I foundI was
•.''•'' • . . pretty good at doing a lot ofthings with
food,"Johnny remembers. He also found
.
himselfcaptivated by the "tall chefhats and
the clangingofthe steel knives. Andthe rest is
history." He traveled abroad to Europe and later
across the States learning the tricks ofthe trade as '
he went. He finally settled back in Florida in 1970
and went to work forWalt DisneyWorld Resorts.
His talents and achievements as an Executive Chefwith
. ;
Walt Disney have sincewon him world fame and
countless culinary awards.and medals. Today,Johnny
devotes much ofhis time lecturing and conducting seminars.
afOurtd the country as wellas helpingyoung people to get
started in the art ofcooking. He's especially concerned
.
about the poor diet ofthe Black community. "We grew
: | up through-a culture eating a lot ofpork and alot of
cheaper cuts ofmeat," Johnnysays. "But now
we're coming up on the year 2000 and we don't
have any more excuses not to eat right. Black
"'/•'.": folks need to get serious about their diets and
.'.-.
we can do that and have fun with it, too."
—
\,; "Above all, use
seasonings. Use a variety of
herbs and spices instead of
salt and usethem often.
Instead ofsalt in your greens,
add fresh green pepper and
basil. When cooking black
eyed peas, add Spanish
onion and crushed
black pepper. Add
To pepper first, then
play baseball, you've got to
taste. You'll
have a ball and bat. To cook discover a new,
intense flavor in all
lowfat, you have to have lowfat
your main dishes."
ingredients. These ingredients Leah Chase
.
help you cut back on
V
saturated fat and cholesterol "Always use lowfat (1%
2%
or fat), skim, nonfat dry,
as well.
or evaporated skim milkfor
cooking instead ofwhole milk or
.
cream- It makes little difference to
the taste, but abig difference to
your health." —Johnny Rivers