You can know folks by the food they eat, and organizers of the sixth annual Gullah Geechee Festival want people to heap plenty of the culture onto their plates today and Saturday.
Organizers said food will be a centerpiece of the festival and reflect the history and hopes of the Gullah Geechee people. The festival began in Atlantic Beach at noon today with cultural activities and lectures, including poetry readings, quilt making and storytelling.
This festival is about us, and all of our achievements, said Sondra Ward, chair of the Gullah Geechee Committee, which is sponsoring the event along with the town of Atlantic Beach. We need the real history of America to be told. We need the history of us to get into the minds and ears of all people.
And often, one way to do that is to cook up culture because food links people and communities, said Vermelle Bunny Rodrigues, a committee member who also an oral historian of Gullah Geechee culture.
Thats what the Gullah Ooman did.
Black, like coal waiting to be mined from the earth, and strong, like a wind that causes a tree to bow, the Gullah O'oman sustained the souls of her people through food, medicine and other means, Rodrigues said.
When the Gullah Ooman got off the ship, she looked around and picked herbs and spices and she looked for wild bees so she could get honey, Rodrigues said. So, we, as Gullah people, came here with a lot of culinary skills in our fingers.
The Gullah - or Geechee - culture refers to the customs, dialect, lifestyle and history of people who are descendants of slaves from the west coast of Africa. They came to America and worked in rice, indigo, cotton and other plantation staples.
Gullah Geechee descendants can be found from Jacksonville, N.C., to Jacksonville, Fla., - living in and around coastal communities.
Southern favorites such as shrimp and grits, fish and grits, hush puppies and chicken perlow (also commonly known as chicken bog) are among the foods that grew out of the Gullah culture, Rodrigues said. Southern food and soul food are basically Gullah food because both came out of Gullah culture, she added.
Rodrigues said goobers, okra, sesame seeds and cowpeas were among the foods Gullah people brought with them to America.
Other foods, she said, they created once they arrived.
Years ago when Gullah people were frying fish in the house, we would have the wooden shutters open so the smell of fish could go out, Rodrigues said. The dogs would smell it and begin howling. We would always mix cornmeal and flour together for the fish batter. So, we would make balls from the fish batter, fry it in the pan and then throw them out to the dogs and say, `Hush puppies. Thats how that word came about.
Old-fashioned fish fry dinners served during the festival will feature hush puppies, whiting and spot, red rice (Rodrigues made the festival batch with Uncle Bens rice, tomato sauce, seasonings, beef and chicken broth and turkey sausage), coleslaw and homemade banana pudding. Each dinner will cost $7 and include a soft drink beverage.
Today, the food will be on sale from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Atlantic Beach Community Center at 1010 32nd Ave. On Saturday, shrimp and grits, old-fashioned fish fry dinners and barbecue chicken with a special sauce made by Cliff Ford of Georgetown will be among the food items on sale beginning at about 11 a.m.
We are hoping the festival will be good ground on which to sow the heritage of our forefathers, said Gary Bell, a committee member.
Call 663-1433 for more information.
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