‘Food is that one thing we all have in common.’ Vivian Howard’s new show set for debut.
The red tomato gravy looks like velvet, studded with lumps of blue crab, atop a bright yellow plate of grits. It’s a bowl of the Lowcountry, of South Carolina — of the South.
North Carolina chef Vivian Howard returns to television this month with her new show, “Somewhere South.”
The six-part series explores the commonalities in cultures and communities through the foods we eat, looking for what’s universal among what’s local. Dishes like that plate of grits, made by Gullah legend Emily Meggett, empanadas from South America and handpies from a Kinston country store. Each tell the story of a specific place and people, but also scratch at what’s shared in being human.
“Somewhere South” premieres nationally March 27 at 9 p.m. on PBS, the home of Howard’s award-winning docu-series “A Chef’s Life,” which ended in 2018 after five seasons. The Emmy and Peabody Award-winning show centered on Howard’s rise as a chef, her Kinston restaurants Chef & the Farmer and the Boiler Room and her life in Eastern North Carolina.
“Somewhere South” expands that scope, looking at the broader region and the points where Southern food meets the rest of the world.
“There are dishes every culture shares,” Howard said in a phone interview with The News & Observer. “I set out to learn from people all over the South, from different backgrounds and communities, and show how the food traditions we have and bring to this place help shape that place, and how the place shapes those food traditions.”
In “Somewhere South,” Howard and director Cynthia Hill of Durham-based Markay Media follow the threads of specific dishes and where Southern foods intersect with other cultures. Empanadas speak to handpies and handpies speak to pepperoni rolls, each starting from the point of a dough with a filling, and going from there to tell stories of culture and place. Other episodes focus on pickles, dumplings and the porridges of the world, like grits.
“We get so much more from food than just calories,” Howard said. “Immediately when you sit at a table and break bread, you’re sharing something. In our world, how often does that happen? People do everything they can not to share — wearing headphones and sunglasses. Food is that one thing we all have in common.”
Howard’s interest in these intersections began years ago while studying abroad in Argentina.
The foods of “Somewhere South” are generally born from some necessity: handpies packed for a day in the fields or a pepperoni roll taken down in the mines, a bowl of grits made from what’s plentiful and filling.
“If you look at a place, everywhere’s got something micro-regional that’s special and definitive,” Howard said. “All these foods exist because of something that happened. They’re a living history. Narrative non-fiction.”
‘A Chef’s Life’ shines light on Southern food
Howard opened Chef & the Farmer in 2006, and “A Chef’s Life” debuted in 2013.
In the years since, Howard has become a star in the food world, acclaimed for her restaurants and the show’s success, which includes a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Culinary Program, and directing and hosting awards for her and director Cynthia Hill.
With Howard’s national platform, the chef said she’s looking to confront some of the uncomfortable truths of Southern food in the new show, namely the role of slavery.
“I wanted to make a show that really took a larger look at Southern food and the nuances that exist here,” Howard said. “I felt like we were only telling part of the story, which felt dishonest to me.”
In one episode, legendary chef Edna Lewis calls Southern food America’s only regional cuisine, one largely created and crafted by black cooks, but with a history largely told by whites. The reality of Southern food, a cuisine inextricable from the issues of race, is confronted in one episode, as leading African-American voices in the food world, including author Toni Tipton-Martin, James Beard-winning chef Mashama Bailey and Ricky Moore of Durham’s Saltbox Seafood Joint discuss the nuances of soul food.
“Too often we talk around each other,” Howard said. “It’s important to be okay with the discomfort. There’s a lot that’s not comfortable about our history. I want us to be able to talk about it and acknowledge it. I don’t imagine that I’m going to make it right. ...
“I’m on PBS for a reason,” she said. “They have a mission to make television that improves people’s lives. That’s hard. If you’re not doing things that are uncomfortable and pushing the narrative, you’re wasting people’s time.”
The first season of “Somewhere South” includes six hour-long episodes, running from March 27 to May 1. A preview event at the Carolina Theatre was canceled.
Crab and Tomato Gravy over Grits
This recipe is inspired by the technique shown by Emily Meggett, the matriarch of Edisto Island’s Gullah community. Meggett is working on a cookbook and accepting donations to help with its completion. Check out her website for more information: motheroftheisland.com
1 cup white stone-ground grits
4 cups whole milk
Salt and black pepper
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 cups sliced leeks, white and tender green parts only
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups sliced okra
4 cups peeled and diced tomatoes, about 2 large tomatoes
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon cayenne
8 ounces fresh lump crab meat, picked over for shells
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Make the grits: Place grits in a bowl of water and stir. The chaff will rise to the top; these are harder parts of corn hulls that will never soften during cooking. Either skim off with a spoon or do as Mrs. Meggett does and drain water slowly, allowing chafe to leave bowl and grits to stay.
In a Dutch oven, combine the grits and milk and bring this up to a simmer around the edges. Whisk semi-frequently and cook until the grits have expanded and soaked up the milk and are thick; this could take up to 30 minutes. Season aggressively with salt and less aggressively with black pepper. Off the heat, whisk in the heavy cream.
Make the gravy: In a large skillet, melt butter and add leeks and garlic and saute over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes. Lower heat if leeks or garlic take on too much color. Add the okra and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, salt, sugar and cayenne and cook, covered, about 15 minutes. Just before serving, gently stir in the crab. Add lemon juice and adjust the seasoning with salt and sugar, if needed.
Yield: 6 servings
This story was originally published March 11, 2020 at 6:05 AM.
