Collard Greens

Pre-Activity Research:
Collard Greens are the oldest members belonging to the cabbage family and are also linked to kale. They are readily available year-round, but their prime months are between January and April.

They have been dated to prehistoric times; grown by ancient Greeks ( indistinctly with their kale crops ), the Romans produced a variety ( large and leafy, mildly flavored, and even ones with curled leaves ). It is unclear whether the Romans or the Celts introduced the plant to Britain and France, but they are known to have appeared in the British Isles during the 4th century.

The traditional southern style of cooking the greens hailed from the African slaves inhabiting the southern colonies. Their primary purpose was to satisfy hunger. Although they are not African by any means, the means in which they are cooked are; cooked into a gravy to create vitamin-concentrate juices called "pot likker" for drinking. As the slaves were given the leftovers from their respective plantation kitchens, it was commonplace to use turnips, ham hocks and pigs' feet, as that was all they had to use for flavor. They are usually served with freshly baked corn to dip in the pot likker juice.

The term 'mess o greens' originated based on the large quantity of greens required to serve a family. "Mess" is a term relative to the family size, of course.

As folklore has it, collards coupled with black eyed peas and hog jowl on New Year's Day will bring good luck and financial fortune. Additionally, hanging a leaf above a doorway will keep evil spirits at bay and a fresh leaf pressed to a fore head will relieve a headache.

When it came time to venture to the Husky Den, I was unsure as to how successful or ...unsuccessful our kitchen endeavors would shape up. Although I actually participated in very little of the actual cooking (as I was a member of Team Pesto), the energy in the kitchen was fabulous in the organized chaos of mass collaboration.

In the midst of this activity I found myself struggling to peel individual cloves of garlic for the Pesto recipe, which slightly piqued my interest in the area of efficient-garlic-clove-peeling-technique. This arousal led me directly to www.ochef.com's archived article:
"Facing up to the Onerous Task of Peeling Garlic"
" If the garlic clove will be chopped, place it on a cutting board under the flat side of a broad knife and give the knife a sharp whack with your free hand. You will be able to remove the peel easily, probably in one piece. If the cloves are going to be used whole, drop them in boiling water for a minute or two and they will peel easily.Another option that came by way of a reader, is to drop unpeeled garlic cloves into a glass of cold water and let them sit for 1/2 hour or more. Our reader starts cooking by dropping a half to a whole head of garlic (separated into cloves) into the water. By the time she needs them, they "pop out of their skins almost as easily as blanched almonds." Slicing the top off the cloves works even quicker. She refrigerates unused garlic in the water for use the next day."

I love how readily available the internet makes every piece of information.

I was so pleased with how our Pesto turned out, with surprisingly few ingredients. Salt, garlic, basil leaves, olive oil, pine nuts, parmesan - it's hard to imagine pesto without any of these - even more so without the food processing appliance which is a far cry away from the mortar and pestle this sauce was originally prepared with.
I also had such an appreciation for the huge bag of basil which came directly from the University of Washington campus -- further stressing the importance of increasing the value of local consumerism, which is also heavily promoted in Ruth Ozeki's "All Over Creation." To know that this food had no pesticides and left absolutely carbon foot-print produced an entirely guilt-free sauce which I was proud of.
Thank you, Italy, for sharing your divine recipes!