Chef Edouardo Jordan brought major gold home to Seattle this week by winning two James Beard Awards. One for Best Northwest Chef, a recognition of his talent at his flagship restaurant Salare, and another for Best New Restaurant nationwide for the Ravenna eatery two blocks away, JuneBaby.
Named for his father, JuneBaby isn't just an homage to his familial roots — it tells the story of the Deep South. With menu items that hark back to cuisine cooked by the enslaved in the Deep South, Jordan seeks to tell a story with his food.
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“The roots of it start with West African slaves coming over and cooking it with palm oil over an open fire,” he says of fried chicken in the documentary “Ugly Delicious.”
“It didn’t happen every day," he continued. "These franchise restaurants make us assume that fried chicken can be enjoyed every day, and it shouldn’t be.”
Not that he’s trying to be an activist or teacher for Southern cooking – he’s trying to live up to the tradition. Below are three dishes served at JuneBaby.
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[asset-images[{"caption": "This is hog maw. It's pork stomach, and it's one of the ingredients American slaves learned to cook because their owners gave them the least desirable cuts of meat to feed them as cheaply as possible. ", "fid": "144567", "style": "placed_wide", "uri": "public://201805/junebabe_hogmaw.JPG", "attribution": "Credit JuneBaby Instagram (@junebabysea)/(http://bit.ly/2KNVHEB)"}]]HOG MAW
From JuneBaby's Instagram:
"Hog maw is a classic southern ingredient. During slavery the enslaved were given off cuts and used them to feed their families. Pork stomach was one of these undesirable cuts that slaves learned how to cook. Typically you would have to braise it for hours to tenderize this chew muscle. We cooked ours in stewed tomatoes, onions, garlic, berebere spice, and okra. We then finish it with barley and holy basil. Stomach is a protein that is high in calories... which provided the necessary energy to work the treacherous fields."
[asset-images[{"caption": "According to chef Edouardo Jordan, peanuts were grown by slaves in the 19th century for their own sustenance. They were not considered worthy to grace the tables of white Americans in the South. ", "fid": "144566", "style": "offset_right", "uri": "public://201805/junebabe_peanuts.JPG", "attribution": "Credit JuneBaby Instagram (@junebabysea)/http://bit.ly/2rsN75k"}]]PEANUTS
From JuneBaby's Instagram:
In the 19th century, peanuts were grown by slaves for their own sustenance, as they were not considered worthy to grace the tables of the white Americans in the South. The cultural creativity that embodied the South's favorite ingredients such as okra, rice and beans, continued on with peanuts, as they were also used in many dishes and cooked in numerous ways. Here at JuneBaby we will be offering boiled peanuts, that are cooked in a Newsome’s country ham broth along with Cajun seasonings.
[asset-images[{"caption": "Chitterlings, also pronounced \"chittlins,\" are made from the small intestines of pig but can sometimes come from other animals. ", "fid": "144565", "style": "offset_left", "uri": "public://201805/junebabe_chitterlings.JPG", "attribution": "Credit JuneBaby Instagram (@junebabysea)/http://bit.ly/2I9RlWK"}]]CHITTERLINGS
From JuneBaby's Instagram:
Chitterlings, also pronounced chittlins, have been a part of southern food since slavery. Owners fed their slaved as cheaply as possible, which meant the undesirable parts of animals were given to slaves. Ours are pressure cooked with carrots, onions, jalapeño & pork stock.
