How I Became a Bread Freak
Once upon a time, a long time ago, when I was about five years old, I was visiting my great-grandmother in Savannah, GA. One day she asked me what I'd like to have for dinner that evening and I answered the way I'd answer, even today. "Fried chicken," I exclaimed.
That afternoon, she went into the back yard, into the chicken coop, and executed a chicken. I wasn't there to watch that, or the plucking and cleaning.
What I do remember was learning of the event and not eating a single bite of chicken. I don't know if great-grandma was mad or anything; I was only five and, growing up in the city, I thought chicken came from the store.
I also remember eating her big fluffy biscuits. They were available, freshly baked, for every single meal, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I already loved them. But I think that night, eating biscuits and avoiding the meal I ask for every time, I became a bread freak.
Growing up, I would always eat some of Sister Robinson's rolls. She lived right up the street, but I inhaled her rolls after the Sunday service at our church. Man, they were so good. And, they went really well with the fried chicken that was always available. Not to mention sweet potato or apple pie. And I was reed-thin!
Years later, I would visit Bari in Mount Vernon, NY. Her grandmother was world-class when it came to cooking. Remind me to wax rhapsodic about her sweet potato pies!
Every Sunday morning, a brown paper bag would arrive from another family member, Big Mama, who lived a few blocks away. That bag was full of freshly baked rolls, and I ate every one I could get my hands on. That would be maybe two rolls because, you see, they slathered butter on all the rolls before heating them up, reserving two unbuttered rolls for me. And I, being a bread freak, did not need no butter on my rolls! Not the only reason they considered me foolish, but c'est la vie!
I was still reed-thin, by the way.
Adulthood…
For a couple of years in the early 80s, Paul Prudhomme closed his Louisiana Kitchen for one month and opened it as a pop-up restaurant in New York City. We had a few meals there, and the food was spectacular. With each dinner, a small assortment of bread arrived on our table. I fell in love with the yeast rolls. Of course I did!
Paul's cookbook contained a recipe for "Mama's Yeast Rolls." Bari used that recipe for years, adapting it for our Cuisinart Food Processor. I can't remember when, exactly, but I became the maker of the rolls, mostly for special occasions (such as whenever anyone, maybe only me, wants some rolls). I made them most recently to accompany the ham leftover from Easter dinner.
I can't tell you how they compare Sister Robinson's rolls or Big Mama's rolls, or even those served in Paul Prudhomme's restaurants. I do know I love them. Here's the recipe I use today.
Note: A few things to mention:
- These rolls are so easy to make.
- I'm now hungry and want some rolls.
- That's evidence that I'm still a bread freak. Alas, no longer reed-thin! 🙃
- No rolls for me!
Good Cooking, Good Eating, Good Loving — Chef Paul Prudhomme (circa 1984)