A Two Continent Family Reunion

 Family reunions happen all the time during the summer. It usually reflects a family over the past few decades yet fro the Richmond-Coleman family it reflects centuries and continents. It also reflects a fusion of Southern food and Liberian Dishes.

Regular contributor and food writer Korsha Wilson wrote about this phenomena in today's New York Times Food section. The Richmond Coleman family separated when one branch stayed in the US and another sought freedom and a better life in the new country of Liberia. The reunion was held where the family founder. William D.Coleman started the brood in Fayetteville, Kentucky .Jim Coleman of Coleman Crest Farms hosted the event on the land his great-grandfather James Coleman bought in 1888 after serving in the Fifth Regiment United States Colored Infantry , part of the Union Army.  The current Mr. Coleman is a history buff who researched his family here also wanted to know about the branch in West Africa. He went to the Liberian Embassy in Washington to research only to find out that his Liberian cousins were also looking for the family. Two weeks later he attended his first Coleman - Richards family reunion in Bowie, Maryland.He saw relatives that looked like him and a plan began. he wanted to host a reunion in the family home in Kentucky,

The reunion was a perfect blend of Southern and Liberian cooking. Ms.Wilson includes several recipes that are interesting and easy to recreate. There is smoky jollof rice which has a mix of a tomato sauce made of tomatoes, bell pepper two kinds of chiles, ginger and cloves.The rice also has tomato paste and a host of spices such as smoked paprika, curry powder.cayenne and turmeric. The tomato mix is prepared in a blender  as the rice mix is first made with an chopped onion sauteed in olive oil. The spices and rice are added a long with chicken broth for flavor. It's teamed for fifteen minutes and then scallions and cilantro are added. The second main dish is saladu nebbe a tasty salad of, parsley black eyed peas, tomatoes and cucumbers.The flavor is spiked with serrano Chiles and a squeeze of lime juice. To finish it off is  a spice cake with a zingy tamarind filling.It's also made with soy milk for a different flavor.It does require Calabash nutmeg which can be bought at African markets here or on line.it has a deeper woodiness than the North American variety, Tamarind paste is the filling while a cool creamy vanilla buttercream offsets the spices' heat.

A family reunion should have family and heritage dishes. The Coleman-Richards family has these  dating back to important eras in both African and American history. They're what connects generations and continents