The Kwanzaa Feast

 Kwanzaa is a relatively new holiday yet it's packed with centuries of tradition. It centers around seven principles  such as faith and  purpose that should be practiced year round. with this holiday comes the rich tradition of food. Families are celebrating and cooking at home. Their tables will be filled with good food and good deeds.

Nicole Taylor , chef and author of The Up South Cookbook interviewed five families around the country for today's New York Times Food section. The holiday starts Saturday , December 26th with families eating and free thinking. The holiday itself began in Los Angeles in 1966 by Maulana Karenga, an African American professor who taught African-American studies. Dishes are plentiful and some include slow cooked meatless collard greens Trinidadian grilled fish and bread puddings. The special meal, karamu is held on the day ,kuumba dedicated to creativity. For the Orr-Frasier family of Portland ,Oregon, the meal will be a nod to parents, Rashad and Keita  North Carolingian roots. There will be jelly cakes along with pineapple upside down and red velvet ones. His recipe for coffee rubbed branzino is also featured, highlighted with a rub of medium ground coffee,onion and garlic powders and cumin. There's also brown sugar to even out the spiciness and then it's grilled for five to six minutes on each side.

Folami Prescott-Adams, of Atlanta Georgia gave her BBQ tofu recipe which are slabs of tofu slathered in a mix of melted butter, tamari and barbecue sauces. They're broiled for a couple of minutes in the broiler for a crisp on the outside , tender on the inside main course. Ms. Prescott-Adams cooks ten(!) pounds of it along with nut based meatballs and a vegan Southern stringbean recipe. For Maati Keprimeni Angaza  it will be vegan foods in her Brooklyn apartment. The young dancer will have curry potatoes and black eyed peas along with her step-mother's bread pudding rife with sweet potatoes and raisins. In Richmond Virginia, Janice Bell will have her grandparents recipes of sweet potatoes and corn pudding. she is a pescatarian so there will be fish on her table. Sisters Kerry Coddett and Krystal Stark Kwanzza will be vegan pancakes, shrimp and a mushroom lasagna(made with homemade vegan ricotta) shared with their younger brother. They'll also take out from Sugarcane with such dishes as callaloo, roti and plantain. They will also drink champagne too.

Kwanzaa is a time of thought and creativity. It's also a time of food. The holiday will be different this year but the food will be homemade .

From Gills To Tail

Mention cooking a whole fish and most home chefs will blanch. They don't want to be bothered with the scales or the tail and certainly not the head. Yet,  those sanitized and cleaned up fillets means flavorless and blandness. The best bet - going gills to tail.

Melissa Clark realized this and wrote about it in her A Good Appetite column in yesterday's New York Times Food section. Cooking a whole fish means a flavorful dinner later, especially when it's cooked on a grill.A grill is especially not kind to the delicate fish meat. It can dry it out in seconds , leaving  as Ms Clark puts it "petrified". Whole fish is a better choice for outdoor cooking. The skin and bones keep the juices from evaporating too quickly as it acts as insulation.There's also the plus of crisp fish skin. The only problem is that the skin sticks to the grate.The solution is a grill basket, a fish shaped , long handled stainless steel holder that goes over the grill grate .It can be found everywhere from Amazon to Target. If you don't have one , then use a flat metal spatula and ease it under the fish before flipping. Don't worry about it ripping. If it does, comes the advice. The spot can be covered up with a garnish of chopped herbs.Remember to remind guests about the bones or filet the fish right after it comes off the grill, scooping the meat off the skeleton, It can then be served cleanly , without bones or the head to freak out the more squeamish guests.

What fish works the best? Ms. Clark recommends whole dorade, branzino or trout.The first two may also go under the names sea bream and sea bass at your local fish markets. They're fatty skinned fish with sweet, tender meat underneath, She also suggest one fish per person. As for flavoring, sometimes just a hit of salt plus the grill's smokiness is all the  seasoning needed for these mild flavored kinds.If you do want to add aromatics, then use the cavity,.First season with salt, then the thinly sliced aromatics and finally oil the skin.  before popping over the hot coals. .Ms. Clark decided to add lemongrass, sliced lime,cilantro stems and and shallots inside the fish. She also makes a Thai inspired sauce  to go with it,using the same ingredients along with Thai chili sauce, mint, fish sauce and coconut milk,.All of it is put in food processor until it's like a mushy spicy relish. Another route would be using Mediterranean herbs on the dorade and the branzino since both fish have been served in Italy and Greece since ancient times. Try  a stuffing of rosemary,thyme and garlic along with sea salt and fresh ground pepper.They can  also be spiced up Mexican style with a jalapeno sauce spiked up with garlic and onions, along with cilantro and lemon juice. Of course also add olive oil along with salt and pepper.

Going gill to tail is a great way to grill fish, Keeping the head and skin on gives it more flavor. creating a delectable meal.It is the way to create a memorable fillet.