Even in the upper South, men and women alike know there is an unspoken rule amongst Southern women - if someone has a recipe they are proud of and/or had passed down 3 generations, you never present them with an alternative unless it is specifically requested. If you do, you're running the risk of implying their tastes can be improved upon. that you don't enjoy their cooking or (in the case of family recipes) their mother's, grandmother's, or great-grandmother's either. It's a terrible offence - not quite as bad as serving hot tea, but definitely as bad as leaving it unsweetened.
However, putting all cultural differences aside, I still felt pretty guilty about shooting down someone else's culinary interest without even looking at the recipe. Had it offended me enormously? Sure, but Solaris' father couldn't have known what my own chilli and cornbread recipe meant to me. He has never experience the pride with which my mom serves her chilli or been able to see the happiness bubbling within me when a batch of my great-grandmother's cornbread is baking in the oven. He thought he was doing something good, and I'd brushed him off completely. The thought of it overwhelmed me as I fell asleep that night - so much so that finally I resolved to look at the scorned recipe first-thing when I woke up the next morning.
Did you know you can be both vindicated and absolutely horrified at the same time? As it turns out, you can.
Somehow (and don't ask me how) Heston Blumenthal has got it in his mind that making chili requires the following ingredients:
- Kidney beans in brine
- Cherry Tomatoes on the vine (Heaven forfend if they're not!)
- Olive oil
- Ground beef
- Onion
- Star anise
- Carrot
- Garlic
- Green Chilli
- Tomato puree
- Red wine
- Spiced butter
- Beef stock
(If you're wondering what "spiced butter" entails, by the way, rest assured Heston that makes his own with olive oil, butter, Marmite, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, paprika, cayenne papper, and cumin.)
To serve, you'll also need:
- Roasted red peppers
- Zest and juice of lime
- More spiced butter
- Grated cheese
- Soured cream
In my life, I have NEVER seen someone top chilli with butter and I've certainly never seen Marmite in the ingredients list. That is beyond the pale in my mind, and I can't even repeat the muffins recipe yet. It's just too upsetting, and I'm afraid I would risk offending all those Southern cooks whose pride is in their cornbread. God help the trusting Britons who think those ingredients make a normal cornbread.
I think I'm happy with our recipes for the moment, thank you very much. And as for the next time Solaris' dad brings up a Heston Blumenthal recipe, I think I'll take the slightly higher road, smile and nod and not say anything committal.... and then steal the print-out for burning in our next bonfire. All in the interest of Britain's interpretation of American food, of course.
