French Soul Food
"Soul Food is a term commonly used to refer to African American food primarily from the Southeastern states, but for many “soul food” evokes something more: it is a food that is almost indescribably comforting, makes the most of often humble ingredients, and refuses to waste anything."
I pondered what soul food meant to me. My initial thoughts conjured savory images of collard green and cornbread fueled adventures at Chicago soul food stalwarts like Gladys Luncheonette, Army & Lou's, and Soul Queen ate to a soundtrack of Don Cornelius's Soul Train. Even now, decades later, as I sit typing behind my computer keyboard I still can't just casually say Soul Train (the hippest trip in America) without mimicking the high-pitched intro of the program and licking my lips.
Growing up in Hyde Park's multicultural melting pot in the early 1970s fostered innumerable unforgettable food experiences. Anyone who lived there and had a pulse will fondly recall devouring Harold's fried chicken glistening in pork fat served on soggy white bread heavily dusted with salt and pepper and a side of hot sauce. Us true aficionados always ate Harold's with the obligatory grape Nehi that complimented the chicken like a Chateau d'Yquem marries with foie gras. I can still fondly taste the lingering smoky sweetness of Ribs and Bibs where I used to get a bag of barbecue sauce drenched french fries to munch on while walking home from school.
Our high school Sunday night ritual was drinking bottles of Guinness stout while watching Tom Baker as the fourth Dr. Who. As soon as the show was over we would rush to Nuevo Leon on 18th street in Pilsen for quite possibly the world's best nachos affectionately called Mexican Donuts by us because of their massive size and creamy rich consistency. My buddy Jim and I would invariably scarf down 2 or 3 each before the horrified waitress could drop the plate and run from the stoned gringos. I actually ate there for 23 years before I tried something else on the menu. These were the comforting, modest meals of my youth that lived comfortably in my belly with the steak frites my mom made.
But what is French soul food?
To better understand we first better figure out what soul food is. The best definition I found came from perhaps one of the most unlikely of sources, a small Norwegian-themed food cart in Portland called Viking Soul Food. "Soul Food is a term commonly used to refer to African American food primarily from the Southeastern states, but for many “soul food” evokes something more: it is a food that is almost indescribably comforting, makes the most of often humble ingredients, and refuses to waste anything." So extrapolating that definition to encompass my upbringing I can safely trudge forward.
French Soul food are the regional dishes so loved by the common man that is lovingly prepared by the grand-mères across the country. Simple dishes like Gratinee Lyonnaise, French onion soup for us English speakers, loved by the world that elevates common ingredients like onions and Emmenthal cheese into a meal fit for a king. Soul Food transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary and warms the cockles of the soul along the way.
No other cold-weather dish exemplifies French soul food more to me than a simple oxtail Daube 'Provencal'. Daubes are rustic French stews traditionally cooked in a clay daubiere (a pot-bellied casserole with a small lid) over the embers of a dying fire. Daubes are made from lamb, beef, rabbit, goat, or even boar, but my favorite is made with unctuous oxtails slowly simmered in red wine, tomatoes, saffron, cinnamon, orange, and olives until the meat is literally falling off the bone.
Daube of Beef Oxtails Provencale
A Soul Satisfying Stew of Beef Oxtails from the South of France
4 pounds of oxtails
1 orange (zested and juiced)
1 – 2” segment cinnamon stick
2 each star anise
1 bottle of red wine
¼ cup olive oil
6 carrots cut into large dice
1 sweet onion cut into large dice
2 turnips peeled and cut in large dice
2 parsnips peeled and cut in large dice
4 cloves of garlic mashed
6 ounces Applewood Smoked Bacon diced
¼ cup all-purpose flour
28 ounces whole San Marzano tomatoes
1 cup beef or veal stock
big pinch saffron
1 tablespoon anchovy mashed
1 cup Picholine olives with juice
Marinate oxtails with orange, cinnamon, star anise, and red wine overnight.
Pat the oxtails dry, season with salt and pepper, and dredge in flour, then sauté in olive oil. When they are browned add the carrots and onions. Add garlic and bacon and cook until fragrant. Add flour, then tomato, stock, and marinade. Add remaining ingredients and simmer slowly for 2 hours, or until beef is tender.
Serve with boiled noodles, mashed potatoes, rice, creamy polenta, or whatever is your favorite starch.