BY GLEN MASON
Thanksgiving is a celebration of the bounty of our regional horn of plenty in our piece of Virginia.
From our waters to our fields, our kitchens benefit from the best farm-to-table and sea-to-plate ingredients that chefs dream about.
James Hemings, who lived much of his life enslaved at Monticello, was trained in France and was the first American chef de cuisine.
My holiday menu this year pays homage to him.
Recently, my friend, acclaimed chef Ashbell McElveen, shared with me a reimagined dish James Hemings might put together for Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello holiday kitchen. McElveen, with whom I recently worked on a documentary about Hemings, is dedicated to preserving the legacy of Heming’s contributions to the American table.
Thank Hemings if you had macaroni and cheese on the brunch, lunch or dinner table. An enslaved Virginian, Hemings was a highly skilled and talented cook who became a popular figure in the top kitchens around Paris. He developed his techniques with prominent chefs of Europe at Chateau Chantilly, the ultimate kitchen in 18th-century France.
Like Hemings, McElveen has a special place in his culinary repertoire for Lynnhaven oysters. The Virginia Beach bivalves were once hailed as the oysters of royalty. Indigenous people taught us how to cook and savor oysters. You can bet that Hemings elevated them to a whole new level when he shucked them.
“After roasting them, I would make a nice Meunière (sauce) made with some shallots and serve them with a little port,” McElveen suggested.
The rarity of the Lynnhavens is probably why McElveen asked a friend to shuck a quart from Lynnhaven Inlet, then bring them to him in Richmond, where we interviewed chefs and food historians for the recently released documentary, James Hemings: Ghost In America’s Kitchen, available via Amazon Prime. McElveen is the documentary’s narrator and executive producer.
A native of South Carolina, now a TV personality in New York, McElveen is the former president and chief executive officer of the James Hemings Foundation. The non-profit raises funds to send culinary students to study in France and share the culinary history and impact of Hemings.
Ever the adventurer, Chef Ashbell said he was taught years ago by an older French chef about Southwest confit.
His instructions: “A simple peasant dish of seasoning fresh foie gras with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper …
“Place the foie gras in cocotte (a French term for a small casserole-like dish) filled 1/2 way with duck fat or vegetable oil on a medium heat, turning frequently. Fry the foie until reduced by a third. Place on a warm plate and let rest for 10 minutes …
“Pour off the oil and deglaze the cocotte with 1/4 cup of crème fraîche and 1/4 cup of port, making sure you scrape all the chichon stuck to the bottom. Pour over the fried foie gras and serve in slices.” Chichon?
“The caramelized pieces from the bottom of the pan is called chichon, a treasured delicacy from making duck foie gras confit,” McElveen told me. “It’s eaten hot with crusty bread and a glass of wine as a reward after a long day making confit. Serving this with creamy stone ground grits is in keeping with the fusion James Hemings created while in Paris, half Virginia plantation cooking with French cuisine, the style that Jefferson preferred.”
Whatever traditions you enjoyed with your family this year, I hope they were filled with love, history and flavor.
The author is a writer and documentary filmmaker who grew up in Norfolk and lived in Virginia Beach for much of his life. He ran a production company, worked in college athletics and was curator at an art gallery in Virginia Beach for years.
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