FRIED PIG EARS, FOR SNACKIN’
KIA DAMON
I’ve been going back and forth with myself about food and what it means for present day and future Blackness. To really think about that relationship between Blackness and food, I feel like you have to look to the past and understand what food has always meant for us. It was always about having a little and making a lot. Taking the scraps and doing the damn thing with them. Just like this book, food has been and will always be a tool for survival.
As a Queer, Femme, Black woman, I am continuously fighting for survival on all fronts, but I always find spiritual strength in the food I make and the spaces I create with it.
Chef Kia Damon
Photo by Alana Yolande
Fried Pig Ears, for Snackin’
1 pack pig ears
1 onion, halved and peeled
3 large carrots, halved
2 bay leaves
½ tablespoon whole black peppercorns
1 bunch thyme, tied up
Vegetable oil
¾ cup cornstarch, more if desired
Put pig ears, onion, carrots, bay leaves, peppercorns, and thyme in a large pot, and cover with water up to about 5 inches above the ears. Bring pot to a rolling boil then reduce to a steady boil for 2 hours. Check doneness by piercing one ear with a knife. It should easily pierce the cartilage.
Prepare a heavy-bottomed pot with 3 inches of vegetable oil. Heat to 350°F.
Remove ears from pot and discard liquid. Pat dry, cut into ¼-inch slices, toss ears in cornstarch to coat, shake off any excess, and fry in small batches until golden brown. Drain, season, enjoy!
Fried Pig Ears, for Snackin’
Captured by Alana Yolande
I was introduced to a lot of Southern cuisine by my grandma Jeannie Morgan (pictured here). It wasn’t until I moved away from home, of course, that I began to really long for that food. I had an opportunity to cook a dinner influenced by the matriarchs in my family and my grandma inspired the dish. I never got to cook it for her, but I feel close to her whenever I make them. Also, I was too terrified to make chitlins back then so I went for the pig ears instead.
DAMON