A beautiful meme floating around the cyber spear goes like this:

“Black people don’t measure seasonings… We just sprinkle until we hear the spirits of our ancestors whisper, “That’s enough, my child!”

It became an instant classic that I’m sure will undoubtably be passed down until eventually turned into a wise African (American) proverb.

Indeed, I’ve cooked a few times with a folks from other culinary traditions where this cultural cooking practice clashed with theirs.

I once brought a divine chocolate cake to a work function. Let me tell you, it was equal parts rich and moist and everything you could want from a dark chocolate cake and more. A co-worker asked for the recipe to which I let her know, there was no recipe, I just made it up. I really didn’t know what I did. She asked again a few days later with more urgency as if I was trying to hold out from from her. I just went to the internet for a standard chocolate cake recipe an added the extra ingredients that I could remember (like pudding). She was satisfied.

On another occasion, while making tacos on vacation in Florida, I passed my friend some Bud Light Lime and seasonings for the chicken. My friend started asking what seemed like 50 questions like how much of this and how much of that. I found myself getting annoyed at the applicable questions… “You just do it!” I thought to myself. “Put the spices in!”

At a cooking party once, I followed the instructions being read out loud. The steak called for a tablespoon of some sort of red berries for the marinade.   I took them by hand.  Ready to toss them in the bowl.

 “We should measure them first, right?” A friend interrupted my flow.

I agreed as she used the measuring spoon to scoop out the exact measurement I had in my hand. She realized how on point my intuitive measurement was.  

“Oh, are you just naturally good at eyeballing it?” my friend asked.

I have countless other stories about my encounters with cooking with people from different foodways than my own and they often end the same way: with people insisting I use exact measurements to season my food and me being really uncomfortable that my cultural practices are being suppressed.

In that vein, I’m no longer silently biting my tongue when it comes to fully expressing my culture. I did not follow precise measurements when I made these recipes and I’m not going to pretend I did by writing fake arbitrary measurements here. Staying true to myself and my culture, I encourage you to let your ancestors and your taste buds guide you. That’s what makes food taste so good. It has generations of love folded into each layer.

Vegan Sweet Potato Pasta Sauce

Total Time: 45 minutes

Cook: 30 min

Equipment: food processor

Music Playing: Miguel – Come Through and Chill + Miguel YouTube playlist that follows (Yes, the music makes the difference. This is imperative)

Ingredients

2 large sweet potatoes, cubed

Coconut/Almond milk (to make the consistency of the sauce to your preference) I preferred coconut

Olive oil (not the EVOO, the dark kind, for the robust flavor)

Red pepper flakes (use as much spiciness as your taste buds will allow… I say just a hint)

Garlic (a good amount of cloves…how much? Depends on how much you like garlic)

Himalayan salt (hypertension is a real killer, season accordingly)

Black pepper (go to town with this)

Rosemary (few sprigs)

Additional Non-vegan ingredients:

Substitute olive oil for butter if you wish and cream/sour cream for the almond/coconut milk if vegan isn’t your thing.

Instructions

1. Slice the potatoes into cubes or chunks. You might have to boil the potatoes to make them easier to slice.
2. Squish the garlic cloves open, sauté in a generous amount of olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Don’t let the garlic or oil burn but allow the garlic brown a bit to let the kitchen start to smell delish.
3. Place the potato chunks on a cookie sheet, drizzle with the garlic and olive oil, sprinkle additional salt and pepper.
4. Top the potatoes with rosemary sprigs and roast the potatoes until mashable (don’t we always heat the oven to 350 degrees?).
5. Meanwhile, put some olive oil in a Mason jar, and let some red pepper flakes soak and defuse inside (got this hack from my buddy Greg. Thanks Greg!) Keep this jar around as a homemade spicy sauce.
6. Once the potatoes are soft enough, send them through the food processor.
7. Add milk until runny enough to be a sauce, keep processing
8. Add a hint of the spicy olive oil, keep processing
9. Taste to see if you want to add more spicy olive oil or just regular olive oil

Store in a Mason Jar in the frig for up to a week. This sauce makes a great option for gym rats with strict body building diets, the budget conscious who can save by not buying a pre-made pasta sauce, the vegan crowd, and gastronomy enthusiasts.

Vegan Butternut Pasta Sauce

Total Time: 45 minutes

Cook: 30 min

Equipment: food processor

Music Playing:  Still cooking to Miguel – Sure Thing

I was actually trying to make butternut Squash pasta sauce when I discovered what I thought was frozen butternut squash was actually frozen sweet potatoes. Both turned out to be pretty good sauces to eat with pasta. I used a single chef’s best friend— frozen vegetables for this recipe, instead of fresh.

Ingredients

Butternut Squash – I used a whole frozen bag

Chopped onions (about a cup or so)

Handful of Garlic cloves (I use about 2 tablespoons of pre-crushed, chopped)

Italian herbs (rosemary, oregano, sage, etc. I used about 2 tablespoons of the mix total)

Olive oil (a good amount)

Milk (soy, coconut, or almond) enough to liquify. I used coconut.

Instructions

1. Fill the surface of a small sauté pan with olive oil, onions, garlic, and Italian seasoning. Don’t let the ingredients burn but allow them to defuse in the oil and permeate the kitchen with glorious fragrance.
2. Slice the squash into cubes or chunks and place on a cookie sheet. Drizzle with the garlic and oil mixture.
3. Roast until soft (don’t we always use 350 degrees?).
4. Once the squash is soft enough, send through the food processor.
5. Add milk until runny enough to be a sauce, keep processing
6. Taste to see if you want to add more spicy olive oil or just regular olive oil

Toss with veggies and noodles of your choice.

Creamy Vegan Tomato Pasta Sauce

Total Time: 45 minutes

Cook: 30 min

Equipment: food processor

Music Playing: Planes by J Cole & Jeremiah

Tomato Paste (you can make this on your own, but I’m using one can)

Medium onion (finely diced)

Dried oregano

Dried sage

Dried parsley

Salt and pepper

Cashew milk (or almond, coconut, soy)

Mix all in a food processor. Add milk until desired consistency. Add seasoning and Taste until reaches desired flavor.