there is a collard festival in east palo alto, ca. and it is  a predominantly african american neighborhood event. I read aboiut it in the paper and some of the participants were apologists for their style of looonnnnng cooked collard greens, saying now it is considered less healthful, but so goooood, but I wonder??? I suspect it is more healthful than we realize as has been mentioned in a previous thread. Traditional preparations usually operate on some kind of wisdom.....I think some nutritionists should study this. I've heard carrots cooked long release more vit. A.

omg, a collard festival?!  Brig, are you reading this?  When do we commence packing!  Heaven on earth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Collards rule (along with kale).

P.S. Slow-cooking collards rules!  Just my humble opinion there.

That brought to mind the wonderful 'New Yam Festivals' they have in Western Africa.  

Quoted from Edna

P.S. Slow-cooking collards rules!  

I think you need to consider what is going in with the greens that get cooked for hour and hours on end.

The traditional African American way of preparing use lots of pork fat: Lard, ham hocks, ham shanks, neck bones, bacon.

There is also a tendency to throw in some sugar and vinegar.

A lot of folks also like something to warm it up a bit adding  pickled jalapenos chili pepper sauce, or something similar

I think steamed or stir fried collards are a lot better for you then the soul food version of collards.

But my African American friends would be pretty shocked at the way I eat collards.

--
A side comment is having worked in mixed environments, white folks have been greatly offended at the smell of collard greens cooking for hours.  This has
sometimes resulted in the banning of the cooking of collards in workplace kitchens,
when the white folks said they could not work with the odor of collards drifting through the office.

Well I'm an African-in-America and I always steam or stir fry my collards.  They taste especially delicious when stir fried.  As for collard cooking being banned at your workplace:  where on earth do you work?  Surely most companies don't allow people to cook anything at all while they're working.  Why on earth would somebody be slow cooking collard greens while at work?????????

C Sharp: why do you think your African American friends would be shocked at the way you eat collards?  I know a lot of the old folks still cook the collards with the pork and all that, but the younger, health-conscious black American people generally don't.  They would save that stuff for Thanksgiving if at all.  Do you by some chance live down South?  That might explain it.

Quoted from AfricanTypeO

Well I'm an African-in-America and I always steam or stir fry my collards.  They taste especially delicious when stir fried.  As for collard cooking being banned at your workplace:  where on earth do you work?  Surely most companies don't allow people to cook anything at all while they're working.  Why on earth would somebody be slow cooking collard greens while at work?????????

Currently working in North Carolina, but the Collard wars were mostly fought in South Georgia. I do computer support so mostly I am in office environments. I find that most of the offices have a small kitchen or break room for people to have lunch. In South Georgia the African American generally ate in these while the European Americans would drive to a restaurant to eat. In South Georgia, when the African Americans went to a restaurant they would generally order the food to go and bring it back to the office (you would think that the restaurant are still segerated in 2006).  

I don't know.....I still wonder....and has lard been tested? (I know its pork but maybe the rendering changes somethin..)

Quoted from jayney-O

I don't know.....I still wonder....and has lard been tested? (I know its pork but maybe the rendering changes somethin..)

Maybe.

The mere thought of pork makes me want to chunder.  Many cultures eat so much pork, among them:  Filipinos, Puerto Ricans, Black Americans (slave descendents).  I've noticed that African voluntary immigrants (ie blacks in America NOT as a result of slavery) do not have a taste for pork AT ALL.  So much of AFrica is muslim that even those Africans who are not actually Muslim are turned off by the idea of eating pork...

I frequent a great African restaurant here in New York.  YOu will NEVER see pork on the menu there.  They have fish, chicken, beef, lamp, even snails... never pork.

very interesting...

Quoted from jayney-O

I read aboiut it in the paper and some of the participants were apologists for their style of looonnnnng cooked collard greens, saying now it is considered less healthful, but so goooood, but I wonder??? I suspect it is more healthful than we realize as has been mentioned in a previous thread.

I am of the opinion that in general something that is digestable is of more nutritional value than something that is not (digestable). Uncooked or lightly cooked collards are very difficult to digest.

Quoted from AfricanTypeO

Well I'm an African-in-America and I always steam or stir fry my collards.  They taste especially delicious when stir fried.

AfricanTypeO, would you mind sharing your stir fry recipe? I use collards and whatnot in my salads, but would sometimes like a change. Thanks!