I love condiments. I have often joked that food is simply a holder for my condiments. Add how in the past year, I have also explored Southern cooking more purposefully. Maybe because my maternal grandmother was such a fantastic cook whose repertoire included classic Southern dishes like fried chicken and biscuits.
No wonder when I read mention of hummus made with a “Southern staple” in my Restaurant Hospitality feed, I had to check it out (though truthfully, hummus is a spread that I run hot and cold about).
Black-eyed peas are the chickpea substitute. The chef is Tiffany Derry of Roots Southern Table in Farmers Branch, Texas.
Chef Derry is having a hot moment, her story being picked up in several food media publications. In addition to the Eater article, I like this wonderful 2019 interview article with Chef on Battman’s Chefs Connection,
Turns out that Michael Twitty includes a recipe for Black-eyed Peas Hummus in his bestseller The Cooking Gene. You can find a beautiful photo of Black-eyed Peas Hummus with Twitty’s recipe @ Farmhouse Cook.
What really excited me, however, was the menu posted for Roots Southern Table.
Where is this place?
Farmers Branch Texas. OH. Sounds like one of those tumbleweed-infested, in the middle-of-nowhere towns that dot the ginormous state of Texas.
Googling it, I read that Farmers Branch is an inner-ring suburb of Dallas. Okay. So while Austin, not Dallas, is on my top foodie tourist spots to travel, I can see making an exception because of a restaurant like this one: Roots Southern Table: Duck Fat Fried Chicken, ditto Potatoes, Southern Greens, Cast Iron Cornbread, Texas Peaches, Pekin Duck Breast. YAASSS!
Chicago Southland Foodies 