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In New Orleans, you eat red beans on Monday, a tradition dating back to the days when often enslaved household workers did the laundry and cooked something that could sit unattended on the stove. Every week, the late writer and cook Pableaux Johnson made a big pot for an ever-changing group of friends and strangers. They’d grab a bowl, serve themselves from the pot on the stove, and gather around the big table from his grandmother’s kitchen where they’d pluck a wedge of freshly baked cornbread from a black cast iron skillet.
The food was good, but Pableaux always said that Monday red beans wasn’t a dinner party, “It’s just supper.” He really just wanted to bring people together to talk. He banned cellphones from the table since the point, as New Orleans writer Lolis Eric Elie wrote, “was to be present with red beans and friends and the dying art of unmediated conversation.”
Pableaux died last January on a Sunday while taking photos at the Ladies and Men of Unity second line. It’s a small comfort knowing he was doing something he did almost every Sunday in his favorite place surrounded by people who loved him. But it’s still devastating. He was 59 years old.
Pableaux said that the key to a well-developed cornbread crust is preheating the oil in a cast iron skillet. The Hebert family version of the Southern classic—that’s the maternal side of Pableaux’s family—contains just a hint of flour for a slightly finer texture along with a touch of sugar for sweetness. My only change is using olive oil because it makes the cornbread taste better.
Recipe
Papa’s Cornbread
“In honor of Achlle Leon Hebert Jr., my maternal grandfather.” Pableaux Johnson
2 cups cornmeal
4 tablespoons unbleached flour
2 tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1½ cups buttermilk
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
(For a smaller batch suitable for a 5-inch skillet, halve the ingredients. All other steps remain the same.)
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Put a 9-inch cast iron skillet inside so it gets hot, too.
In a heat-proof mixing bowl, thoroughly blend dry ingredients with a wire whisk or wooden spoon. Add egg and buttermilk, then stir until the mixture forms a medium-thick batter.
Remove the hot skillet from the oven and carefully add the oil, swirling the pan to coat the sides. Then pour the hot oil into the batter and MIX VIGOROUSLY until the oil is thoroughly blended. Pour the batter back into the skillet, and bake for about 25 minutes or until slightly brown on top. Let cool slightly before cutting, and serve with good butter and Steen’s cane syrup.
