$66 for collard greens? That's tough to swallow, says cookbook author
On one hand, you've got big-box stores, where you can get food that's so cheap it's disturbing. And on the other, you've got gourmet food stores, where food is so expensive that it's infuriating.
But sometimes you stumble on an item so ridiculously expensive that it's actually ridiculous. For example: a side dish offered by American luxury store Neiman Marcus, which is best known for designer clothes and jewelry. A 12-ounce package of frozen collard greens — for 66 dollars. Plus shipping.
Nicole Taylor lives in New York, but is originally from Georgia. She's a food critic and the author of The Up South Cookbook. She spoke with As it Happens host Carol Off from Brooklyn, New York.
"I first saw it on Facebook and I was like, 'Is this a real? Is this a hoax?'"-Nicole Taylor, author of
Carol Off: Nicole, what was your reaction when you heard that Neiman Marcus was listing a package of collard greens for $66?
Nicole Taylor: I first saw it on Facebook and I was like, "Is this a real? Is this a hoax?" And then I clicked on [the post], and it was real. And I'm like, "Wow. This is unbelievable. Oh my gosh, I need to call some old-school woman like my mother that lives down South and tell them that people are selling greens for $81 — $66 with shipping."
CO: And did you call your mother and tell her?
NT: I finally got a hold of her yesterday. And she was like, "What?" She was confused. She wasn't understanding. She was like, "Neiman Marcus? The retailer? They're selling collards?" She initially though they were selling uncooked collard greens. She was like, "You can get those for two dollars a bunch." Her whole entire conversation was hilarious. She was like, "I would make somebody some collard greens. And they don't even have to pay me. And I would put a pan of cornbread in there." It's hilarious, 'cause it's one of the most inexpensive vegetables to make — particularly how Neiman Marcus is advertising how they're prepared and shipped to someone.
"It's hilarious, 'cause it's one of the most inexpensive vegetables to make — particularly how Neiman Marcus is advertising how they're prepared and shipped to someone."-Nicole Taylor
CO: What's the recipe that they're using?
NT: According to their description, they're using bacon and the "perfect" seasoning and just collard greens. I grew up where people put smoked ham hock or either fatback — like a piece of pork meat, just a little bit, to season. I don't ever recall — at least in my family, I'm sure people do it all over the South, but I don't recall with the old-school Southern cooks that I grew up around, people using bacon.
CO: Collard greens was something that you ate a lot in Georgia when you were a kid?
NT: I would definitely say that collard greens were always on the table. Either for Sunday meal or mid-week meal or special occasions. You always found a big pot of Southern greens. Sometimes people would mix them with mustard greens, or turnip greens, but yeah. Staple in the Southern household.
CO: But it was something considered to be "poor people's" food. Especially if you mixed it in with some pork hocks and you had the drippings and you could mix it with your corn bread. It wasn't a "gourmet" dish.
[As a] teenager, I would be so concerned that that smell was going to get into my clothes, I was like, 'Oh my gosh, let me hurry and get out of the house, before the smell permeates my clothes.'- Nicole Taylor
NT: Totally not a gourmet dish. I remember growing up, on Friday or Saturday night [as a] teenager, if I was going out to the movies and my aunt or mom would start cleaning and cutting their collard greens for the next day. And when people cook greens, there's a very distinctive smell. And I would be so concerned that that smell was going to get into my clothes and I was like, "Oh my gosh, let me hurry and get out of the house before the smell permeates my clothes." But I would say definitely it was considered a very poor man's — or a very Southern, a very scrappy — inexpensive vegetable. A lot of people assume that collard greens came from Africa. But, if I'm not mistaken, it originates in Europe. And it just became popular — enslaved Africans in the Americas basically created the method of using a little bit of pork meat or a little bit of fat meat to give it that seasoning and cooking them down.
CO: So Neiman Marcus sells all kinds of things that most people can't afford. Why would they get into the business of selling collard greens?
NT: I can't say I shop at Neiman Marcus. But I'm familiar with them. They're famous for having that beautiful holiday catalogue. I remember people getting cookies and candies. They were always overpriced then. Them getting into the more, what we'll say, "cultural food" game is very interesting. I think that they realized that — obviously now the collard greens are sold out — people want great food. And people want food that is comforting. And I think collard greens is one of those foods that is comforting. I know that they have candied yams, or sweet potatoes, on the website as well.
As much discord as we have in the United States right now around race, there's so many conversations around food. People are craving food that is flavourful. People are craving food that has a story. And maybe Neiman Marcus realized it and they got in on the game.- Nicole Taylor
CO: For $64.
NT: Yes. Those two things definitely denote comfort — feeling like home, feeling like family. So they're like, "Hey, let us get in the game!"
CO: We did a story recently about how it's been revealed that slaves in the U.S. taught Jack Daniel's how to make whiskey. And they've kept that a secret for years. And now it's part of their branding strategy. Do you think there's a kind of "soul food" chic behind this?
NT: Do I think that Southern food and black culture is super popular right now? Yes. I do. As much discord as we have in the United States right now around race, there's so many conversations around food — around cultural appropriation. People are craving food that is flavourful. People are craving food that has a story. And maybe Neiman Marcus realized it and they got in on the game. The one big problem that I have with them selling collard greens — and some of the other "ethnic" foods that they have on there — I would have loved to see just a one-sentence description, saying, "This style of collard greens is indicative of Southern culture," or something. But I guess they didn't need that to sell out, huh?
For more on this story, listen to our full interview with Nicole Taylor.