Buzz
When my editor tweeted a suggestion about casseroles, I couldn't help but respond with some sarcasm. 'I was raised on soul food,' I muttered. 'Casseroles don’t belong in that category.' I was mistaken. My all-time favorite dessert—banana pudding—is a true soul food classic. It's also a casserole, both in its preparation and its dish.
The process involves layering different ingredients, often placed in a slow-cooking oven. The dish is referred to as a 'casserole'—a term borrowed from French, which entered the English language around 1708, according to scholars.
Typically, banana pudding isn't baked in the oven, though it can be briefly placed under heat if topped with meringue. The pudding, a crucial part of the dessert, is carefully stirred on the stove, or poured straight from a packet if using true instant pudding. However, the pudding is layered with vanilla wafers, slices of banana, and more pudding.
The dish itself is just as crucial to defining a casserole as the cooking method. Adrian Miller, the lawyer and author of the James Beard Award-winning book 'Soul Food,' describes a casserole as 'any layered baked dish.' 'Some people define it by the container... that classic Pyrex bowl,' he explains. 'But for me, it’s any layered, baked dish, particularly those with a creamy element.'
Miller highlights a few iconic 'soul food' dishes that fit the casserole definition. Mashed sweet potatoes, topped with brown sugar, marshmallows, and walnuts, would be considered a casserole. Oven-baked macaroni and cheese is another classic casserole and soul food favorite, he points out. 'You could say some versions of macaroni and cheese are casseroles, especially that Sunday version.'
While researching his book, Miller discovered numerous casserole recipes in cookbooks created by and for African Americans. He found them in 'The Ebony Cookbook' and a reprint of 'A Date With A Dish,' written in 1948 by Ebony magazine's food editor, Freda DeKnight. However, Miller asserts that casserole recipes predate the 1940s. 'As early as the 1910s, you can find casserole recipes,' he says. 'I've even seen them up until the 1990s.'
So, why did I assume casseroles were #SoWhite? I fell for a stereotype—that soul food is exclusive to African American cuisine. Miller and other food scholars explain that 'soul food' is a relatively new term for African American food. The phrase gained popularity in the late '60s and '70s, they say, when 'soul' became a symbol for the African American experience. Just as people talked about 'soul music,' they also referred to 'soul food.'
Casseroles may not strictly be considered soul food, but they are undeniably part of African American cuisine, according to food scholar Toni Tipton-Martin. She authored 'The Jemima Code: Two Centuries of African American Cooking,' a book that won a James Beard Foundation award in 2016. Tipton-Martin proposes two strands of African American cuisine: the home-cooked 'soul food' and the professional creations of trained chefs. Both evolved from slavery, she asserts, but survival recipes are more prominent in discussions about African American culinary heritage. 'We've completely forgotten that there were people trained to be plantation cooks,' Tipton-Martin says. Such cooks would have had an extensive repertoire of dishes and techniques. 'The Jemima Code' compiles Tipton-Martin's collection of African American cookbooks, dating back to 1827, and many contain references to casseroles as both food and cookware.
This recipe is inspired by the wonderful ladies at my church. Originally, the dessert called for homemade boiled custard, but all my church ladies use instant banana pudding. My compromise came from the international foods section of my local Walmart, where I discovered Foster Clark’s custard powder, an unsweetened cornstarch-based mix. It allows me to control the sugar levels, without the hassle of making custard in a double boiler. If Foster Clark’s isn’t available, you can use cook-and-serve vanilla pudding and add banana extract to taste.
Many traditional recipes top this dessert with meringue, but since it’s not my favorite, I opted for fresh strawberries instead. If you choose to finish it with meringue, it requires a brief time in the oven, transforming the pudding into a true casserole: layered ingredients with a creamy sauce baked to perfection. The recipe below makes four generous servings.
Afi’s Banana Pudding Casserole
Ingredients for the Pudding:
3 tablespoons Foster's custard powder or Jello Cook and Serve Vanilla pudding* (see cook’s notes)
1 quart half-and-half
3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons banana extract
3 to 4 medium-sized, ripe but firm bananas, sliced
1 box vanilla wafers
2 or 3 strawberries for garnish (optional)
Cinnamon for dusting
Ingredients for the Meringue:
3 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 cup sugar
Start by sifting the custard powder through a small strainer into a large mixing bowl. Add four tablespoons of half-and-half and whisk until the mixture achieves a smooth, gravy-like consistency. In a saucepan, combine the sugar and the remaining half-and-half. Heat the mixture, stirring constantly, until small bubbles begin to form. Slowly pour the hot liquid into the custard mixture, whisking constantly to avoid lumps. Return the custard mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it thickens, about two or three minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the banana extract. (*If using cook-and-serve pudding, follow the package instructions, using half-and-half. Add the banana extract and proceed with the recipe.)
Pour a thin layer of the custard into a casserole dish. Quickly layer wafers, bananas, and custard, repeating the process until you’ve finished, unless you prefer a fluffy meringue topping, in which case, skip ahead to the next step. For the final layer, top with more wafers and bananas. Slice the strawberries lengthwise into quarters and use them to garnish the pudding as desired. Lightly dust with cinnamon, cover, and refrigerate until set.
Using a mixer, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until they foam up. Gradually add the sugar and continue beating until the whites form stiff peaks. Spread the meringue over the cooled pudding, reaching all the edges. Create decorative patterns with the back of a spoon. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 15 minutes or until the edges of the meringue are golden brown. Serve either warm or at room temperature.
