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| Payne with friends in her apartment. |
Almost anyone who came into contact with Ethel Payne
remembers her dinner parties. For Payne a meal at her place was a way to bring
interesting people to the table. Many well-known people host dinners so they
can hold court. Not so with Payne. She was the opposite. Her dinner parties were a chance to let
others shine.
She chose her guests carefully and from a wide array of
people. “Lord only knows who you were going to meet,” said one guest. Normally more
than six people were invited. All selected with an eye to
create great conversation.
Food was, of course, important. Southern food, lots of
greens, sweet potatoes and the like, were often on the menu along with nice
wines. “You put Betty Crocker, Aunt Jemima, Maxim’s and the Tour d’Argent all
to shame!” wrote one person in a thank you note.
But now twenty-one years after Payne's passing, what the dinner
guests remember more is the warmth of the evenings, the good companionship, and, of course,
the conversations.
If you want to try one of Payne’s recipes, this one for
Chili was found in her papers at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
ETHEL'S CHILE
Ingredients
- 1 lb hamburger meat
- 2 16 oz cans of red kidney beans
- ½ cup chopped onions
- ½ cup chopped green peppers
- 2 cloves chopped garlic
- 2 tbsp canned pimientos
- 3 oz grated baker’s unsweetened chocolate
- salt, Oregon, pepper
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 2 tbsp chili power
- 8 oz tomato paste mixed with 16 oz tomato puree
Directions
- Cook the hamburger meat and drain off the fat
- Saute the onions and green peppers.
- Add the garlic
- Add all the remaining ingredients and let simmer.
- Payne suggests serving it over spaghetti.
