African Nova Scotians: 20th Century Canadian Legacies

[Beatrice] Carm, welcome to our Sunday dinner. 

[Carm] Wow, it looks good. Thank you. 

– Corned beef and cabbage. Have a seat. 

– Looks good. So this is an Africville tradition? 

– Africville tradition. Every Sunday we would have this. And you go throughout the community and that’s all you smelt and of course my mother’s recipe is in the Africville Kitchen Cookbook. 

– Oh yeah? 

– And the only difference when we made corned beef and cabbage in our house, when we sat down to peel our vegetables, my mother would sing a hymn, and the family would join in the chorus. 

– Wow! 

– So that’s was made the difference. So it was a happy time 

when we got to get together. But before you can have your corned beef, we need to squeeze a little bit of mustard. 

– Oh, yeah! 

– Gotta have the mustard on the corned beef and cabbage. Yes. 

– Oops. 

(both laugh) 

– Even the table wants some. 

Oh, yeah.  

[Carm] Can you tell me about the history of this and how it came about and about the ingredients? Like, were they grown in Africville? 

– Some of the ingredients were grown in Africville. 

A lot of the meat we bought at the store, I’d say, up over the hill, where they shopped. 

And we had stores in Africville, of course, but they were just like General Stores, right. So like I said, the meat process was to soak it overnight, because it was always so salty. Corned beef is always done in brine. And it was always so salty, so we would soak it overnight and then the next day, as it was, cooking on the stove. It takes about 3 hours to make corned beef and cabbage on the stove. So we cook it for about an hour and then, the last two hours, we prepare the vegetables. And like I said, we would sit around the table, do the vegetables, my mother would be up there and she’d be singing and we’d be singing with her. And it was a fun time. 

And when we made this on Sundays in Africville, we always cut the vegetables up and we put them in water to soak. That takes the starch out of them. And you cut them smaller, because when you feed 12 – 15 people, you need lots of vegetables. Next, of course, the process of cooking, is while your meat is boiling, you get your potatoes ready, and your other vegetables. And what you would do, you start with putting your carrots… your turnip in first and let them cook a while, about 5 minutes. And then you put your carrots in, and let them cook about 5 minutes, because they take the longest to cook. And then you can put your cabbage in. And then you put your potatoes in. And you let it boil in a boil, until it’s done. 

After the meal is cooked, we’re ready to serve. But the trick is to try to get to the meat, which, is always at the bottom of the pot. So we take out some of the vegetables, 

first of all, the cabbage. We’ll sit it on the platter. And everything looks so good. So now, we’ll try to get our meat out. Put it on the cutting board so you can cut it up and get it ready for serving. So you want to cut it against the grain. There’s some nice sharp pieces there. And whoever was visiting was sure to be fed before they left Africville. And of course, it’s not corned beef and cabbage… without the juice. So you go back to your pot. That’s where all your flavor is, in the juice. 

[Carm] This is a beautiful plate of food. It looks so inviting. 

– So dig in! Dig in. 

– Dig in! This looks delicious. So anybody who came to Africville would… 

Have corned beef and cabbage on Sunday, when they came up to Africville, yeah. And usually after church, right. 

– Right, okay. 

– You’d have church service. 

Growing up in the Africville was good. We had chores and whatnot to do after school. And you couldn’t go outside until you had your school clothes off and you did your chores. And then you could go play. And we played marbles, we skipped double-dutch. We swam. I can’t swim. I was not allowed to go to the water, I was small. And we fished. The community out here, fished. And we’d go in the basin here and we’d get everything:  

lobsters, mackerel, periwinkles, mussels and eels. And then you’d come in with an abundance of fishing and it was shared in the community. We had ice boxes then, we couldn’t have refrigerators. So you didn’t want it to rot, after spending hours out there fishing. So they’d share it in the community, especially with the seniors who couldn’t get out. It was a way of life. And everything was free. We didn’t have to pay, you know. 

So it was nice going up in Africville. It was peaceful. Very peaceful. And you didn’t have to… we could go to anybody’s door 

and knock on it. You didn’t have to worry about the things we worry about today with our kids, right. You know, you weren’t afraid, if you had a scratch or sore, you could go to somebody’s house and they would patch it up for you. Because, you wait for your parents to come home. 

Most of the women worked in service 

or at the hospital or at the Stadacona. My mother worked at the Victoria General Hospital, which is in town, we’d call it. And this particular day, she worked from 8 to 4 and at the VG hospital, they had these benches outside. And they still have them today out there. And this white lady and her four-year-old daughter was sitting on the bench. And in Africville, we would always greet you. We would say “good morning” and “hi”. Which my mother did. So my mother went to work, and came back, and the lady and her daughter was still sitting there. And so my mother said to her: “Hello, hello, dear.” 

She said:  

“Dear, have you been sitting here all day?” 

And the lady said: “Yes.” 

She said: “Dear, have you eaten?” 

And the lady said: “No.” 

She said: “Come with me.” 

Four months later, she stayed with us in Africville around the turn. And how I remember that, because every time my mother brought home somebody in need or she thought was in need, I had to give up my bed. So those stories I’ll always remember. 

(both laugh)