The legendary performer has become famous for cooking for friends, family and the crew around the holiday when he makes an annual appearance at the iconic Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley in Seattle. He generously serves up some tips for cooking his most beloved dish, collard greens.
It all started in the family kitchen…
There’s a long list of admiring adjectives used to describe to the veteran musician, but one you rarely hear is that of stellar chef. While on extensive tours, Taj Mahal has become known and admired for his culinary gifts.
That’s especially true when he takes up residency during his annual appearances during the Thanksgiving season at Dimitrious’s Jazz Alley, Seattle’s most intimate performance space and supper club. This marks his 30th year in that impressive venue, which opened in 1980 in downtown Seattle, helmed by John and Carla Dimitriou.
Much has changed in the neighborhood, now home to the famous Amazon Spheres and scores of tech-driven office spaces. But the annual return of Taj Mahal remains a highly anticipated event each November.
We recently reached out via email to the blues guitarist with the distinctive voice that’s as rich as a perfect demi-glace and asked about his method for making the holiday feast extra special.
Who taught you to cook?
Growing up, I watched my mother from South Carolina cook.
What was her approach to making greens?
It was a simple, based around two ham hogs. But this is my own style. It is Southern, Caribbean and African. What’s important is that you cook the greens long and slow until they are tender, not tough. You got to take the time until it’s delectable. You wanna put the love into it. It takes a couple of days.
We bring a bundle of greens home on the Monday before Thanksgiving. I will take the ties off, put them into a deep stainless-steel sink with the plug in, and cover them with fresh water to rehydrate them until Tuesday. Then, I will pick through them to find the best ones, that look good and that no bugs got to and let soak all Tuesday.
To prep the greens on Wednesday, I roll five leaves of greens at a time, cut ‘em across, make sure they are clean, also throw in some stems.
On Wednesday, we put into a large soup pot 1/3 full of water, oregano, fresh thyme, sliced yellow onions, three kinds of chopped garlic (Creole, regular and elephant) cut up leeks, where I cut across the grain, and add all these herbs/aromatics to bring to a boil before I put the greens in and cook intense at first. Also in this mix, I include Stubb’s BBQ sauce, Worcester sauce, a couple of tablespoons of Walkerswood Jerk Seasoning, some hot curry powder and some marjoram.
I’ll season the pot for the meat eaters with a couple of smoked turkey drumsticks, cilantro, a couple of bay leaves, maybe two Portuguese hot sausages. You cook it all (with the lid on) until you can smell it two rooms away.
It’s important to turn down the temperature and then let it cook long and slow, slow, slow… stirring occasionally. Other ingredients I like to include are paprika, crushed red pepper, olive oil, apple cider vinegar and Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning.
I will also do a veggie version that has no meat at all but will use some hickory BBQ sauce to add a robust flavor, plus several tablespoons of Pell seasoning, five ripe tomatoes, cut into quarters and then quartered again, plus any red, yellow bell peppers and two large Anaheim chilis.
Lastly, add one to two habanero peppers to get the taste hot, but be careful not to let them take over the taste.
This will all cook down through Wednesday night. right until mid-afternoon on Thursday to be served around 6 p.m. for Thanksgiving dinner.
Alongside it, I’ll get some jasmine rice, golden raisins, slivered almonds and put it in a rice cooker, two 15-pound turkeys, deep fried, my cranberry sauce, and a Fijian banana vakasoso dessert.
Sounds like a lot to be thankful for right there, thank you, Taj!
Collard greens bonus
Even when Taj Mahal’s not in the house, Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley has an exceptional collard greens preparation on the menu.
Chef Alvin Binuya’s version builds layers of flavor and turns butter-tender when it’s simmered slowly. It first appeared years ago to tackle an abundant harvest in the owner’s garden. The dish was a huge hit.
“I don’t have a lot of experience cooking Southern food, but we wanted to keep it simple,” he said of the mix of greens, bacon and chicken stock cooked until tender. “We finish with black pepper, a little bit of sugar and cider vinegar.”
Those exceptional greens are served as a side, but also alongside the shrimp and grits, a fan favorite. That’s not a traditional take, but a welcome add-on suggested by John Dimitriou, who the chef credited with knowing exactly what guests will enthusiastically order.