Curtis Aikens’ Maize Cakes a product of Navajo immersion

By Jeff Cuttino
* Atlanta Chef Recipes Examiner

“Everybody has the right to/think whose food is the/most gorgeous/And I nominate Georgia’s.”
– Ogden Nash

The British poet couldn’t help but write in verse, even in this part of a preface he wrote for Harriet Ross Colquitt’s The Savannah Cook Book of 1933, in what is probably the grandest accolade ever given this state’s culinaria. Just as Flannery O’Connor stated in a letter that you can find a Southern writer tucked in the depths of every wood in the South, Georgia has an indigenous population of chefs who will selectively appear out from under the shadow of pine or emerge from some brambly thicket suddenly into the national spotlight. Curtis Aikens is an example of this mysteriously generated brand of fame, coming all the way from his obscure Conyers beginnings to Food Network multi-show renown. His road less travelled was more a map of frequently switched paths, as he went from California produce dealer to cookbook author to food show host, all the while keeping up a stealthy philanthropic career in literary advocacy.

Aikens’ humanitarianism led him out west to the Navajo nation, where his efforts to literate the tribes’ children granted him unusual access to this wary people’s usually exclusive world. It was out of this experience that Aikens was introduced to “maize” cakes, which he found to be a distant cousin of his mother’s corn fritters, and Aikens found his own twist in a recipe that combines both Native and African elements. It’s not likely that Aikens would have left out his mother’s contribution to the recipe, for he calls her “the best cook, chef, and culinary guru” he ever knew.

Aikens begins the recipe with mashing boiled peeled potatoes, the adhesive for the hearty meatless cake. He cuts fresh corn kernels straight off of the cob (this is usually done by placing the cut end of a shucked cob flat on a work surface and driving the knife down all sides until cleaned, severing the kernels as close to the core as possible). He then mixes the mashed potatoes and fresh kernels with grated sharp cheddar cheese, masa harina (Mexican corn flour), baking powder, and tomato salsa (a bit of water replaces the usual egg for a malleable liquifier). Now having a firm, but not tough (overmixed) cake, Aikens fries them in canola oil that’s been heated to 375 degrees until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side.

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