Small Town Chefs Winner: Hardette Harris
Making a name for the indigenous foods of north Louisiana
When planning a trip to Louisiana, tourists imagine themselves dining lavishly on iconic dishes typical of south Louisiana, like gumbo, jambalaya, and red beans and rice. What Chef Hardette Harris would like to know is: How could anyone overlook the savory comforts of north Louisiana? Staples like collard greens cooked slowly with smoked ham hocks, crispy cornmeal-fried catfish, and sturdy hot-water cornbread half-soaked with purple hull pea juice?
Harris describes how she sees the lack of recognition for Louisiana’s best-kept secret dishes: “I look at it as a cracked frame where the bottom parts stayed together, but the top part is missing. I finally found it under the table, and now I’m trying to put it back together.”
Harris hails from the quaint city of Minden, located in the piney woods of northwest Louisiana, a few miles from the prolific fishing waters of Bayou Dorcheat. Minden’s culture developed under the influence of a unique mix of people migrating from long-settled areas of South Carolina’s Lowcountry, north Georgia, and as far away as England and Germany. Each tradition contributed its own interpretations of life and food that blended with those of existing Native Americans in the area. In a little less than two centuries, Minden’s culture and cuisine were refined into the soulful spreads that are still savored at local tables today.
Harris is a personal chef and owner of Chef Services, Inc. She also runs Pure Louisiana Soul, a company that produces “Us up North” events that introduce people to true north Louisiana cuisine and the farming community that helps produce it.
Not being tied to a restaurant leaves Harris the opportunity to further her passion for bringing the cuisine of north Louisiana to the forefront of our minds. When asked about opening her own restaurant, Harris explains that for now, her “Us up North” events give her the stage and flexibility she needs to show off north Louisiana’s beloved meals, and promote them to anyone who comes to visit. Harris’ cooking for these events is so coveted that last year an “Us up North” dinner for ten was auctioned at a fund raiser going for $4,000. “With all that I’m doing to promote the culinary culture of north Louisiana, people were getting tired of reading or hearing about me without trying my food,” Harris said. “That’s where the culinary events come in.”
While Harris enjoys the freedom that not having a restaurant affords her, operating her entire business from her home has proved challenging as north Louisiana cooking, and hers in particular, has grown in popularity. That’s why Harris is currently using the website GoFundMe to crowdfund a new kitchen, where she can prepare large quantities of food to sell at affordable prices to seniors and other locals hungry for the dishes they grew up with.
After graduating with her culinary degree from the Art Institute in Houston, Texas, Harris found herself drawn to working as a personal and private chef. Within a few bites of the test meal during her first interview, the client was sold on her cooking.
“I wanted to do this personalized creative cooking that was from the heart, for people I care about,” Harris said. “This is a way I could do that without being in a restaurant.”
Harris’s passion isn’t simply cooking, or feeding the masses. Her true passion is helping people enjoy a home-cooked meal. “I’ve always loved the intimate one-on-one experience of being a private chef,” Harris explains. “I’ve never wanted structured menus. I wanted to be that family member who blended in. I wanted to cook meals a family liked and that were comforting to them.”
[Read this: With a new cookbook, Dorsey Ebarb Bronson preserves Native American culture and cuisine in North Louisiana.]
Harris spent a few years in Texas cooking for families in their homes—slipping in and preparing homemade meals and drifting out again, like a fairy of food. In 2013, Harris came back to the Shreveport-Bossier area to be near her family. When she returned home, Harris was reminded of the comforting tastes of traditional Sunday dinners in north Louisiana. But she soon came to realize those dishes, once known as staples to the area, were starting to lose their identity. Restaurants were passing over them in favor for more widely known south Louisiana specialties that Harris believed didn’t truly reflect the northern part of the state.
Traditional north Louisiana dishes like crunchy tomato and cucumber salad, cabbage or collards cooked with smoked ham hock or turkey neck, rice and gravy, and fried chicken are equally important to the full Louisiana culinary experience, and are often left off the plate in the minds of newcomers. This struck a nerve with Harris, and she has since dedicated her work to preserving and promoting the classic dishes that have fed people of the area for generations.
“She treats supper table staples like greens, yams, catfish and cornbread like sacred objects; instead of allowing guests at her dinners to take these foods for granted, she infuses every dish with history, tradition and love,” said north Louisiana food writer Chris Jay. “The fact of the matter is that North Louisiana cuisine is often overshadowed by the sexier, more globally recognized Louisiana foods that have their roots in New Orleans. Chef Harris was—and continues to be—one of the first and most dedicated people to beat the drum for North Louisiana cuisine.” This championing of the unique food culture of her home earned Harris recognition in February as one of Louisiana Life’s eight Louisianians of the Year.
“She treats supper table staples like greens, yams, catfish and cornbread like sacred objects; instead of allowing guests at her dinners to take these foods for granted, she infuses every dish with history, tradition and love...”
“For north Louisiana to be completely left out of that picture and letting everybody think we’re all eating the same thing is a just a travesty, because we’re not,” said Harris. “We’re eating really, really good food that we don’t talk about it, so no one knows about it.”
Harris is on a mission to bring the whole state to the table through sharing iconic north Louisiana foods that have long been tucked in the back of the recipe box as ordinary fare. She is so determined that she worked with Rep. Gene Reynolds to write a Louisiana state resolution adopted in 2015 that included a formal list of dishes dined on daily in North Louisiana, setting its place the first official meal in Louisiana legislative history. The list is extensive, and covers foods that are, in Harris’ words, “straight from the red dirt and fresh waters of north Louisiana.” At any given Sunday dinner or pot luck, you will find at least one dish on the list. You can find the full, official north Louisiana meal menu at foodtourslouisiana.com.
“That was a major step in gaining recognition and legitimacy for these foods that are incredibly beloved by a huge population of people, but seldom make it into the pages of national food publications or get celebrated by tastemakers,” said Jay.
Harris recognizes that one of the reasons these dishes are so popular among north Louisianans is because they were first tasted from the spoons of mothers and grandmothers who cooked them at home.
[Read this: 2016 Small Town Chef Holly Moore Schreiber is classically trained and cultivating her North Louisiana roots.]
“I just have a passion for home cooking,” said Harris. “That’s why I like to keep my food simple and authentic to keep that attraction and taste for, ‘Oh I haven’t had this in so long,’ or, ‘This tastes like my grandmother’s,’ I really go for that.”
When she’s not promoting the bounty of home-grown vegetables, freshwater fish and smoke-cured pork, Harris teaches the fine art of home cooking with simple, easily achievable methods to all ages. In her classes, she teaches practical, everyday fundamentals that range from basics (like how to cook rice), to tricks (like trussing a chicken). She wants her students to leave with the knowledge necessary to put a full meal on the table most days of the week.
“For north Louisiana to be completely left out of that picture and letting everybody think we’re all eating the same thing is a just a travesty, because we’re not,” said Harris.
“I want people to have an interest and a know-how to get a protein, some vegetables and starch on a plate for dinner,” Harris said.
Soon, Harris can add book author to her many accomplishments in preserving the culinary history of her home. She is currently researching and writing a culinary history of North Louisiana. In the book, she’ll delve into the historical influences of different cultures on food in the area. She also plans to include stories about past and present restaurants that shaped the culinary backbones of towns along the I-20 corridor. Harris said she’ll be “digging up the history of who brought certain foods to the area, our freshwater fish, how we fry it and what we cook it in, and what we do in different areas.”
“My target is the traveler, road trippers and tourists who have never heard of hot water cornbread, never had greens. I’ve got to get my own area excited about these foods, too.”
Harris believes it’s up to the folks in north Louisiana to make people aware of the foods that define the culture in that part of the state. “I’m honored they’ve given this story to me to tell. I am passionate about us being who we are.”
Chef Services, Inc., Pure Louisiana Soul
Minden, La.