Most of us are familiar with the rich, delicious African American style of cooking known across the globe as soul food. We enjoy sweet candied yams, crispy fried chicken and fish, cheesy baked macaroni, cornbread, and flavourful greens and beans full of smoked meat. And one would be pressed to find a soul food restaurant that isn’t filled to capacity with loyal customers.
But what do we know about the origins of soul food? With a history dating back prior to the days of slavery, it is important that we understand soul food in the context of the Black American experience it was born from, as well as its African influence.
Soul food, in essence, originated in the southern United States. Enslaved Africans were given foods like pork, cornmeal, rice, potatoes, beans, and yams, in limited quantities that had to last them until the next rations were provided. Though there was variation from one plantation to the next, in many instances the pork that enslaved people were given would consist of whatever was left over from the white people’s meals. This would often include little more than scraps and unwanted parts.
In his 1906 autobiography, Up From Slavery, Black leader and educator Booker T. Washington detailed the manner in which he was fed as a child in slavery. “It was a piece of bread here and a scrap of meat there. A cup of milk at one time and some potatoes at another.”
Given this sporadic nature, as well as the fact that these ingredients would be used to feed many people, it was customary to use them in a manner in which they could be maximized. Cornmeal was used to make cornbread, a hearty and filling staple of the slave diet. And every part of the pig would be used, including the feet, jowls, ribs, hocks, butts, and innards, such as the intestines used to make chitterlings. Soups and meals (such as gumbo, jambalaya, Hoppin’ John, etc.) containing a mix of ingredients combined into one pot were common.
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According to Frederick Douglass Opie in his 2008 book, Hog and Hominy: Soul Food From Africa to America, soul food as we know it today “developed from a mixing of the cooking traditions of West Africans, Western Europeans, and Amerindians.” He adds, however, that “it was the African cook and her culture that made the greatest thumbprint on South Carolina recipes, not the European culture of the mistress.”
In America, the enslaved found many of the same foods they were accustomed to cooking in Africa. This included rice, yams, collard and mustard greens, chicken, fish and other seafood, as well as various beans, such as black-eyed peas (or cowpeas). The cooking of one-pot soups, stews, and meals was something shared among the cultures of Africans, Europeans, and Amerindians. However, Black Americans formulated their own unique dishes and recipes. The technique of barbecuing was influenced heavily by the dry barbecuing done by the Arawak of the Caribbean. But there were many culinary practices utilized by the enslaved that can be attributed specifically to their West African roots.
Women of the Mandé “taught their daughters how to broil, roast, bake, and fry meats,” Opie writes, “a talent they would liberally exercise in slave quarters and big-house kitchens in America.” Using oil (shea butter and African palm oil on the continent) to cook vegetables and legumes, and to fry meat is a tradition that was brought from Africa, as is the practice of using pieces of meat to flavour foods such as beans, greens, stews, and sauces.
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Cornbread was used in a similar manner as fufu back in Africa, and was eaten with soups and often used to soak up liquid remaining from other foods. According to Opie, Africans also brought their methods for cooking rice with them and “the consumption of yams prepared in various ways is distinctly African.” Consuming diets that were high in calories and which also included essential nutrients from vegetables and beans ensured the enslaved would have enough energy and strength. Surviving and persevering despite being inflicted with the most severe forms of oppression is a major hallmark of the African American experience. Many elements of Black culture have stood the test of time, and food is one of them.
In the 1960s, the Black Power movement began. One of the goals of the movement was to emphasize and instill pride in Black culture. It was from this movement that the term “soul food” was born.
Today, soul food is known around the world as a symbol of Black culture. People of all backgrounds and cultures purchase, cook, and enjoy dining on the delectable cuisine at their nearest soul food restaurant. But it will always hold a special significance for African Americans. As Jennifer Jensen Wallach stated in her 2014 Study the South article, “enjoying these foods mindfully could also become a way of celebrating the resilience of southern Black people who fought total subjugation through expressive culture.”
Each time we prepare it, share it at gatherings, or pass down family recipes, we are living and honouring our history.