Soul Food
African Americans have a rich culinary heritage which is connected strongly with family and community ties. In many ways, Southern food and African American food is indistinguishable because prior to the Civil War, slaves were responsible for growing, harvesting, butchering, and preparing foods for both whites and blacks. Since the 1960's, soul food has been part of a larger revitalization of African American identity and culture.
Although some African American foods originated in Africa (namely okra, black-eyed peas, and collard greens), the American South and outside influences were the primary sources of soul food. Over generations, African slaves in the South added dietary staples from Europeans (pork, chicken, sugar, peppers, potatoes) and Native Americans (maize, beans, catfish, shrimp, fowl). Because of the abundance of flavorings available in the South, soul food is characteristically high in fat, salt, and sugar and is spiced with various peppers and seasonings to make it among the spiciest (and tastiest!) food in the country. It still remains a staple in many families and has now spread beyond the South, often enjoyed at soul food restaurants as well as special community and family events throughout the nation.
Information for this entry came from an excellent resource available in Cabell Library Reference (GT2850 .E53 2003). Encyclopedia of Food and Culture is a tasty three-volume masterpiece with entries about individual foods (including African American food staples such as barbeque, biscuits, tea, chitlins, and fish), food preparation, nutritional information, various food customs, and much more. United States: African American Foodways is an excellent entry spanning several pages, and it provides a thorough overview of this topic.
--Monique Prince, Undergraduate Services Librarian - Research and Reference Services
Comments
Another excellent resource on the history of food during slavery is "Weevils in the Wheat: Interviews with Virginia Ex-Slaves" edited by Charles Perdue, Jr., Thomas Barden, and Robert Phillips. Hear from the slaves themselves as they talk about the lack of food available during their confinement. The amazing ingenuity of the slave community to provide sustenance for their families flies in the face of the master-slave paternalistic arguments made popular by Eugene Genovese and other historians. While a few ex-slaves recall masters who provided ample rations, most of their recollections mention hunger, the lack of food, and the efforts of women to improve the taste and quality of the meal. Slaves used parts of the pig or chicken that plantation owners did not want to eat (ham hocks, pigs feet, ears, intestines, fatback, jowel, gizzard). Often slave cooks had to steal these left-over parts from the plantation kitchen or starve. Also, slaves were often not permitted to have gardens as it took up precious crop space. So, the slaves supplemented their vegetable diet by scavenging: they ate greens, kale, chard, and blackberries, largely because they grew wild along the fences and in the woods. Creamed corn originated from slave cooks using tossed out corn-on-the-cob from the plantation house, scraping off the remaining kernels and boiling the cob and kernels in water. In short, "cuisine" for slaves was driven not by the availability of food, but by the extreme lack of it.
Posted by: Alex Lorch | February 8, 2006 11:12 AM