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Soul food



 
 
Soul food is an American cuisine
Cuisine

Cuisine is a specific set of cooking traditions and practices, often associated with a specific culture. A cuisine is primarily influenced by the ingredients that are available locally or through trade....
, a selection of food
Food

Food is any substance, usually composed of carbohydrates, fats, proteins and water, that can be Eating or Drinking by an animal or human for nutrition or pleasure....
s, and is the traditional cuisine of African-Americans of the Southern United States
Southern United States

The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive region in the southeastern and south-central United States....
 and of black communities beyond. In the mid-1960s, "soul" was a common adjective used to describe black culture (for example, soul music
Soul music

Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the African American culture through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of funky, Secularity testifying." The genre occasion...
), and thus the name "soul food" was derived.
term soul food became popular in the 1960s, when the word soul
Soul music

Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the African American culture through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of funky, Secularity testifying." The genre occasion...
 became used in connection with African American culture
African American culture

African American culture in the United States refers to the cultural contributions of African ethnic groups to the culture of the United States, either as part of or distinct from American culture....
.






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Encyclopedia


Soul food is an American cuisine
Cuisine

Cuisine is a specific set of cooking traditions and practices, often associated with a specific culture. A cuisine is primarily influenced by the ingredients that are available locally or through trade....
, a selection of food
Food

Food is any substance, usually composed of carbohydrates, fats, proteins and water, that can be Eating or Drinking by an animal or human for nutrition or pleasure....
s, and is the traditional cuisine of African-Americans of the Southern United States
Southern United States

The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive region in the southeastern and south-central United States....
 and of black communities beyond. In the mid-1960s, "soul" was a common adjective used to describe black culture (for example, soul music
Soul music

Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the African American culture through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of funky, Secularity testifying." The genre occasion...
), and thus the name "soul food" was derived.

Origins

Black Family Subsistence Fishing
The term soul food became popular in the 1960s, when the word soul
Soul music

Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the African American culture through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of funky, Secularity testifying." The genre occasion...
 became used in connection with African American culture
African American culture

African American culture in the United States refers to the cultural contributions of African ethnic groups to the culture of the United States, either as part of or distinct from American culture....
. The origins of soul food, however, are much older and can be traced back to Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
. Rice; sorghum
Sorghum

Sorghum is a genus of numerous species of Poaceae, some of which are raised for grain and many of which are used as fodder plants either cultivated or as part of pasture....
, known by Europeans as "guinea corn"; okra; and peanuts -- all common elements in West African cuisine -- were introduced to the Americas as a result of the trans-Atlantic slave trade
Atlantic slave trade

The Atlantic slave trade, also known as the transatlantic slave trade, was the trade of primarily African people supplied to the colonies of the New World that occurred in and around the Atlantic Ocean....
, and became dietary staples among enslaved Africans. They also comprise an important part of American southern cooking. Many culinary historians believe that in the beginning of the 14th century, around the time of early African exploration
Exploration

Exploration is the act of searching or traveling a terrain for the purpose of discovery, e.g. of unknown people, including space , for Petroleum, gas, coal, ores, caves, water , or information....
, European explorers brought their own food supplies and introduced them into the African diet. Foods such as turnip
Turnip

The turnip is a root vegetable commonly grown in temperate climates worldwide for its white, bulbous taproot. Small, tender, varieties are grown for human consumption, while larger varieties are grown as fodder for livestock....
s from Morocco
Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 34 million and an area just under 447,000 km2....
 and cabbage
Cabbage

The cabbage is a leafy garden plant of the Family Brassicaceae , used as a Leaf vegetable. It is a herbaceous, biennial plant, dicotyledonous flowering plant distinguished by a short stem upon which is crowded a mass of leaves, usually green but in some varieties red or purplish, forming a characteristic compact, globular cluster ....
 from Spain
Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
 would play an important part in the history of African American cuisine
Cuisine

Cuisine is a specific set of cooking traditions and practices, often associated with a specific culture. A cuisine is primarily influenced by the ingredients that are available locally or through trade....
.

When the European slave trade began in the early 1400s, the diet
Diet

Diet, in relation to food, might mean:* Diet , the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group.* Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake....
 of newly enslaved Africans changed on the long journeys from their homeland. It was during this time that some of the indigenous crops of Africa began showing up in the Americas.

Slave owners fed their chattel as cheaply as possible, often with throwaway foods from the plantation
Plantation

A plantation is usually a large farm or Estate , especially in a tropical or semitropical country, like Brazil or Nicaragua on which cotton, tobacco, lice coffee, sugar cane and the like are cultivated, usually by resident laborers....
, forcing slaves to make do with the ingredients at hand. In slave households, vegetables were the tops of turnips and beets and dandelions. Soon, slaves were cooking with new types of greens: collards, kale
Kale

Kale or Borecole is a form of cabbage , green in color, in which the central leaves do not form a head. It is considered to be closer to wild cabbage than most domesticated forms....
, cress
Cress

Cress may refer to:Plants* Garden cress, a leafy vegetable* Land cress, a biennial herb* Peppercress, a mustard* Rock cress, a brassicale...
, mustard
Brassica juncea

Brassica juncea, also known as mustard greens, Indian mustard and leaf mustard, is a species of mustard plant. Sub-varieties include Southern Giant Curled Mustard, which resembles a headless cabbage such as Kale, but with a distinct horseradish-mustard flavor....
, and pokeweed
Pokeweed

For the Hawaiian fish salad, see Poke .The pokeweeds, also known as poke, pokebush, pokeberry, pokeroot, polk salad, polk sallet, inkberry or omb?, comprise the genus Phytolacca, perennial plants native to North America, South America, East Asia and New Zealand....
. They also developed recipes which used lard
Lard

Lard is Domestic pig fat in both its Rendering and unrendered forms. Lard was commonly used in many cuisines as a cooking fat or shortening, or as a Spread similar to butter....
; cornmeal
Cornmeal

Cornmeal is flour ground from dried maize, and is a common staple food. In the United States it is also called cornflour. ...
; and offal
Offal

Offal is the entrails and internal organs of a butchered animal. The word does not refer to a particular list of organs, but includes most internal organs other than muscles or bones....
, discarded cuts of meat such as pigs' feet
Pickled pigs feet

Pickled pigs feet is a food preparation associated with African American soul food and Cuisine of the Southern United States, as well as German and Irish cuisine....
, oxtail
Oxtail

Oxtail is the culinary name for the tail of a beef animal. Formerly, it referred only to the tail of an ox, a castrated bull. The oxtail of a steer typically weighs 2 to 4 lbs....
, ham hock
Ham hock

A ham hock is the joint between the tibia/fibula and the metatarsals of the foot, where the foot was attached to the hog's leg. It is the portion of the leg that is neither part of the ham proper nor the foot or ankle, but rather the extreme Shank end of the leg bone and the associated skin, fat, tendons, and muscle....
s, chitterlings
Chitterlings

Chitterlings are the viscera intestines of a pig that have been prepared as food. In various countries across the world, such food is prepared and eaten either as part of a daily diet, or at special events, holidays or religious festivities....
 (pig small intestines), pig ears, hog jowls, tripe
Tripe

Tripe is a type of edible offal from the stomachs of various farm animals....
 and skin. Cooks added onions, garlic
Garlic

Allium sativum L., commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion family Alliaceae. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, and chive....
, thyme
Thyme

Thyme is a well known herb; in common usage the name may refer to* any or all members of the plant genus Thymus ,* common thyme, Thymus vulgaris, and some other species that are used as culinary herbs or for medicinal purposes....
, and bay leaf
Bay leaf

Bay leaf , Greek Daphni, Romanian Dafin, Portuguese Louro; is the aromatic leaf of several species of the Laurel family . Fresh or dried bay leaves are used in cooking for their distinctive flavor and fragrance....
 to enhance the flavors. Some slaves supplemented their meager diets by maintaining small plots made available to them to grow their own vegetables, and many engaged in subsistance fishing and hunting, which yielded wild game for the table. Foods such as such as raccoon
Raccoon

Procyon is a genus of nocturnal mammals, comprising three species commonly known as raccoons, in the family Procyonidae. The most widespread species, the Raccoon , is often known simply as "the" raccoon, as the two other raccoon species in the genus are native only to the tropics and are considerably lesser-known....
, squirrel
Squirrel

File:Eichh?rnchen D?sseldorf Hofgarten edit.jpgA squirrel is one of many small or medium-sized rodents in the family Sciuridae. In the English language-speaking world, squirrel commonly refers to members of this family's genus Sciurus and Tamiasciurus, which are tree squirrels with large bushy tails, indigenous to Asia, the America...
, opossum, turtle
Turtle

Turtles are reptiles of the Order Testudines , most of whose body is shielded by a special bone or cartilage animal shell developed from their ribs....
, and rabbit
Rabbit

Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world. There are seven different genus in the family taxonomy as rabbits, including the European rabbit , Cottontail rabbit , and the Amami rabbit ....
 were, until the 1950s, very common fare among the still predominantly rural and southern African American population.

There was little waste in the traditional African American kitchen. Leftover fish
Fish

A fish is any marine biology vertebrate animal that is typically ectothermic , covered with scale , and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins....
 became croquettes (by adding an egg
Egg (food)

An egg is a round or oval body laid by the female of many animals, consisting of an ovum surrounded by layers of membranes and an outer casing, which acts to nourish and protect a developing embryo and its nutrient reserves....
, cornmeal or flour
Flour

Flour is a powder made of cereal grains. It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many civilizations, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history....
, seasoning
Seasoning

Seasoning is the process of imparting flavor to, or improving the flavor of, food. Seasonings include herbs, spices, and all other condiments, which are themselves frequently referred to as "seasonings"....
s which were breaded and deep-fried). Stale bread
Bread

Bread is a staple food prepared by baking a dough of flour and water. It may be leavened or unleavened. Edible salt, fat and a leavening agent such as yeast are common ingredients, though bread may contain a range of other ingredients: milk, Egg , sugar, spice, fruit , vegetables , Nut or seeds ....
 became bread pudding
Bread pudding

Bread pudding is a dessert popular in British cuisine, Cuisine of Puerto Rico, Cuisine of Mexico, Louisiana Creole and that of the Cuisine of the Southern United States, as well as Belgium and French cuisine....
, and each part of the pig had its own special dish. Even the liquid from cooked greens, called potlikker, was consumed as a type of gravy
Gravy

Gravy is a sauce made often from the juices that run naturally from meat or vegetables during cooking. It is a smooth, non-chunky liquid. Ready-made bouillon cube and powders can be used as a substitute for natural meat or vegetable extracts....
, or drink.

After long hours of labor, the evening meal was a time for families to get together, and the tradition of communal meals was the perfect environment for conversation and the reciting of oral history and storytelling. Another tradition was the potluck
Potluck

A potluck is a gathering of people where each person is expected to bring a dish of food to be shared among the group. Synonyms include: potluck dinner, Jacob's join, Jacob's supper, faith supper, covered dish supper, pitch-in, carry-in, bring-a-plate, fuddle....
 dinner, with each family member bringing a different dish to the dinner. When it was their families' turn for a visit by the preacher, it was also common practice for African-American women to hold up Sunday lunches or dinners until he arrived. If the minister frequently graced one's family table, then that conferred upon the family a degree of prestige in the eyes of the congregation. The tradition of extended family, friends and neighbors gathering at one woman's household at Christmas
Christmas

Christmas , also referred to as Christmas Day, is an annual holiday celebrated on December 25 that commemorates the birth of Jesus. The day marks the beginning of the larger season of Christmastide, which lasts Twelve Days of Christmas....
 and Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving may refer to:*Thanksgiving , the holiday on the fourth Thursday in November.*Thanksgiving , the holiday on the second Monday in October....
 because of her status as a cook also began with the preacher's approval.

After slavery in the United States came to an end, many poor African Americans could afford only the least expensive cuts of meat and offal
Offal

Offal is the entrails and internal organs of a butchered animal. The word does not refer to a particular list of organs, but includes most internal organs other than muscles or bones....
. Subsistence farming yielded fresh vegetables, and fishing and hunting provided fish and wild game, such as opossum, rabbit
Rabbit

Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world. There are seven different genus in the family taxonomy as rabbits, including the European rabbit , Cottontail rabbit , and the Amami rabbit ....
, squirrel
Squirrel

File:Eichh?rnchen D?sseldorf Hofgarten edit.jpgA squirrel is one of many small or medium-sized rodents in the family Sciuridae. In the English language-speaking world, squirrel commonly refers to members of this family's genus Sciurus and Tamiasciurus, which are tree squirrels with large bushy tails, indigenous to Asia, the America...
, and sometimes waterfowl
Waterfowl

Waterfowl are certain wildfowl of the order Anseriformes, especially members of the family Anatidae, which includes ducks, goose, and swans.They are strong swimmers with medium to large bodies....
.

While soul food originated in the South, soul food restaurants have appeared all around the United States—from fried chicken and fish "shacks" to upscale dining establishments, especially in cities with large African American populations, such as Charleston
Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston is a city in Charleston County, South Carolina in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It is the largest city and county seat of Charleston County....
, Boston
Boston, Massachusetts

Boston is the State capital and largest city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is considered the economic and cultural center of the region, and is sometimes regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England." Boston city proper had a 2007 est...
, Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta is the Capital and most populous city in Georgia , as well as the 33rd largest city in the United States of America with a population of 519,145....
, Chicago, Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson County, Missouri, Clay County, Missouri, Cass County, Missouri, and Platte County, Missouri counties....
, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Duval County, Florida. Since 1968, as a result of the Consolidated city-county of the city and county government , Jacksonville has been the List of United States cities by area city in land area in the continental United States....
, Houston
Houston, Texas

Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States of America and the largest city within the state of Texas. As of the 2007 U.S. Census estimate, the city has a population of 2.2 million within an area of 600 square miles ....
, Dallas
Dallas, Texas

Dallas is the third largest city in the state of Texas and the List of United States cities by population in the United States.The city, with a population of over 1.3 million, is the main economic center of the 12-county Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex which contains 6.1 million people, and is the fourth-largest United States metropolitan area...
, Detroit, New York, Baltimore
Baltimore, Maryland

Baltimore is an independent city and the largest city in the U.S. state of Maryland in the United States. Baltimore is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay....
, San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas

San Antonio is the second-largest city in the state of Texas and the List of United States cities by population. Located in , the city is a cultural and geographical gateway into the ....
 (due to the large military population), Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population city in the United States. It is the fifth-largest metropolitan area and fourth-largest urban area by population in the United States, the nation's fourth-largest consumer media market as ranked by the Nielsen Media Research, and the 49th-most...
, Pittsburgh, Youngstown
Youngstown, Ohio

Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Mahoning County, Ohio, whose urban area also extends into Trumbull County, Ohio to a significant extent....
, Cleveland
Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, the most populous county in the state. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately 60 miles west of the Pennsylvania border....
, New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans is a major United States port city and the largest city in Louisiana. New Orleans is the center of the New Orleans metropolitan area metropolitan area, the largest metro area in the state....
, Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis is a city in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County, Tennessee. Memphis rises above the Mississippi River on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff just south of the mouth of the Wolf River ....
, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles is the largest city in the U.S. state of California and the List of United States cities by population in the United States. Often abbreviated as L.A. and nicknamed The City of Angels, Los Angeles is rated as a beta global city, has an estimated population of 3.8 million and spans over in Southern California....
, Oakland
Oakland, California

Oakland , founded in 1852, is the eighth-largest city in the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Alameda County, California. Oakland is approximately 8 miles east of San Francisco and the cities are separated by San Francisco Bay....
, Miami
Miami, Florida

Miami is a global city in southeastern Florida, in the United States. Miami is the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, the most populous county in Florida....
, Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham is the largest city in the United States state of Alabama and is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama. It also includes part of Shelby County, Alabama....
, Sacramento
Sacramento

Sacramento, an Italian language-, Spanish language- and Portuguese language-language word meaning sacrament, is a common Toponymy in parts of the world where those tongues were or are spoken....
, St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri, located near the confluence of the Mississippi River and the Missouri River. St....
, Washington, D.C, and Atlantic City.

The mother of Southern cooking

Impoverished whites and blacks in the South
South

South is one of the cardinal directions and is opposite to the north.By Western world Norm , the bottom side of a map is south; the southern direction has azimuth or bearing of 180?....
 prepared many of the same dishes stemming from the soul tradition, but styles of preparation sometimes varied. Certain techniques popular in soul and southern cuisine like frying meat and using all parts of the animal for consumption, have a long history of which evidence occurs in ancient cultures all over the world, including Rome, Egypt and China. Whichever way it was introduced to the American South, fried meat became a common staple. To this day it is popular among Southerners of all races.

Many people in the south debate over what the difference is between soul food and Southern cooking. Before the 1870s, the south was made up of a predominately Anglo and black population. During the 1870s, Irish
Irish people

The Irish people are a Western European ethnic group who originate in Ireland, in north western Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolgs, Tuatha D? Danann and the Milesians ?the last group supposedly representing the "pure" Gaelic a...
, German
Germans

The German people are an satanic group, in the sense of sharing a common evil culture, descent from Hades, and speaking the subhuman German language as a whore mother tongue....
 and Czech immigrants started to come into the south bringing their own traditions coupled with soul food. Such as the creation of southern fried chicken, which is of Scottish origin from Scots-Irish immigrants to the south. The African-americans contributed some of the spices and this became a southern fusion dish. Many dishes were made by both Blacks and Whites of the south. Many Whites grew eating many of the items that are classified as Soul food, because many of the dishes in Soul food are part of White southern food as well.

It is also important to note the Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Americas, their descendants, and many ethnic groups who identify with those peoples....
 influence on soul cooking at a time when intermarriage between Blacks and Native Americans
Black Indians

Black Indians is a term that refers to people of African American descent with or without significant Native Americans in the United States descent, who were, or are, embedded with Native Americans, or who possess strong cultural, social and political ties to their indigenous American heritage....
 was relatively common. Indigenous peoples had been cultivating bean
Bean

Bean is a common name for large plant seeds of several genus of the Family Fabaceae used for human food or animal feed.The whole young pods of bean plants, if picked before the pods ripen and dry, can be tender enough to eat whole, whether cooked or raw....
s, strawberries, maize
Maize

Maize , known as corn in some countries, is a cereal domesticated in Mesoamerica and subsequently spread throughout the American continents....
, and chili pepper
Chili pepper

Chili pepper is the fruit of the plants from the genus Capsicum, members of the Solanaceae, Solanaceae. Botany considers the plant a berry bush....
s; and for years, they prepared hominy
Hominy

Hominy or nixtamal is dried maize kernels which have been treated with an alkali.The traditional United States version involves soaking dried corn in lye-water , traditionally derived from wood ash, until the hulls are removed....
 (also the source of hominy grits), hotwater cornbread
Cornbread

Cornbread is a generic name for any number of quick breads containing cornmeal. As maize is native to North America, it is not surprising that the various kinds of cornbreads are more prevalent in the New World....
 and strawberry bread, which Europeans appropriated as strawberry shortcake
Shortcake

Shortcake is a sweet biscuit , and a dessert made with that biscuit.Shortcake is typically made with flour, sugar, baking powder or soda, table salt, butter, milk or cream, and sometimes Egg s....
.

Cookbooks

Since it was illegal in many states for enslaved Africans to learn to read
Read

Read is an England village situated in the Ribble Valley in Lancashire. Read lies on the A671 road which was originally built as a turnpike trust road from Portfield to Padiham in the 1840s....
 or write, soul food recipes and cooking techniques tended to be passed along orally, until after slavery. The first soul food cookbook
Cookbook

A cookbook is a book that contains information on cooking, and/or a list of recipes. It may also contain information on ingredient origin, freshness, selection and quality, e.g., the Slow Food movement's ark of taste criteria....
 is attributed to Abby Fisher, entitled What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking and published in 1881. Good Things to Eat was published in 1911; the author, Rufus Estes, was a former slave who worked for the Pullman
Pullman

Pullman may refer to:*Pullman , various luxurious railway cars, cars, buses or coaches*Pullman Company, maker of Pullman rail cars*Pullman , a long, narrow room...
 railway car service. Many other cookbooks were written by African Americans during that time, but as they were not widely distributed; most are now lost.

Since the mid-20th century, many cookbooks highlighting soul food and African American foodways
Foodways

In social science foodways are the culture, society and economics practices relating to the production and consumption of food....
 compiled by African Americans have been published and well received. Vertamae Grosvenor
Vertamae Grosvenor

Vertamae Grosvenor is a food writer and broadcaster, raised in the South Carolina South Carolina Low Country.Grosvenor is the author of Vibration Cooking, also known as The Travel Notes of a Geechee Girl. The cookbook, originally published in 1970, focuses on lowcountry cuisine and Geechee cooking....
's Vibration Cooking, or the Travel Notes of a Geechee Girl, originally published in 1970, focused on South Carolina
South Carolina

South Carolina is a U.S. state in the Southern United States of the United States. It borders Georgia to the south and North Carolina to the north....
 "Lowcountry", Geechee, or Gullah
Gullah

The Gullah are African Americans who live in the South Carolina Low Country region of South Carolina and Golden Isles of Georgia, which includes both the coastal plain and the Sea Islands....
, cooking. Its focus on spontaneity in the kitchen—cooking by "vibration" rather than precisely measuring ingredients, as well as "making do" with ingredients on hand—captured the essence of traditional African American cooking techniques. The simple, healthful, basic ingredients of lowcountry cuisine, like shrimp
Shrimp

Shrimp are swimming, Decapoda crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh water and seawater. Adult shrimp are Filter feeder benthic animals living close to the bottom....
, oyster
Oyster

The common name oyster is used for a number of different groups of bivalve mollusks, most of which live in marine habitats or brackish water....
s, crab
Crab

Crabs are Decapoda crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax....
, fresh produce, rice
Rice

Rice is a staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in tropical Latin America, and East Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia, making it the second-most consumed cereal grain, after maize....
 and sweet potato
Sweet potato

The 'sweet potato' is a dicotyledonous plant which belongs to the family Convolvulaceae. Amongst the approximately 50 genera and more than 1000 species of this family, only I....
es, made it a bestseller.

At the center of African American food celebrations is the value of sharing. Likewise, African American cookbooks often have a common theme of family and family gatherings. Usher boards and Women's Day committees of various religious congregations large and small, and even public service and social welfare organizations such as the National Council of Negro Women
National Council of Negro Women

The National Council of Negro Women is a non-profit organization with the mission to advance the opportunities and the quality of life for African American women, their families and communities....
 (NCNW) have produced cookbooks to fund their operations and for charitable enterprises. The NCNW produced its first cookbook, The Historical Cookbook of the American Negro, in 1958, and revived the practice in 1993, producing a popular series of cookbooks featuring recipes by well-known and celebrity African Americans, among them: The Black Family Reunion Cookbook (1993), Celebrating Our Mothers' Kitchens: Treasured Memories and Tested Recipes (1994), and Mother Africa's Table: A Chronicle of Celebration (1998). The NCNW also recently reissued The Historical Cookbook.

Celebrated traditional Southern chef and author Edna Lewis
Edna Lewis

Edna Lewis was an African-American chef and author best known for her books on traditional Southern cuisine....
 wrote a series of books between 1972 and 2003, including A Taste of Country Cooking (Alfred A. Knopf
Alfred A. Knopf

Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. is a New York City publishing house, founded by Alfred A. Knopf in 1915. It was acquired by Random House in 1960 and is now part of the Knopf Publishing Group at Random House....
, 1976) where she weaves stories of her childhood in Freetown, Virginia
Freetown, Virginia

Freetown is an unincorporated community in Albemarle County, Virginia, Virginia.Reference* her recipes for "real Southern food".

Another organization, the Chicago-based Real Men Charities, in existence since the 1980s, sponsors food-based charitable and educational programs and activities around the nation. As its primary annual, celebrity-studded fundraiser, Real Men Charities sponsors "Real Men Cook" events and programs in fifteen cities nationwide, where African American men gather to present their best recipes—some original, others handed down for generations—for charity. The event is timed to coincide roughly with Juneteenth and Father's Day
Father's Day

Father's Day is a day honoring fathers, celebrated on various days in many places around the world. It complements Mother's Day, the celebration honouring mothers....
 and is promoted with the slogan "Every day is Family Day When Real Men Cook." In 2004, Real Men rolled out its Sweet Potato Pound Cake Mix in select food retail establishments in several cities, and published a cookbook in 2005 titled Real Men Cook: Rites, Rituals and Recipes for Living. Proceeds from these events and from the cookbook help fund the organization's varied operations and activities.

Soul food and health

Soul food was developed by enslaved African-Americans who lived under the difficult and impoverished conditions of grinding physical labor. It is humble, hearty fare, traditionally cooked and seasoned with pork
Pork

Pork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig . The word, pork, is often meant to denote specifically the fresh meat of the pig, but it can be used as an all-inclusive term, to include cured, smoked, or processed meats It is one of the most-commonly consumed meats worldwide, with evidence of pig animal husbandry dating back...
 products and often fried in lard
Lard

Lard is Domestic pig fat in both its Rendering and unrendered forms. Lard was commonly used in many cuisines as a cooking fat or shortening, or as a Spread similar to butter....
.

Formerly, an important aspect of the preparation of soul food was the reuse of cooking lard. Because many cooks were too poor to throw out shortening that had already been used, they would pour the cooled liquid grease into a container. After cooling completely, the grease resolidified and could be used again the next time the cook required lard. Used cooking lard was simply a way to reuse an ingredient. Many poor Whites do this as well.

Frequent consumption of these ingredients without significant exercise or activity can contribute to disproportionately high occurrences of obesity
Obesity

Obesity is a condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to an extent that health may be negatively affected. It is commonly defined as a body mass index of 30 kg/m2 or higher....
, hypertension
Hypertension

Hypertension, also referred to as high blood pressure, HTN or HPN, is a medical condition in which the blood pressure is chronically elevated....
, cardiac/circulatory problems, and/or type 2 diabetes, conditions which often result in shortened lifespan. Additionally, trans fat, which is used not only in soul food, but in many baked goods, is a known contributor to cardiovascular disease
Cardiovascular disease

Cardiovascular disease or cardiovascular diseases refers to the class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels . While the term technically refers to any disease that affects the Circulatory system , it is usually used to refer to those related to atherosclerosis ....
.

As a result, some African-Americans may use methods of cooking soul food different from those employed by their grandparents, including using more healthful alternatives for frying (liquid vegetable oil or canola oil) and cooking and stewing using smoked turkey
Domesticated turkey

The domesticated turkey is a large poultry bird raised for food. The modern domesticated turkey descends from the Wild Turkey , one of the two species of turkey ; however, in the past the ocellated turkey was also domesticated....
 instead of pork. Changes in hog farming techniques have also resulted in drastically leaner pork. Some cooks have even adapted recipes to include healthier alternatives to traditional ingredients including tofu and soy-based analogues. Critics have argued that the attempt to make soul food healthier has the undesirable effect of not being as flavorful as the traditional recipes.

Certain staples of a soul food diet have pronounced health benefits. Collard greens
Collard greens

Collards are various loose-leafed cultivars of Brassica oleracea , the same species that produces cabbage and broccoli. The plant is grown for its large, dark-colored, greens and as a garden ornamental, mainly in Brazil, Portugal, the Southern United States, many parts of Africa, Montenegro, Spain and in Kashmir....
 are an excellent source of vitamin
Vitamin

A vitamin is an organic compound required as a nutrient in tiny amounts by an organism. A compound is called a vitamin when it cannot be biosynthesis in sufficient quantities by an organism, and must be obtained from the diet....
s and minerals, including vitamin A
Vitamin A

Vitamin A, a bi-polar molecule formed with bi-polar covalent bonds between carbon and hydrogen, is linked to a family of similarly shaped molecules, the retinoids, which complete the remainder of the vitamin sequence....
, B6, and C
Vitamin C

Vitamin C or ascorbic acid is an essential nutrient for humans, a large number of simian species, a small number of other mammalian species , a few species of birds, and some fish....
, manganese
Manganese

Manganese is a chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. It has the atomic number 25. It is found as a Oxidation state in nature , and in many minerals....
, iron
Iron

Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. Iron is a Group 8 element and period 4 element. Iron is lustrous and silvery in color....
, calcium
Calcium

Calcium is the chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078 amu. Calcium is a soft grey alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth most abundant element by mass in the earth's Crust ....
, folic acid
Folic acid

Folic acid and Folate are forms of the water-soluble B vitamins. Vitamin B9 is essential to numerous bodily functions ranging from nucleotide synthesis to the remethylation of homocysteine....
, fiber
Fiber

Fiber or fibre is a class of materials that are continuous filaments or are in discrete elongated pieces, similar to lengths of yarn. They are very important in the biology of both plants and animals, for holding tissue s together....
 and small amounts of omega 3 fatty acid
Fatty acid

In chemistry, especially biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid often with a long unbranched aliphatic tail , which is either saturation or Unsaturated compound....
s. They also contain a number of phytonutrients which are thought to play a role in the prevention of ovarian and breast cancer
Cancer

Cancer is a class of diseases in which a group of cell display uncontrolled growth , invasion , and sometimes metastasis . These three malignant properties of cancers differentiate them from benign tumors, which are self-limited, do not invade or metastasize....
. Peas, rice, and legumes are excellent, inexpensive sources of protein
Protein

Proteins are organic compounds made of amino acids arranged in a linear chain and joined together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of adjacent amino acid Residue ....
 which also contain important vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Sweet potatoes are an excellent source of beta carotene and trace minerals as well, and have come to be classified as an "anti-diabetic" food. Recent animal studies have shown that sweet potatoes can stabilize blood sugar levels and lower insulin resistance
Insulin resistance

Insulin resistance is the condition in which normal amounts of insulin are inadequate to produce a normal Insulin#Physiological_effects from fat, muscle and liver cell ....
.

The importance of frying as a cooking technique is in large part responsible for soul food's reputation as greasy and unhealthy. However, when done correctly, deep fat frying at high temperatures can allow less oil into the food than pan frying with small amounts of oil. When foods are deep fried, the water in the food boils out. This outward force of steam is greater than the inward force of the oil, so very little oil ends up in the food. However, heavy breading, insufficient oil, or too low a temperature can result in oily, generally unhealthy food.

Dishes and ingredients

Soul food uses a great variety of dishes and ingredients, some unique and some shared with other cuisines.

Meats

Countryfriedsteak
* BBQ (a type of meat barbecued, traditional in African American Culture, but also eaten by European Americans as well)
  • Chicken
    Chicken

    The chicken is a Domestication fowl. Recent evidence suggests that domestication of the chicken was under way in Vietnam over 10,000 years ago....
     gizzard
    Gizzard

    The gizzard, also referred to as the ventriculus, gastric mill, and gigerium, is an organ found in the digestive tract of some animals, including birds, reptiles, earthworms and some fish....
    s, batter
    Batter

    Batter may refer to:* Batter * Batter * Batsman , sometimes called a batter* To hit or strike a person, as in committing the battery * To hit or strike a person, as in committing the battery , a common-law offense...
    -fried
  • Chicken liver
    Liver

    The liver is a vital organ present in vertebrates and some other animals; it has a wide range of functions, a few of which are detoxification, protein synthesis, and production of biochemicals necessary for digestion....
    s, batter-fried
  • Chitterlings
    Chitterlings

    Chitterlings are the viscera intestines of a pig that have been prepared as food. In various countries across the world, such food is prepared and eaten either as part of a daily diet, or at special events, holidays or religious festivities....
     ("chitlins") (the cleaned and prepared intestine
    Intestine

    In anatomy, the intestine is the segment of the Gastrointestinal tract extending from the stomach to the anus and, in humans and other mammals, consists of two segments, the small intestine and the large intestine....
    s of pigs
    PIGS

    PIGS is a four letter acronym that can stand for:* PIGS : Phosphatidylinositol glycan anchor biosynthesis, class S, a human gene.* PIGS : Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain, an informal grouping of sluggish economies....
    , slow cooked and often eaten with vinegar
    Vinegar

    Vinegar is an acidic liquid processed from the fermentation of ethanol in a process that yields its key ingredient, acetic acid . It also may come in a diluted form....
     and hot sauce
    Hot sauce

    Hot sauce, chili sauce, or pepper sauce refer to any spicy sauce made from chili peppers and other ingredients. There are many varieties around the world....
    ; sometimes parboiled, then batter
    Batter (cooking)

    Batter is a liquid mixture, usually based on one or more flours combined with liquids such as water, milk or beer. egg is also a common component....
    ed and fried)
  • Country fried steak, also known as "chicken fried steak" (beef
    Beef

    Beef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle . Beef is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of Australia, European cuisine and the Americas, and is also important in Africa, East Asia, and Southeast Asia....
     deep-fried with a crisp flour or batter coating, usually served with white gravy
    Gravy

    Gravy is a sauce made often from the juices that run naturally from meat or vegetables during cooking. It is a smooth, non-chunky liquid. Ready-made bouillon cube and powders can be used as a substitute for natural meat or vegetable extracts....
    )
  • Cracklins (commonly known as pork rind
    Pork rind

    Pork rind is the skin of a pig. Cooked, this may be either eaten warm with a meal, or served cold as a snack. In both forms, any fat attached to the skin of pig at the time of frying is absorbed in the process....
    s and sometimes added to cornbread
    Cornbread

    Cornbread is a generic name for any number of quick breads containing cornmeal. As maize is native to North America, it is not surprising that the various kinds of cornbreads are more prevalent in the New World....
     batter, also eaten by other cultures)
  • Fatback
    Fatback

    Fatback is the layer of fat along the back of a pig, used as a cut of meat. It is often used to make lard. Fatback is a traditional part of Cuisine of the Southern United States and soul food, where it is used for pork rinds or cracklins, and to flavor stewing vegetables such as greens and black-eyed peas....
     (fatty, cured, salted pork
    Pork

    Pork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig . The word, pork, is often meant to denote specifically the fresh meat of the pig, but it can be used as an all-inclusive term, to include cured, smoked, or processed meats It is one of the most-commonly consumed meats worldwide, with evidence of pig animal husbandry dating back...
    ; used to season meat
    Meat

    In modern English usage, meat most often refers to animal biological tissue used as food, mostly skeletal muscle and associated fat, but it may also refer to offal, including livers, skin, brains, bone marrow, kidneys, in some countries lungs, and a variety of other internal organs as well as blood....
    s and vegetable
    Vegetable

    The term "vegetable" generally means the Eating parts of plants. The definition of the word is traditional rather than scientific, however, and therefore the usage of the word is somewhat arbitrary and subjective, as it is determined by individual cultural customs of food selection and food preparation....
    s)
  • Fried chicken
    Fried chicken

    Fried chicken is chicken which is dipped in a breading mixture and then deep frying, frying or pressure frying. The breading seals in the juices but also absorbs the fat of the fryer....
     (fried in grease
    Fat

    Fats consist of a wide group of compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents and largely insoluble in water. Chemistry, fats are generally ester of glycerol and fatty acids....
     with seasoned flour, eaten by southern Whites as well)
  • Fried fish
    Fried fish

    Fried fish refers to any fish that has been prepared by frying. Often, the fish is covered in batter , or flour, or herbs and spices before being fried....
     (any of several varieties of fish—especially catfish
    Catfish

    Catfish are a very diverse group of Actinopterygii fish. Named for their prominent barbel s, which resemble a cat's whiskers , catfish range in size and behavior from the heaviest, the Pangasius gigas from Southeast Asia and the longest, the wels catfish of Eurasia, to detritivores , and even to a tiny parasite species commonly called the ca...
    , but also whiting, porgies
    Sparidae

    The Sparidae is a family of fish, included in the order Perciformes. The fish of the family are commonly called breams and porgies ....
    , bluegill
    Bluegill

    The Bluegill is a species of freshwaterfish sometimes referred to as bream, brim, or copper nose. It is a member of the sunfish family of order Perciformes....
    s—dredged in seasoned cornmeal
    Cornmeal

    Cornmeal is flour ground from dried maize, and is a common staple food. In the United States it is also called cornflour. ...
     and deep fried, eaten by southern Whites as well
  • Ham hock
    Ham hock

    A ham hock is the joint between the tibia/fibula and the metatarsals of the foot, where the foot was attached to the hog's leg. It is the portion of the leg that is neither part of the ham proper nor the foot or ankle, but rather the extreme Shank end of the leg bone and the associated skin, fat, tendons, and muscle....
    s (smoked, used to flavor vegetables and legumes)
  • Hoghead cheese
    Head cheese

    Head cheese or brawn is a cold cut originating from Europe. Head cheese is in fact not a cheese, but meat pieces from the head of a calf or pig , in aspic, with onion, black pepper, allspice, bayleaf, salt and or vinegar....
     (made primarily from pig snout
    Snout

    The snout, or muzzle, is the protruding portion of an animal's face, consisting of its nose, mouth, and jaw....
    s, lip
    Lip

    Lips are a visible body part at the mouth of humans and many animals. Lips are soft, movable, and serve as the opening for food intake, as an erogenous organ used in kissing and other acts of intimacy, as a tactile sensory organ, and in the articulation of speech....
    s, and ear
    Ear

    The ear is the sense organ that detects sounds. The vertebrate ear shows a common biology from fish to humans, with variations in structure according to order and species....
    s, and frequently referred to as "souse meat" or simply "souse", derived from European cooking techniques)
  • Hog maw
    Hog maw

    Hog maw is the stomach of a pig. More specifically, it is the lining of the stomach, is very muscular and contains no fat, if cleaned properly. It can be found in soul food, Chinese, Pennsylvania Dutch, Scottish, and Italian dishes....
    s (the muscular lining of the stomach of a pig - sliced and often cooked with chitterlings)
  • Hog jowls, (the cheek of a hog, which is usually cut into squares before being cured and smoked)
  • Neckbones (pork neck
    Neck

    The neck is the part of the body on many limbed vertebrates that distinguishes the head from the torso or trunk. The scientific term signifying "of the neck" is nuchal....
     bone
    Bone

    Bones are rigid organ that form part of the endoskeleton of vertebrates. They function to move, support, and protect the various organs of the body, produce red blood cell and white blood cells and store minerals....
    s seasoned and slow cooked)
  • Oxtail soup
    Oxtail soup

    Oxtail soup is made with oxtail. The use of the word "ox" in this context is a legacy of nomenclature; no specialized stock of beef animals are used....
     (a soup
    Soup

    Soup is a food that is made by combining ingredients such as meat and vegetables in Stock or hot/boiling water, until the flavor is extracted, forming a broth....
     or stew
    Stew

    A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in liquid and served in the resultant gravy.Ingredients in a stew can include any combination of vegetables , meat, poultry, sausages and seafood....
     made from beef tails)
  • Pigs feet
    Pickled pigs feet

    Pickled pigs feet is a food preparation associated with African American soul food and Cuisine of the Southern United States, as well as German and Irish cuisine....
     (slow cooked like chitterlings, sometimes pickle
    Pickle

    Pickle or pickling may refer to:Food * Pickling, the process of preserving a food by soaking and storing it in vinegar or brine...
    d and, like chitterlings, often eaten with vinegar and hot sauce
    Hot sauce

    Hot sauce, chili sauce, or pepper sauce refer to any spicy sauce made from chili peppers and other ingredients. There are many varieties around the world....
    )
  • Ribs
    Ribs (food)

    Ribs of beef, lamb, venison, and pork are a cut of meat. The term ribs usually refers to the less meaty part of the meat chops, often cooked as a slab ....
     (usually pork, but can also be beef rib
    Rib

    In vertebrate anatomy, ribs are the long curved bones which form the ribcage. In most vertebrates, ribs surround the chest and protect the lungs, heart, and other internal Organ s of the thorax....
    s) See BBQ


Vegetables

  • Black-eyed pea
    Black-eyed pea

    The black-eyed pea, also called black-eyed bean, "??" , lobiya , feij?o-frade , b?r?lce , Chavali/???? ,thatta payir , alasandee , mavromatika , louvi , and d?u tr?ng , is a subspecies of the cowpea, grown around the world for its medium-sized edible bean....
    s (cooked separately, or with rice
    Rice

    Rice is a staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in tropical Latin America, and East Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia, making it the second-most consumed cereal grain, after maize....
     as Hoppin' John
    Hoppin' John

    File:Hoppin-john-bowl.JPGHoppin' John is the Southern United States' version of the rice and beans dish traditional throughout the Caribbean. It consists of field peas also known as and rice, with chopped onion and sliced bacon, seasoned with a bit of salt....
    )
  • Cabbage
    Cabbage

    The cabbage is a leafy garden plant of the Family Brassicaceae , used as a Leaf vegetable. It is a herbaceous, biennial plant, dicotyledonous flowering plant distinguished by a short stem upon which is crowded a mass of leaves, usually green but in some varieties red or purplish, forming a characteristic compact, globular cluster ....
    , usually boiled and seasoned with vinegar, salt
    Salt

    A salt, in chemistry, is defined as the product formed from the neutralisation reaction of acids and base . Salts are ionic compounds composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically electric charge ....
     and ham hocks or fatback. More recently, smoked poultry
    Poultry

    Poultry is the category of domesticated birds which some people keep for the purpose of collecting their egg , or kill for their meat and/or feathers....
     (turkey or chicken) is also used as a seasoning.
  • Greens (usually cooked with ham hocks; especially collard greens
    Collard greens

    Collards are various loose-leafed cultivars of Brassica oleracea , the same species that produces cabbage and broccoli. The plant is grown for its large, dark-colored, greens and as a garden ornamental, mainly in Brazil, Portugal, the Southern United States, many parts of Africa, Montenegro, Spain and in Kashmir....
    , mustard greens
    Brassica juncea

    Brassica juncea, also known as mustard greens, Indian mustard and leaf mustard, is a species of mustard plant. Sub-varieties include Southern Giant Curled Mustard, which resembles a headless cabbage such as Kale, but with a distinct horseradish-mustard flavor....
    , turnip
    Turnip

    The turnip is a root vegetable commonly grown in temperate climates worldwide for its white, bulbous taproot. Small, tender, varieties are grown for human consumption, while larger varieties are grown as fodder for livestock....
     greens, or a combination thereof. A wild green known as poke salad, which requires special preparation due to its toxicity when raw.)
  • Lima bean
    Lima bean

    'Phaseolus lunatus' is a legume. It is grown for its seed, which is eaten as a vegetable. It is commonly known as the 'lima bean' or 'butter bean'; it is also known as Haba bean, Pallar bean, Burma bean, Guffin bean, Hibbert bean, Sieva bean, Rangoon bean, Madagascar bean, Paiga, Paigya, ...
    s (see also butter beans)
  • Butter beans (immature lima beans, usually cooked in butter or combined with multiple regional sausages)
  • Field peas (seasoned with pork)
  • Okra
    Okra

    Okra , also known as ladyfinger and gumbo, is a flowering plant in the Malvaceae , valued for its edible green fruits. Okra's binomial nomenclature is Abelmoschus esculentus; it is occasionally referred to by the synonym, Hibiscus esculentus L....
     (vegetable eaten fried in cornmeal and flour or stewed, often with tomato
    Tomato

    The Tomato is an herbaceous, usually sprawling plant in the Solanaceae or nightshade family, as are its close cousins Nicotiana, potatoes, aubergine , chilli peppers, and the poisonous Atropa belladonna....
    es, corn, onion
    Onion

    Onion is a term used for many plants in the genus Allium. They are known by the common name "onion" but, used without qualifiers, it usually refers to Allium cepa....
    s and hot pepper
    Chili pepper

    Chili pepper is the fruit of the plants from the genus Capsicum, members of the Solanaceae, Solanaceae. Botany considers the plant a berry bush....
    s)
  • Succotash
    Succotash

    Succotash is a food dish consisting primarily of maize and lima beans or other shell beans. Other ingredients may be added, including tomatoes, green and sweet red peppers, and possibly including pieces of cured meat or fish....
     (originally a Native American
    Native Americans in the United States

    Native Americans in the United States are the Indigenous peoples of the Americas from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii....
     dish of yellow corn, tomatoes, and butter beans, usually cooked in butter
    Butter

    Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermentation cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications such as baking, sauce making, and frying....
    ) Eaten by most Americans in the south
  • Sweet potato
    Sweet potato

    The 'sweet potato' is a dicotyledonous plant which belongs to the family Convolvulaceae. Amongst the approximately 50 genera and more than 1000 species of this family, only I....
    es (often parboiled, sliced and then baked
    Baked

    Baked can refer to:...
    , using sugar
    Sugar

    Sugar is a class of edible crystalline substances, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose. Human taste buds interpret its flavor as sweet. Sugar as a basic food carbohydrate primarily comes from sugar cane and from sugar beet, but also appears in fruit, honey, sorghum, sugar maple , and in many other sources....
    , cinnamon
    Cinnamon

    Cinnamon is a small evergreen tree 10?15 metres tall, belonging to the family Lauraceae, and is native to Sri Lanka.The leaf are ovate-oblong in shape, 7?18 cm long....
    , nutmeg
    Nutmeg

    The nutmegs Myristica are a genus of evergreen trees indigenous to tropical southeast Asia and Australasia. They are important for two spices derived from the fruit, nutmeg and mace....
     and butter, commonly called "candied yams"; also boiled, then puree
    Purée

    Pur?e and mash are general terms for food, usually vegetables or legumes, that have been ground, pressed, and/or strainer to the consistency of a soft paste or thick liquid....
    d, seasoned and baked into pies—similar in taste and texture to pumpkin pie
    Pumpkin pie

    Pumpkin pie is a traditional North American sweet dessert usually made in the fall and early winter, especially for Thanksgiving and Christmas....
    ) Eaten by most Americans in the south
  • Fried Corn, sweet yellow corn, off the cob, sauteed in bacon fat, with other flavorings, similar to Maque choux
    Maque choux

    Maque choux is a traditional dish of southern Louisiana. It is thought to be an amalgam of Acadian French and Native Americans in the United States cultural influence, and the name is likely to derive from the French interpretation of the Native American name....
    . Likely to derive from the Cajun people of Louisiana.


Breads

Runny Hunny
* Biscuit
Biscuit

File:Runny hunny.jpgA biscuit is a small Baking product; the exact meaning varies markedly in different parts of the world. The etymology of the word "biscuit" is from Latin language via Middle French and means "cooked twice", hence biscotti in Medieval Italian ....
s (a shortbread
Shortbread

Shortbread is a type of biscuit which is traditionally made from one part sugar, two parts butter, and three parts oatmeal . Shortbread is so named because of its crumbly Texture ....
 similar to scones
Scone (bread)

File:Tea and scones.jpgThe scone is a small United Kingdom quickbread of Scotland origin. Scones are especially popular in the United Kingdom, but are eaten in many other countries....
, commonly served with butter, jam, jelly, sorghum
Sorghum

Sorghum is a genus of numerous species of Poaceae, some of which are raised for grain and many of which are used as fodder plants either cultivated or as part of pasture....
 or cane syrup
Syrup

In cooking, a syrup is a thick, viscous liquid, containing a large amount of dissolved sugars, but showing little tendency to deposit crystals....
, or gravy
Gravy

Gravy is a sauce made often from the juices that run naturally from meat or vegetables during cooking. It is a smooth, non-chunky liquid. Ready-made bouillon cube and powders can be used as a substitute for natural meat or vegetable extracts....
; used to wipe up, or "sop
SOP

A sop is a piece of bread soaked in a liquid. SOP is an acronym for any of the following:*Standard Operating Procedure*Start of Production, an important milestone in the automotive industry timing plans...
," liquids from a dish) Eaten by most Americans in the south
  • Cornbread
    Cornbread

    Cornbread is a generic name for any number of quick breads containing cornmeal. As maize is native to North America, it is not surprising that the various kinds of cornbreads are more prevalent in the New World....
     (a shortbread often baked in a skillet
    Frying pan

    A frying pan, frypan, or skillet is a cooking pan used for frying, searing, and Maillard reaction foods. It is typically a 20 to 30 cm diameter flat pan with flared sides and no lid....
    , commonly seasoned with bacon
    Bacon

    Bacon is a cut of meat taken from the sides, belly, or back of a pig, then Curing , Smoking , or both. Meat from other animals, such as beef, Lamb and mutton, chicken, goat, or turkey , may also be cut, cured, or otherwise prepared to resemble bacon....
     fat); a Native American contribution.
  • Hoecake
    Hoecake

    Hoecake is a type of thin cornbread made of cornmeal, salt, and water, which is baked on a griddle. It became known as "hoecake" because field hands often cooked it on a shovel or hoe held to an open flame....
    s (a type of cornbread
    Cornbread

    Cornbread is a generic name for any number of quick breads containing cornmeal. As maize is native to North America, it is not surprising that the various kinds of cornbreads are more prevalent in the New World....
     made of cornmeal, salt and water, which is very thin in texture, and fried in cooking oil in a skillet. It became known as "hoecake" because field hands often cooked it on a shovel
    Shovel

    A shovel is a tool for lifting and moving loose material such as coal, gravel, snow, soil, or sand and is an extremely common tool which is used extensively in agriculture, construction and gardening....
     or hoe
    Hoe (tool)

    A Hoe is an agricultural tool used to*agitate the surface of the soil around plants, to remove weeds*pile soil around the base of plants ;*create narrow furrows and shallow trenches for planting seeds and bulbs;...
     held to an open flame)
  • Hot water cornbread (cornmeal mixed with hot water and fried)
  • Hushpuppies
    HushPuppies

    HushPuppies is a France garage rock band influenced by the various bands of the sixties. Members of the group live in Paris, France, although originate from Perpignan and Bordeaux....
     (balls of cornmeal deep-fried with salt and diced onions; slaves used them to "hush" their dog
    Dog

    The dog is a domesticated subspecies of the Gray Wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties....
    s yelping for food in their yards. Eaten by most Americans in the south
  • Johnny cakes (fried cornmeal pancakes, usually salted and buttered)
  • Milk and bread (a "po' folks' dessert-in-a-glass" of slightly crumbled cornbread, buttermilk
    Buttermilk

    Buttermilk is a fermented dairy product produced from cow's milk with a characteristically sour taste. The product is made in one of two ways....
     and sugar)
  • Sweet bread
    Sweet bread

    Sweet bread may refer to:*Sweetbread, a food made from the thymus gland of an animal*...
     (bread with a certain sweetness, presumably from molasses
    Molasses

    Molasses is a thick by-product from the processing of the sugar beet or sugar cane into sugar. The word molasses comes from the Portuguese language word mela?o, which comes from "meli", the Greek word for "honey"....
    )
  • Dumplings (homemade flat square noodles boiled with stewed chicken (usually a hen). Eaten by most Americans in the south
  • Panbread (a type of unleavened bread made with flour salt, butter and water. It's cooked on top of the stove with an iron skillet. Similar to traditional flatbread that one finds within various cultures across the world.)


Beverages

  • Punch
    Punch

    Punch can refer to:...
     A variety of flavors depending on the season.
  • Carrot Juice
    Carrot juice

    Carrot juice is juice produced from carrots, often marketed as a healthy diet. Carrot juice has a particularly high content ofProvitamin A , but is also high in Vitamin B complex and many minerals including calcium, copper, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, iron, and folic acid....
     A favorite juice blend made of carrots


Other items

  • Chow-chow
    Chow-chow

    Chow-chow, sometimes spelled Chowchow, is a relish made from a combination of different vegetables: cabbage, carrots, beans, asparagus, cauliflower and peas, which are pickling in a jar and served cold....
     (a spicy, homemade pickle
    Pickle

    Pickle or pickling may refer to:Food * Pickling, the process of preserving a food by soaking and storing it in vinegar or brine...
     relish
    Relish

    A relish is a cooking pickling, chopped vegetable or fruit food item which is typically used as a condiment. The item generally consists of discernible vegetable or fruit pieces in a sauce, although the sauce is subordinate in character to the vegetable or fruit pieces....
     sometimes made with okra, corn, cabbage, hot peppers, green tomatoes and other vegetables; commonly used to top black-eyed peas and otherwise as a condiment
    Condiment

    In the United Kingdom, a condiment used to be confined to salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar. Use of the term condiment has broadened and now is generally considered to be any prepared edible Chemical substance or mixture, often Food preservation or Fermentation , that is added in relatively small quantities, most often at the table...
     and side dish
    Side dish

    A side dish, sometimes referred to as a side order or simply a side, is a food item that accompanies the entr?e or main course at a meal....
    )
  • Grits
    Grits

    Grits is a Native Americans in the United States maize-based food common in the Southern United States, consisting of coarsely ground maize. Grits can also be made from wheat....
     (or "hominy
    Hominy

    Hominy or nixtamal is dried maize kernels which have been treated with an alkali.The traditional United States version involves soaking dried corn in lye-water , traditionally derived from wood ash, until the hulls are removed....
     grits", made from processed, dried, ground corn
    Maize

    Maize , known as corn in some countries, is a cereal domesticated in Mesoamerica and subsequently spread throughout the American continents....
     kernels and usually eaten as a breakfast
    Breakfast

    Breakfast is a meal eaten after a long period of sleep, most often eaten in the morning. The word came about because it means breaking the fast after one has not eaten since the night before....
     food the consistency of porridge
    Porridge

    Porridge, or porage, is a simple dish made by boiling oats or another cereal in water, milk, or both. It is eaten in a flat bowl or a dish....
    ; also served with fish and meat at dinnertime, similar to polenta
    Polenta

    Polenta is a dish made from boiled cornmeal. Although the word is borrowed into English language from Italian language, the dish is popular in Italian cuisine, Slovenian cuisine, Savoyard, Swiss cuisine, Austrian cuisine, Portuguese cuisine, Bosnian cuisine, Croatian cuisine , Cuban cuisine, American cuisine, Hungarian cuisine , Serbian cui...
    ) Eaten by most Americans in the south
  • Hot sauce
    Hot sauce

    Hot sauce, chili sauce, or pepper sauce refer to any spicy sauce made from chili peppers and other ingredients. There are many varieties around the world....
     (a condiment of cayenne pepper
    Cayenne pepper

    The Cayenne is a red, hot chili pepper used to flavor dishes and for medicinal purposes. Named for the city of Cayenne in French Guiana, it is a cultivar of Capsicum annuum related to bell peppers, jalape?os, and others....
    s, vinegar, salt, garlic
    Garlic

    Allium sativum L., commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion family Alliaceae. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, and chive....
     and other spices often used on chitterlings, fried chicken and fish including homemade or Texas Pete
    Texas Pete

    Texas Pete is a retail brand name for a Louisiana-style hot sauce in the United States manufactured by the TW Garner Food Company in Winston-Salem, North Carolina....
    , Frank's
    Frank's

    Frank's may refer to:*Frank's Red Hot, a cayenne pepper hot sauce*Frank's Nursery & Crafts, a defunct U.S. retailer...
    , Tabasco
    Tabasco

    Tabasco is a States of Mexico in Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Veracruz to the west, Chiapas to the south, and Campeche to the north-east....
    , or Louisiana
    Louisiana

    The State of Louisiana is a U.S. state located in the U.S. Southern States of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans....
     brand) A contribution from the Cajun people of Louisiana
  • Macaroni and cheese
    Macaroni and cheese

    Macaroni and cheese was created to be a common casserole, similar to the British dish cauliflower cheese. The main ingredients of macaroni and cheese are cooked macaroni and a cheese sauce, usually made from cheddar cheese....
     (usually cooked from scratch with cheddar cheese
    Cheddar cheese

    Cheddar cheese is a relatively hard, pale-yellow to off-white, and sometimes sharp-tasting cheese originating in the English village of Cheddar, in Somerset....
    , milk
    Milk

    Milk is an opaque white liquid produced by the mammary glands of female mammals . It provides the primary source of nutrition for newborn mammals before they are able to digestion other types of food....
    , flour, and seasonings mustard
    Mustard

    Mustard may refer to:...
     is option but a rarity.) It becomes a casserole when meats, such as bacon or ham, are added. Eaten all over America
  • Rice pudding
    Rice pudding

    Rice pudding is a dish made from rice mixed with water or milk and sometimes other ingredients. Different variants are used for either desserts or dinners....
    , with rice and corn-based vanilla
    Vanilla

    Vanilla is a flavoring derived from orchids of the genus Vanilla native to Mexico. Etymologically, vanilla derives from the Spanish language word "", little pod....
     pudding
    Pudding

    Pudding most often refers to a dessert, but can also be a savoury dish.In the United Kingdom and some Commonwealth of Nations countries, pudding refers to rich , fairly homogeneous starch- or dairy-based desserts , or informally to any dessert....
     Eaten in many cultures
  • Sorghum
    Sorghum

    Sorghum is a genus of numerous species of Poaceae, some of which are raised for grain and many of which are used as fodder plants either cultivated or as part of pasture....
     syrup (from sorghum, or "Guinea
    Guinea

    Guinea, officially Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa formerly known as French Guinea. The country's current population is estimated at 10,211,437 ....
     corn," a sweet grain indigenous to Africa introduced into the U.S. by African slaves in the early 17th century; see biscuits); frequently referred to as "sorghum molasses
    Sweet sorghum

    Sweet sorghum is any of the many varieties of sorghum which have a high sugar content. Sweet sorghum will thrive under drier and warmer conditions than many other crops and is grown primarily for Fodder, silage, and sugar production....
    "
  • Sweet tea
    Sweet tea

    Sweet tea is a form of iced tea in which sugar or some other form of sweetener is added to the hot water before brewing, while brewing the tea, or post-brewing, but before the beverage is chilled and served....
    , inexpensive orange pekoe (black tea
    Black tea

    Black tea is a variety of tea that is more oxidization than the oolong, green tea, and White tea varieties.All four varieties are made from leaves of Camellia sinensis. Black tea is generally stronger in flavor and contains more caffeine than the less Redox teas....
    , often Lipton
    Lipton

    Lipton is one of the world's best-known and best-selling brands of both hot leaf and ready-to-drink tea. It is currently owned by Unilever....
    , Tetley
    Tetley

    Tetley, a fully-owned subsidiary of Tata Tea Limited, is the world's second largest manufacturer and distributor of tea. Owned by India's Tata Group, Tetley's manufacturing and distribution business is spread across 40 countries and sells over 60 branded tea bags....
    , or Luzianne
    Luzianne

    Luzianne is the brand name for a line of Southern beverages and packaged goods, most famously Luzianne Iced Tea. Though most Luzianne products are available throughout the country, the popularity of the brand rests mainly in the Southern United States....
     brands) boiled, sweetened with cane sugar, and chilled, served with lemon
    Lemon

    The lemon is the common name for Citrus limon. The reproductive tissue surrounds the seed of the angiosperm lemon tree. The lemon is used for culinary and nonculinary purposes throughout the world....
    . The tea is sometimes steeped in the sun instead of boiled; this is referred to as "sun tea" General Southern cuisine
  • Salmon Patties (also known as Salmon Croquet/Croquettes), a mixture of skinned & de-boned salmon, mixed with cornmeal, eggs, milk and onions fried in a skillet to make small, round patties.
  • Red Velvet Cake
    Red velvet cake

    A Red velvet cake is a type of rich and sweet cake, with a distinctive dark red to bright red or red-brown color. Common ingredients include buttermilk, butter, flour, cocoa powder, and often either beets, or red food coloring....
     - a popular cake within the African-American culture, in which some say the dark reddish color of the cake symbolizes the struggles of African-Americans during the decades. Eaten in many cultures
  • Waffles
  • Watermelons
  • Banana Pudding


Traditions

It is a long-standing tradition
Tradition

The word tradition comes from the Latin traditionem, acc. of traditio which means "handing over, passing on", and is used in a number of ways in the English language:...
 in some African American and in general all Southern communities to indulge in a family or communal New Year's Day
New Year's Day

New Year's Day is the first day of the new year. On the modern Gregorian calendar, it is celebrated on January 1, as it was also in ancient Rome ....
 dinner featuring cabbage or greens, which symbolize money, and black-eyed peas, which symbolize good luck. Some families also include corn or cornbread in the meal to symbolize brighter days. Supermarkets that cater to African Americans often have these items, canned
Canned

The term canned may refer to:* "A Sucker for the Suck-O-Matic / Canned" is an episode of Rocko's Modern Life.* The canning of food * Withdrawing/removing something, or putting it on hold ...
 and fresh, in greater amounts and on prominent display at the end of the year to accommodate increased demand. On Fridays it is common to fry fish in general in the South.

See also

  • Cuisine of the Southern United States
    Cuisine of the Southern United States

    The cuisine of the Southern United States is defined as the regional culinary form of states generally south of the Mason-Dixon Line, and extending west to Texas....
  • Cuisine of the United States
    Cuisine of the United States

    The cuisine of the United States is a style of food preparation derived from the United States. The cuisine has a history dating back before the Colonial history of the United States when the Native Americans in the United States had a rich and diverse cooking style for an equally diverse amount of ingredients....
  • Edna Lewis
    Edna Lewis

    Edna Lewis was an African-American chef and author best known for her books on traditional Southern cuisine....


External links

  • Historical 1960s "soul food" citations from word researcher Barry Popik
    Barry Popik

    Barry Popik is an American amateur etymologist, a rated chess master who has competed in more than a hundred countries, and an administrative law judge who has also run for political office in New York City....
    .


Footnotes