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African American "Soul-Food"
African American Food Culture and History
What we know as "soul food" is the descendant of slave cooking. It is the brilliant masterpiece that derived from want. Slave cooking is distinct in its use of greens, beans, and the parts of the pig rejected at the plantation house: pig's knuckles, ears, tripe, hog maws. These were added to the corn rations which were sometimes the only food allotted to the slaves. The meager pantry was further supplemented by wild game and fish pulled from the streams. Squirrel and possum figure among the meats used, catfish, trout, and shrimp among the fish. Much soul food requires the use of only one pot, as time for cooking and money for its tools were both hard to come by.
In the past, African American food was prepared in many ways. Since there were no refrigerators or freezers years ago, meat was smoked in a smokehouse to make sure it wouldn't spoil. Meats were barbecued, roasted, boiled, or made into stews. Feathered wildlife was prepared by frying, baking, roasting, making broths, or simmering to form gravies. In the rivers and streams, there were lots of fish and other water life that could be eaten. Vegetables were boiled or fried. Drinks were made from the juices of fruits.
Meals were cooked in open fires using black kettles or were barbecued in open pits. The people who cooked just knew how to do it. They didn't need to follow a recipe.
Back in the days of slavery, slaves were often forced to eat the scraps that their slave masters did not want. They turned these scraps into delicious dishes. Some of these foods are black-eyes peas, cornbread, bread pudding, greens, sweet potato pie, and chitlins.
From this tradition came many delicious African American food recipes.
