Soul food: digesting the history of African-American cuisine

Soul food is one of the tastiest, most popular, and recognizable types of cooking to come out of the United States. An African-American cuisine rooted in the country’s Deep South and the transatlantic slave trade that flourished—and was finally banished—in the 1800s, this unique food genre is associated with comfort and indulgence, but was created out of struggle and survival. So, are you hungry and feel like soul searching? 

Click through and digest the history of soul food.




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Proclamation of Emancipation

Soul food has its roots back in the 19th century, specifically when President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, freeing the enslaved people in Texas.




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General Order No. 3

Two years later on June 19, 1865, Union Army general Gordon Granger issued General Order No. 3 (pictured), the document that announced enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation.




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Juneteenth

The announcement was celebrated unofficially by freed slaves in Texas. The following year, 1866, is recognized as when the first event known as Juneteenth took place.




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What’s cooking?

Following their emancipation from slavery in the 1860s, African-American cooks expanded on the coarse diet that had been provided them by slave owners. But ingredients were scarce, and opportunities to experiment with food were few and far between. Some took advantage of going back to school to learn how to cook in a classroom environment. Pictured in 1899 are African-American schoolgirls with their teacher, learning to cook on a wood stove.




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Home cooking

Soul food, however, originated in the home cooking of the rural South—mostly in Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama—where women would use locally raised or gathered foods and other inexpensive ingredients to create dishes that were filling but meagre on nutrients.




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Great Migration

The widespread migration of African Americans from rural communities in the South to large cities in the North and West that began around 1910 and which lasted up to the 1970s saw these foods and food-preparation techniques carried to every state in the Union.




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Skill and ingenuity

In their new environment and buoyed by a tangible sense of hope and optimism, African-American cooks began to form a distinctive cuisine despite limited means. They used skill and ingenuity to preserve African food traditions, and cleverly adapted traditional American recipes.




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Crossover meals

In fact, African Americans employed as cooks in white households incorporated the influence of their employers’ favored dishes into their home cooking to create exciting and deliciously tempting crossover meals. But this new style of cuisine still didn’t have a name.




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“Black pride”

The term “soul food” was first used in 1964 during the rise of “black pride,” a cultural phenomenon underpinned by the civil rights movement.




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Soul food appears on restaurant menus

During this period, many aspects of African-American culture—including soul music—were celebrated for their contribution to the American way of life, and soul food was helping to fuel an appetite for change. Pictured in June 1967 are African-American restaurant owners Marion and Toots Evans posing in front of their soul food restaurant, The Sisters, at 119 West 135th Street in Harlem, New York City.




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What is soul food?

Soul food has a long, rich history that ties black culture to its African roots. Long before the term was coined, African Americans celebrated their emancipation with food festivals, held fittingly in June.




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Origins of soul food

Juneteenth food festivals would invariably involve barbecued meats, usually pork but chicken too. But with the middle of June being the beginning of the watermelon season in Texas, this thirst-quenching fruit also found a spot at the table.




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Celebration time

By the 1930s, a typical Juneteenth celebration feast comprised watermelon, barbecue, and red lemonade. Pictured is an African-American family in the 1970s enjoying a similarly timed get-together.




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Key staples

As noted by Black Foodie, in soul food cooking there are four key ingredients that “establish a historical link to America’s dark slavery past and the African cultures that the enslaved carried with them.” Rice is an important staple, and especially so back in the day in the Carolinas and in Louisiana. Rice was nowhere to be found in the Western Hemisphere prior to the slave trade. It was the transportation of the African variety of rice that provided the foundation for one of the most popular and recognizable types of cooking to come out of the United States. Pictured is a plate of homemade Southern Hoppin’ John with rice, pork, and black-eyed peas.




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Okra

Vegetables of African origin, such as okra and sweet potatoes, were widely grown. In fact, okra became a cornerstone of southern American cooking. Pictured is a portion of crispy fried okra, a favorite snack.




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Pork

The inclusion of smoked pork in soul food cooking is common. Chickens and pigs could be raised on small-scale farms without special fodder, and these meats appeared in many dishes, as they do today. Pictured is a plate of skewered pork tenderloin wrapped in bacon and grilled to perfection with baked sweet potato, black-eyed peas, and macaroni salad.




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Greens

The addition of greens (including mustard and collards), turnips, cabbage, and beans is one of the most recognizable aspects of soul food cuisine. Again, many of these vegetables were introduced to the United States during the slave trade. These ingredients, particularly collards, serve as important sources of dietary fiber and vitamins.




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Corn casserole

This Southern classic fills bellies and loosens belts. A cornbread pudding filled with tender corn kernels, it’s a casserole in itself, though also works as a side dish.




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Fried chicken

Authentic fried chicken soul food style can be made using apple cider vinegar, red pepper, peanut oil, cayenne pepper, and seasoned salt, among other ingredients.




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Red beans and rice

Soul food at its most comforting, red beans and rice is a classic combo, helped along by generous cuts of sausage and soaked in a classic Louisiana seasoning.




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Hush puppies

Soul food epitomized, the humble hush puppy is a small, savory, deep-fried round ball made from cornmeal-based batter. An essential side dish, hush puppies serve as the finishing touch to any meal.




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Condiments

Soul food is drizzled in all sorts of mouthwatering sauces. Spicy vinegar-based pepper sauce remains a widely used condiment. Vinegar-laced, coarse-ground Creole mustard is another hot favorite. And cane syrup is poured generously on lots of  desserts.




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Soulful desserts

Peach cobbler ranks among the most popular soul food desserts. This iconic sweet treat from the American South is also made with blackberry and blueberry.




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Strawberry sumac cake

A traditional soul food dessert, strawberry sumac cake is made using ingredients that include chopped hulled strawberries, ground sumac, sugar, and almond extract. The filling can be wrapped in cornbread or, as illustrated, a sweet cheese pastry.




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Pecan pie

A soul food classic, pecan pie Southern style includes a splash of bourbon in the mix to complement the corn syrup that makes this dessert such a gooey, mouthwatering, and decadent hit.




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Sweet potato pie

Sweet potato is a versatile ingredient in soul food cooking, used in savory dishes as well as desserts. You’ll very often find sweet potato pie crowned with a toasted marshmallow topping.




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Mississippi mud cake

The “mud” in question being heaps of cocoa, a good handful of toasted pecans, vanilla extract, and mini marshmallows.




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Something to drink?

Soul food can work up a thirst. In fact, just thinking about it calls for an aperitif. You could do worse than a Southern mint julep⁠—bourbon, fresh mint, and sugar.




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30/30 SLIDES