Fri 21 Mar 2008
Soul food and its African roots
Posted by Author under Food, Lifestyle
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One of the best known American cuisine is soul food from the South. But, did you know that a hundred years ago, it wasn’t called soul food? Only in the past 50 years, has the term sprung up, and this is because soul food is actually a coined term from the Civil Rights Movement in America. Soul food is actually a blend of African and American identity, and that’s what makes it unique.
Soul food was originally the fare eaten by slaves in the American plantations, who brought with them the knowledge and in some cases, continued maintaining the native ingredients which they brought back with them from Africa. After a while, soul food naturally became “Americanized” with many of the traditional ingredients being replaced with ingredients from the Southern North American states.
So, you have stuff like chitterlings, mustard, pokeweed, cress, fried chicken, apples, peaches and lots of others featuring in the menu, that was never originally a part of African cooking. Nowadays, soul food is popular because it can be exotic, but at the same time it is heartening and delicious. If you like fried food, than soul food is for you.
Especially nice is a potluck where everyone cooks and brings a specific dish to dinner. You can say soul food is still in an evolving state, as more and more, outside influences continue to add to the already exotic mix that was started by black Americans many years ago.
If you are looking for recipes, check out this site on Soul Food Recipes.