I didn’t know much about soul food beyond the Kentucky Fried Chicken versions of fried chicken, cornbread and mashed potatoes. More authentic than the Colonel’s, the term “soul food” was coined during the Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s as a cultural marker uniting African Americans. The cuisine itself, however, which closely resembles southern cooking had its origins in Africa in the 14thcentury and can be traced to many Native American tribes, as well. Turns out, pork bellies, grits, collard greens and other staples have a more extensive history than beginning in somebody’s mother’s kitchen.
The European exploration of Africa in the 14thcentury caused the African exposure to many of the ingredients used in soul food today. Moroccans brought turnips, the Spanish brought cabbage and explorers from the Americas brought corn. As the slave trade began to increase, African cooking methods used on ingredients plentiful in Africa were transported to new places with new and different available ingredients.
In the United States, slaves cooked with the greens they could find or that were unwanted, such as collards, mustard, kale and dandelion, as well as turnip and beets. Slaves were given undesirable parts of slaughtered cow and pig, too, such as pig feet and ears, beef tongue, chitterlings (intestines) and tripe. In addition, slaves hunted for other meats, such as rabbit and raccoon.
The slaves used what they had to work with, seasoning the pieces of meat with garlic, thyme, onion and bay leaves. To cook, slaves would use open fire pits or fireplaces, usually with large pots or cast iron skillets.
An African-American food tradition emerged in these years as slaves would verbally share their recipes with each other. The non-specificity of these recipes forced southern cooks to rely on their own senses, as well as the tradition in recipes that suggest adding a “pinch” of salt or to bake until “golden brown.”
Southern food also influenced soul food, much of which is influenced by Native American food. The mainstay of the Native American diet was corn, usually ground into meal or limed with salt to make hominy. This was the cornerstone of popular southern dishes like grits and cornbread, as well as moonshine liquor.
Native Americans also used all parts of the animal that they hunted. The Native Americans hunted rabbits, squirrels, opossums and raccoons, eating the animal’s brain, liver and intestine. Southern food followed this waste-not-want-not tradition in creating chitterlings, or chit’lins, which are deep fried intestines of pigs, livermush, pork brains and eggs. The fat was saved and used for frying.
As slave cooks began to work in the plantation house, much of their cuisine preparations and ingredient staples began to fuse with traditional southern methods. Slave cooks used ingredients like berries, apples, peaches and nuts in pies and puddings. They also used all the parts of the food—they turned stale bread into bread pudding, fish leftovers into croquettes and the liquid of greens into gravy. They also put fried chicken and boiled sweet potatoes on the family’s table.
Post-slavery, southern poor whites and blacks continued to cook almost the same dishes, with a few variations in technique. In the 1960’s, African-Americans claimed their culinary history, and with it, the variations and techniques created by their ancestors, name their particular version of southern cooking “soul food.”