262 Culture, Identity, and Community: From Slavery to the Presentcornbread and hushpuppies. Many enslaved Africans,
particularly those who worked in the homes of their
owners, also received scraps of meat that were left over
from choicer portions. Th ese included fatty pieces of pork
sometimes called fatback or salt pork, which was typically
used to season and cook vegetables. Enslaved Africans
also had access to other remains from the pig, such as the
feet, tails, ears, intestines and skin. Th ese were typically
fried or pickled, becoming such favored items as scrapple,
chitlins, and pork rinds. Over time the culinary innova-
tions and adaptations introduced by enslaved Africans
became popular with whites as well.
Today, a typical “soul food” dinner might consist of
some combination of the following, for example: fried
chicken, baked ham, smothered pork chops, fried cat-
fi sh, macaroni and cheese, baked beans, collard greens,
candied yams, black-eyed peas, corn bread, sweet potato
pie, and peach cobbler. Other popular soul food items
include gumbo (a hearty Creole stew combining sau-
sage, seafood, and vegetables), jambalaya (a Creole dish
similar to gumbo), grits (an enriched corn porridge), and
potato salad.
Th e term “soul food” became popular during the 1960s
and 1970s in the United States during a time when the Civil
Rights and Black Power movements measurably infl uenced
the way that Americans thought about African American
culture. In an era when such terms and ideas as “Black
Power” and “black is beautiful” came into usage in relation
to African Americans, so did the concept of “soul.” Soul in
relation to African Americans refers to an intangible, yet
validating spiritual essence or style that is seen as permeat-
ing African American culture. Th us, it is not uncommon
for the concept of soul to be applied to African American
music, art, dance, and food.
In recent years, the soul food diet, particularly the as-
pect that deals with the heavy consumption of fried, pro-
cessed, salty, high-fat, and high-cholesterol foods, has been
increasingly criticized for contributing to rising rates of
obesity and morbidity among African Americans as well
as related health ailments such as diabetes (sometimes re-
ferred to as “sugar”), high blood pressure, and heart dis-
ease. In response, cooks, dieticians, and nutritionists in
consultation with medical personnel have begun to publish
cookbooks touting healthier versions of many popular soul
food dishes. Th e soul food diet persists in African Ameri-
can communities because of the comfort and sense ofHigginson, Th omas Wentworth. Army Life in a Black Regiment.
Boston: Fields, Osgood, 1870.
Lyell, Charles. A Second Visit to the United States of North America.
London: J. Murray, 1850.
Raboteau, Albert J. African American Religion. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1999.
Raboteau, Albert J. Slave Religion: Th e “Invisible Institution” in the
Antebellum South. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Soul Food
Soul food refers generally to the style of cooking and eating
developed by enslaved Africans on Southern plantations. It
represents a synthesis of African culinary sensibilities with
the practicalities of African survival in the American South.
It also embodies the taste traditions of the various cultures
to which Africans in the New World were exposed.
Before arriving in the New World, sub-Saharan Afri-
cans had a diet primarily emphasizing such vegetables as
okra, yams, squash, pumpkins, eggplant, leafy greens, and
peppers. Th ese were prepared in rich soups and stews along
with meat, fi sh, or fowl and oft en served with a starch. Th e
starchy accompaniment to these meals, known by many
names, might consist of pounded yam (also known as FuFu)
or stiff cornmeal porridge (also known as Sadza) and was
essentially used as a bread-like eating utensil. Other food
staples included palm oil, in which foods were fried, as well
as groundnuts and seeds.
Th e enslavement of African people between the 15th
and 19th centuries had a signifi cant impact on the quality
and substance of their diet. Enslaved Africans traveling to
the Americas were typically malnourished, subsisting on
small quantities of beans and rice and low-quality food
rations. On American plantations, enslaved Africans were
sometimes able to grow local vegetables that in some in-
stances were similar to those found in Africa. Over time,
American “sweet potatoes” replaced African “yams,” and
collard greens replaced leafy greens found on the Afri-
can continent. In addition to local vegetables, enslaved
Africans caught fi sh and seafood or hunted such small
easily caught game as squirrel, rabbit, and possum. Peri-
odically, enslaved Africans might also receive food rations
from their owners consisting of such items as cornmeal,
fl our, milk, and molasses. Th ese items in combination
with others were used to produce such fi lling staples as