soul food the surprising story of an american cuisine

Harris said of her visit to Benin, West Africa “I’ll never forget the first time the matriarch made something called sauce feuille, which just means leaf sauce, but it so reminded me of collard greens, the taste of things that my grandmother had cooked.”Ĭrops like okra, Carolina gold rice, black-eyed peas and yams originated in Africa and were brought to the Americas, along with African people who were captured and enslaved. It helps to explain and explore the culinary connection between Africa, America and the history of soul food. “High on The Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America,” is a documentary on Netflix based on Jessica B. Soul food is the foundation for African-American that, at its core, involves down-home cooking that originated in the rural south. The expression “soul food” originated in the mid-1960s, when “soul” was a word commonly used to describe urban, or Black, culture.

Much of American cuisine is influenced by African-American food and traditions. Mac and cheese is a beloved dish today by Americans, especially in the Black community.

According to “High on The Hog,” President Thomas Jefferson loved mac and cheese, a dish created by his enslaved head chef, James Hemings, also the brother of Sally Hemings.

Soul food the surprising story of an american cuisine