Soul Food: A Cuisine You Need to Know About

‘Soul Food’ is a cuisine that has been a part of the American diet and culture, but it is not exactly American cuisine. The surprising thing is that most Americans are eating Soul Foods without even realizing their significance and origin.

Soul food is actually a subset of Southern American cuisine, which means that all Soul Foods belong to Southern cuisine, but not all Southern foods are Soul Foods.

Soul food is a topic talked about more often in Black Heritage Month, but it loses its importance both before and after this period. It is a culinary tradition that is celebrated all year at the dinner tables.

Soul food has a vast cultural importance behind it like all other cuisines of the world. Let’s understand this interesting cuisine, look into its elements, and its cultural significance.

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What Does ‘Soul Food’ Mean: Historical Significance

History of Soul Food (Image by Drazen Zigic on Freepik)

Soul Food has a foundation rich with flavors and history. It originates from the enslaved Africans, who were navigating their ways into a new and unfamiliar world, after The Great Migration. This is the reason why Soul Foods consists of the ingredients that were abundant in the regions where African and African-American communities lived.

Faced with the challenge of limited resources, they combined their culinary heritage, local ingredients, and European cooking techniques to develop a cuisine now known as the ‘Soul Food.’

Fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, and cornbread might seem like names of dishes belonging to the American culture, but in reality, these are all parts of Soul Foods.

Not just these, Soul Food consists of an array of many other iconic dishes, each filled with flavor and tradition. It is the heartwarming embrace associated with them that just brings life to the Soul Food.

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Meaning of ‘Soul Food’

Connection of soul foods with music (Image by Freepik on Freepik)

There’s an interesting story behind the use of the word ‘Soul’ to refer to this cuisine. It actually originated from African-American music, rather than the food.

When racism was at its peak, African-American jazz musicians were facing issues regarding their acceptance and were often paid much less than their white counterparts.

Frustrated by this, they decided to incorporate a distinct Black Southern sound known by the name of “Soul” or “Funky” into their compositions.

This is what marked the beginning of a broader usage of the word “Soul” for encapsulating the Black culture, like Soul Music to Soul Food.

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Is Soul Food Healthy?

Elements of Soul Food (Image by Valeria_aksakova on Freepik)

Popular belief is that Soul Food is quite unhealthy as it incorporates the usage of large amounts of fats, oils, and salt. However, if eaten properly, soul food can be a healthy choice, while providing deliciousness as well.

The leafy green, legumes, beans, sweet potatoes, and ancient grains like millet, all are rich sources of many vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Devising a proper Soul Food diet with nutrient-rich options can be a good way of ensuring the happiness of your taste buds as well as your body.

Soul Food actually has a plant-based foundation, which is why it is becoming popular among vegans as a delightful cuisine that offers appealing dish options having a meat-like flavoring. This shows how this cuisine is adaptable to changing dietary trends.

These are the reasons Soul Food has been gaining popularity recently and is extending beyond the kitchens and gatherings of just African-American people. Soul Food ingredients like yams, okra, and black-eyed peas are becoming popular in the markets and their accessibility is revitalizing Soul Food’s diversity.

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Hence, Soul Food is an exquisite part of Southern American cuisine, belonging to the particular regions where the African-Americans resided. The next time you have Soul Food, don’t forget to remember the cultural heritage of this exquisite cuisine and how it made its way to your dinner table.