The history of American soul food can be traced all the way

back to the days of slavery. More often times than not, the

slaves were given the most undesirable part of the meal, the

leftovers from the house. Pairing this with their own

home-grown vegetables, the first soul food dishes were

invented. After the slaves were freed, most of them were so

poor that they could only afford the most undesirable,

inexpensive cuts of meat available to them. (The leftover,

unwanted parts of a pig such as tripe, tongue, ears, and

knuckles). As in the days of slavery, African-Americans used

their own home-grown vegetables and things they could catch or

kill to complete their meals.

In the modern United States, soul food has truly evolved. It

has become part of the African-American culture, bringing

family members together on all occasions from birthdays to

funerals, to spend time together preparing meals. The history

of soul food is mainly an oral one; recipes were never really

written down so while two families may be preparing identical

meals, chances are that they don't taste very much alike.

Different ingredients, cooking methods, and techniques go into

preparing soul food meals, causing the end results to come out

differently.

One of the most obvious and widely-recognized characteristics

of African-American soul food is the fact that hot sauce and

more intense spices are incorporated into meals as often as

possible. For this reason, soul food is not for those who can't

take the heat or are prone to heart burn!

Another characteristic of true African-American soul food is

that nothing is ever wasted. Having originated from the

leftovers of just about anything. Stale bread was quickly

converted into stuffing or a bread pudding. Over ripe bananas

were whipped up into banana puddings, and other ripe fruits

were put into cakes and pies, and leftover fish parts were made

into croquets or hush puppies.

Sunday dinners are definitely the times when soul food is most

commonly seen on tables. Sunday dinners are a time for

African-American families to get together to prepare and

partake in a large meal. Sunday dinners normally take up the

entire day (normally following a church ceremony), and family

members come from far and wide to partake in this meal

together. Sunday dinners took place in the form of potlucks,

also, where various family members contribute a dish or two and

form a big, fine meal. Collard and mustard greens, kale, ribs,

corn bread, fried chicken, chitlins, okra, and yams are all

excellent examples of African-American soul food that might be

found at a Sunday meal.

Soul food is not generally a healthy option for a person that

must monitor their diet. Fried foods are generally prepared

with hydrogenated oil or lard, and they usually tend to be

flavored and seasoned with pork products. Since this may be

what contributes to such a high percentage of African-Americans

that are significantly overweight, soul food preparation methods

are now slowly starting to be refined, bringing a lot more

healthy options to the table. Rather than the increasingly

unhealthy pork products, use of turkey-based products is

becoming more and more popular as time passes. The fried foods

that are so beloved of the culture can now be prepared using a

lower fat canola or vegetable oil.