| The history of American soul food can be traced all | | | | from the leftovers of just about anything. Stale bread |
| the way back to the days of slavery. More often | | | | was quickly converted into stuffing or a bread pudding. |
| times than not, the slaves were given the most | | | | Over ripe bananas were whipped up into banana |
| undesirable part of the meal, the leftovers from the | | | | puddings, and other ripe fruits were put into cakes and |
| house. Pairing this with their own home-grown | | | | pies, and leftover fish parts were made into croquets |
| vegetables, the first soul food dishes were invented. | | | | or hush puppies. |
| After the slaves were freed, most of them were so | | | | Sunday dinners are definitely the times when soul food |
| poor that they could only afford the most undesirable, | | | | is most commonly seen on tables. Sunday dinners are |
| inexpensive cuts of meat available to them. (The | | | | a time for African-American families to get together to |
| leftover, unwanted parts of a pig such as tripe, tongue, | | | | prepare and partake in a large meal. Sunday dinners |
| ears, and knuckles). As in the days of slavery, | | | | normally take up the entire day (normally following a |
| African-Americans used their own home-grown | | | | church ceremony), and family members come from |
| vegetables and things they could catch or kill to | | | | far and wide to partake in this meal together. Sunday |
| complete their meals. | | | | dinners took place in the form of potlucks, also, where |
| In the modern United States, soul food has truly | | | | various family members contribute a dish or two and |
| evolved. It has become part of the African-American | | | | form a big, fine meal. Collard and mustard greens, kale, |
| culture, bringing family members together on all | | | | ribs, corn bread, fried chicken, chitlins, okra, and yams |
| occasions from birthdays to funerals, to spend time | | | | are all excellent examples of African-American soul |
| together preparing meals. The history of soul food is | | | | food that might be found at a Sunday meal. |
| mainly an oral one; recipes were never really written | | | | Soul food is not generally a healthy option for a person |
| down so while two families may be preparing identical | | | | that must monitor their diet. Fried foods are generally |
| meals, chances are that they don't taste very much | | | | prepared with hydrogenated oil or lard, and they usually |
| alike. Different ingredients, cooking methods, and | | | | tend to be flavored and seasoned with pork products. |
| techniques go into preparing soul food meals, causing | | | | Since this may be what contributes to such a high |
| the end results to come out differently. | | | | percentage of African-Americans that are significantly |
| One of the most obvious and widely-recognized | | | | overweight, soul food preparation methods are now |
| characteristics of African-American soul food is the | | | | slowly starting to be refined, bringing a lot more healthy |
| fact that hot sauce and more intense spices are | | | | options to the table. Rather than the increasingly |
| incorporated into meals as often as possible. For this | | | | unhealthy pork products, use of turkey-based products |
| reason, soul food is not for those who can't take the | | | | is becoming more and more popular as time passes. |
| heat or are prone to heart burn! | | | | The fried foods that are so beloved of the culture can |
| Another characteristic of true African-American soul | | | | now be prepared using a lower fat canola or |
| food is that nothing is ever wasted. Having originated | | | | vegetable oil. |