Soul Food History: Black History Month Celebration with Deah Berry Mitchell

The Roots of Soul Food

• 💡 Soul food is a cuisine deeply rooted in the resilience, creativity, and culture of West and Central African traditions.
• 🌍 It tells a story shaped by survival and transformed into beloved Southern dishes, with origins tracing back to enslaved Africans who adapted their techniques and ingredients.
• 🍽️ Food historian Deah Berry Mitchell describes soul food as "the greatest novel ever written on a plate," encompassing celebration, joy, trauma, and sadness.

Historical Dishes and Their Stories

• 🧀 Macaroni and cheese, now a staple, was once an aristocratic dish introduced by Chef James Himmings, an enslaved Black chef who trained in France.
• 🍠 Sweet potatoes were a significant part of the rations provided to enslaved African Americans, often given in quantities of 3 to 5 pounds per week, and remained popular post-emancipation.
• 🥬 Collard greens, while originating from Greece, are prepared using techniques remembered from tropical greens grown in West Africa, demonstrating culinary adaptation.

Preparing Neck Bones

• 🍖 Neck bones, traditionally possum but today often beef or turkey, are a flavorful component of soul food.
• 🍳 The preparation involves seasoning the neck bones, lightly dusting them with flour, and searing them in a preheated cast-iron skillet for 2-3 minutes per side until lightly browned.
• 🍲 A gravy can be made from the fond left in the pan after searing, by reducing it and then adding the neck bones back before finishing in the oven or on the stovetop.

Beyond the Kitchen

• 📚 Deah Berry Mitchell also shares her expertise in books and history, highlighting her well-rounded knowledge of Black culture.
• 📍 She is the founder of Roadies Magazine, a publication focused on Texas food, travel, and history, which can be found at diaroadies.com.