African American

 

African American food is the amalgamation of African and American cuisine.  It is the primary food routine practiced by the Americans of African nativity. Alternately African American food or the African American cuisine is also known as “Soul Food”. African American food has evolved as the main food of people living in Southern United States.

 

Historical and Cultural Influences on African American food
 The term “Soul Food” was coined in the 1960s and the word Soul was used to describe the African American cuisine. The African American food may have evolved in American between the 15th century and the 17th century. The majority of the Africans who were brought into United States included the natives of West Africa who were mostly farmers who specialized in the cultivation of African yams, corn, peanuts and other fresh vegetables and grains.

 

Ingredients Commonly Used in African American food
African American food made use of varied ingredients right from vegetables and fruits to meat. Normally corn or maize that has been ground into meal or limed with an alkaline salt to make hominy or masa is a staple ingredient.

 


Fruits are made use of in African American cuisine include- Muscadines, blackberries, raspberries and a lot of wild berries that are part of Southern Native American food too.

 


Among meats- Venison is a staple meat owing to the availability of plenty of white-tailed deer. Hunted rabbits, squirrels, opossums, raccoons, livestock, borrowed from Europeans, including hogs and cattle are also used in African American recipes.

 


African American food made from vegetables are mostly made using greens and beans.  The greens can include collard greens, turnip greens, and mustard greens. The beans used in African American recipes include black beans, garbanzo beans, yellow beans, etc.

 


Sweet potato is a regular feature of African American food. Also used mainly are grits and rice to make dishes such as hominy and polenta. Okra is another important ingredient in African American dishes. Many people from West Africa are farmers and have been so for hundreds of years. As a result much of the cuisine of West Africa is based on such food stuffs as African yams, corn, peanuts and other fresh vegetables and grains.

 


African American food mostly consists of ground starches or grain meals such as ground tubers or ground sweet potato and ground cornmeal.  Besides they also incorporate yams, peanuts and corn.
Rice and grits are also used as staple preparations in African American cuisine.