Black History Month Foods
- Black History Month has been celebrated in February in the United States since its beginning in the 1920s. From the start, it has been a celebration of blacks' achievements on the national scene, and was set in February to coincide with the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. The history of foods that can be prepared to celebrate Black History Month stretches back to ancestral African recipes and ingredients, but these were often adapted to what was available in the Americas to enslaved blacks.
- Since eating is a social activity, everyday foods can have as much cultural and historical significance as foods served for special occasions. For instance, black and white Southerners alike are familiar with the breakfast dish grits, and don't balk at eating cooked collard or mustard greens. Northerners are likely to decline a serving of these dishes, however, and prefer their oatmeal and spinach. Food also is a celebration; holidays and special events are marked by carefully prepared, beautifully served dishes in almost every cultural group. For Black History Month, the significance in preparing certain foods often lies in remembering the actions and contributions of both African ancestors and American icons.
- Foods and recipes that originate in Africa often come from agricultural, tribal societies. Cooking was both an activity in which African women took great pride, and a necessity to feed their extended families, which often lived in the same household. In the era of slavery in the Americas, food became a subsistence-level concern for many blacks, yielding foods based on coarse grains, vegetables, and meat scraps. These evolved into traditional Southern dishes, and became the basis for "soul food" cooking now associated with black American culture.
- Recipes and foods differ based on the parts of Africa a black family can trace its heritage to, but many African-Americans cannot identify their ancestral home because of a lack of record-keeping by slave traders and slave owners. West Africa was the region from which the most slaves were taken, and many recipes can be drawn from this regional cuisine. Gumbo, pralines, pan bread, okra, sweet potatoes, and the use of spicy sauces all came to the Americas with Africans. Other traditional ingredients include chicken, peanuts, cassava, corn, garlic, lemons and rice. See the Resources section for recipes.
- Economy and filling empty stomachs was the primary emphasis for black slaves, so recipes like johnnycake, or cornbread, stews with the gristle and fat of meat, and unwanted vegetables like mustard and collard greens formed the basis for many slaves' diets. Those who were house slaves had slightly improved diets, eating a wider variety of foods. On some plantations, slaves grew their own food on small patches of land, and could add corn, pumpkin, yams and okra to their cooking then. Black-eyed peas and peanuts both would form the basis for a hearty stew with fat drippings and plenty of spices to add flavor where there was not much food. See the Resources section for a recipe.
- "Soul food" is its own specialty cuisine in contemporary times, and is still enjoyed by black Americans as a tie to their African heritage. It has roots in slavery, but now includes more foods that would have been luxuries to slaves, like butter, jam, buttermilk, white flour and abundant meat. Fried chicken, cornbread, cooked greens, grits, bacon and sausage, biscuits and gravy and hush puppies are all a part of this cuisine. And, the classic Southern pastime, barbecuing, had its origins in historical black cooking. Barbecued pork, chicken and ribs all are popular on the soul food menu. See the References section for recipes.