What Defines Soul Food

There is a lot of confusing information out there about what soul food is. One of the reasons is that, over time, it has started to include a wider variety of foods. We’ve got a lot to unpack, so let’s get started.

African, French, and Spanish influences have affected the fusion of Louisiana Creole cuisine (Cajun with Amerindian influence added in) and Cajun cuisine. Then you have the Lowcountry cuisine from the South Carolina and Georgia coastlines and the food traditions of rural areas in the Southern United States.

What Is It, Really?

Soul food is a historically rich cuisine that ancestral African Americans in the Southern area of the United States traditionally prepared. This style of food has since made its way into the mainstream. The creativity in using a wide array of ingredients and techniques has been passed down from generation to generation.

Staples include greens, beans, peas, cornmeal (maize), grits, potatoes, fried chicken, and pork offal. It’s not just the food that Mama and Grandma cooked to nourish the family; it also comforts the soul. After moving to the States, I recognized the influence of my roots in traditional African recipes reflected in American soul food.

African-American grandmothers used whatever was available and did whatever was necessary to make it taste good. Ingenuity kicks in, and you salt it, spice it, fry it, and put sugar in it. Intense flavor can be a good thing. Hog maws are a classic example.

Enjoying traditional soul food with hog maws, cornbread, and collard greens.

Soul Food History

Ignoring the horror of history doesn’t make it disappear. And unfortunately, the African slave trade is a repulsive part of American history. Those enslaved on plantations during the American colonial period up until the Civil War adapted the ingredients available to them. Since many slaves formed a good relationship with the Amerindians, they learned to cook ingredients native to the New World.

And so was created a new form of comfort food that now defines soul food. When many Blacks picked up and moved on during the Great Migration, they found comfort in recreating the dishes they had grown up with.

The term soul food was coined in the mid-1960s when soul became a common word to describe African-American culture, especially when jazz and gospel music became popular on the radio and television. Black-owned soul food restaurants served as neighborhood meeting places where people socialized and ate together. The emotional bond that ties this cooking style to its roots gives this cuisine its unique character and importance.

Is it the Same as Southern Food?

Soul food, popularly known as African-American cuisine or Black People’s Food, is typically found in the South, but there’s more to it.

It’s a delicious fusion of the culinary traditions of West Africa, France, Spain, and the Americas. While it is typically Southern, not all Southern food is considered soul food. Why? Well, because there are white people in the South, too.

No offense, but white people’s and black people’s foods are quite different. Yes, there are some similarities, but how many white people do you know who know how to cook chitlins?

Serving up classic soul food, chitterlings.

What Cities Have the Best Soul Food Restaurants?

Soul food is widely known and loved worldwide, so it’s hard not to find a restaurant, no matter where you live. Atlanta has the best overall scene in the South with a nice mix of traditional, down-home, healthy, upscale, and vegan soul food restaurants. However, you can find progressive restaurants in Chicago, the San Francisco Bay Area, and New York City.

Some Note-Worthy Restaurants

Henry’s Soul Café, established in 1968 by Henry E. Smith, has two locations, one in D.C. and the other in Maryland. It’s worth the trip to enjoy his authentic sweet potato pie.
Dulan’s Soul Food Kitchen, owned by Adolf Dulan, offers cafeteria-style dining in two locations. His customers tout the highly-rated restaurants as the best west of the Mississippi River.
Sunday’s Eatery in Miami is rapper Trick Daddy’s baby, and Latosia Colvin is his chef. He brings the fame, and she makes awesome food.
Melba’s, a premier comfort-food hangout for New York, was opened by Harlem native Melba Wilson. She has all the classics on her menu.
Soulé Chicago has been a popular spot for Creole-infused comfort food since 2017. The food is as beautiful as it is delicious.