10 Foods Some Black People in America Will Eat for the Holidays That Were Passed Down Through Slavery

This Thanksgiving, there are a number of dishes that will grace Black tables that have their origins in slavery. Though many of the foods came from Africa, they were altered or adapted by enslaved Africans to fit the ingredients available to them in the New World. Much of the research for these dishes was compiled by slaverebellion.org. Blackeyed Peas Blackeyed peas were first brought to the New World during the transatlantic slave trade as food for slaves. They first arrived in Jamaica around 1675, spreading throughout the West Indies, and finally reaching Florida by 1700, North Carolina in 1738 and into Virginia by 1775. By the time of the American Revolution, blackeyed peas were firmly established in America and became one of the most popular food crops in the southern part of the United States. Okra Okra arrived in the New World during the transatlantic slave trade in the 1600s. Okra or gumbo, as it is called in Africa, found exceptional popularity in New Orleans. In French Louisiana, Creole cuisine and African cooking came together to produce the unique cuisine of New Orleans. Okra was commonly being used by the American white population before the Revolutionary War. Okra was popular among women to produce abortion, by lubricating the uterine passage with the slimy pods. Sesame Enslaved Africans grew sesame for other uses than its oil. Thomas Jefferson noted in the 1770s that benne (another name for sesame) was eaten raw, toasted or boiled in soups by African slaves. Jefferson also noted that slaves baked sesame in breads, boiled it in greens, and used it to enrich broth. Today sesame is used primarily as bread topping Rice The first successful cultivation of rice in the United States was accomplished in the South Carolina Sea Islands by an African woman who later taught her planter how to cultivate rice. The first rice seeds were imported directly from the Island of Madagascar in 1685 and Africans supplied the labor and the technical expertise. African experts in rice cultivation were brought directly from the island of Goree to train Europeans how to cultivate this cash crop. Fried food The house servants while learning from the planters also took African culinary taste into the Big House. African cooks introduced deep fat frying, a cooking technique that originated from Africa. Long before the days of refrigeration, Africans understood how deep fat frying of chicken or beef could preserve these foods for a time. Cornbread Using their indigenous crops enslaved Africans recreated traditional African cuisine. One such dish is fufu. In South Carolina this dish is called "turn meal and flour." This meal is prepared by boiling water and adding flour while stirring the ingredients, hence the name "turn meal and flour." Africans prepare fufu by mixing palm oil and flour. From these fufu mixtures, slaves made hoecake in the fields that later evolved into pancakes and hot water cornbread. Cornbread, prepared by African slaves, was similar to African millet bread. Grits As early as 1739, naturalist Mark Catesby noted that slaves made a mush from the corn meal called pone bread. He also noticed that slaves took hominy Indian corn and made grits, a food similar to the African dish called Eba. pig feet stew Soul food "Soul food" itself goes back to days when plantation owners gave slaves discarded animal parts, such as hog maw (stomach), hog jowl, pig's feet, ham hocks. Blacks took this throwaway and added a touch of African culinary techniques to create tasty dishes. Collard greens Collard greens and dandelion greens were first recorded in 1887. Poke greens and turnip greens were first brought to Jamaica from Africa in 1674. They later arrived in North America in 1738. Watermelon Originated in Africa, the transatlantic slave trade served as the major vehicle for watermelon’s transport to the New World.

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