Soul Food: The Cooking Culture of the South

My four-year-old self thought every place in America was like Florida. Growing up in the South, I never realized how culturally unique it was from the rest of the regions in the United States. As I got older, I began to understand that people from other parts of the country may not eat what I eat. When it comes to cooking, the South has its own style that most would call “soul food.” Many have tried this wholesome way of cooking, but many don’t know the origins of this ethnic cuisine. Soul food dates back to the era of American slavery where African slaves were given the leftover cuts of meat and transformed them into savory dishes. Soul food, however, is more than a dish to me. It allows for my family and I to come together to laugh, eat, and make memories.
I learned this style of cooking from my grandma during my late teen years and now it is my favorite way to cook. There’s something about the taste and aroma of soul food that satisfies one body. A typical soul dish would consist of the following foods: rice, beans or peas, vegetables, meat, and a side of cornbread. During family gatherings, my grandma would cook so much food that there was enough for everyone to eat seconds and take home plates to go. She loved to cook dirty rice, field peas with smoked neck bones, collard greens with smoked pigtails, macaroni and cheese, potato salad, and cornbread dressing on special occasions. Another interesting thing about soul food is that it varies due to certain meals cooked for breakfast versus certain meals that are cooked for dinner.
In the morning, grits are usually served with some kind of breakfast meat, eggs and toast. For those of you who do not know what grits are, it is a food made from corn that is grounded into a coarse meal. Grits have a texture that is similar to cream of wheat, but much more coarse. Making grits is simple. I remember the day my grandma taught me how to make grits. It was on a Sunday morning. I woke up to her shuffling in the kitchen. I walked in there as she was washing the dishes from last night, “Do you need help, Grandma?” “Sure, baby you can put on a pot of grits,” she replied then reached into the pantry, pulling out a container of Quaker old fashioned grits. I wasn’t sure how to make it. I saw her make grits plenty of times, but never have I cooked it by myself. My grandma showed me how much water to pour in the pot, then the right amount grits to add in the water. Ever since then I’ve been using her same recipe. If you’re making grits for two to three people, the recipe calls for the following ingredients:
3 cups of water
1 cup of Quaker old fashioned grits
2 tbsp of butter
canned milk
salt (to taste)
optional:
black pepper
shredded mild cheddar cheese

First, turn your stove on the highest heat setting. Take a pot, add three cups of water and sprinkle some salt, then let it come to a boil. Next, stir in the one cup of grits as you pour it into the boiling water. Turn the stove down to a low-medium setting and put a lid on top of the pot. Let the grits cook for about eight minutes. Once the grits thickens, stir in two tablespoons of butter and pour a drizzle of canned milk into grits until the texture looks creamier and smoother. Then put lid back on. After five minutes, grits should be ready to eat.
The unique thing about grits is that you can add whatever you like to spice up the taste. Personally, I like to add a little extra butter and lots of black pepper. For others, they like to add shredded cheese which makes cheesy grits.
Soul food dishes are meant to be hearty. Or as my grandma would say “stick to your stomach”. I made sure I took careful notes from watching the way she cooked, because one day I hope to pass this same style of cooking down to my own children. My hope for them is to have an appreciation for their own culture and not let this style of cooking be lost in the future generations to come. Cooking soul cuisine is a process and depending on what you’re having for dinner it may take nearly three hours to finish cooking. However, I don’t mind the time it takes because the results come out delicious.
Not only did my grandma teach me how to cook “soul,” she taught me how to have love for who I am and where I come from. As a part of my Southern and ethnic identity, soul food has a special place in my heart — and also in my stomach.
