Food is more than just sustenance; it's a vibrant tapestry woven with stories, people, and traditions passed down through generations. African influences on food can be found nearly anywhere around the globe: in Spain, throughout South America, and right here in the United States and beyond.
These connections are not happenstance, however. The trans-Atlantic slave trade was responsible for shuttling millions of Africans from the only home they knew. With them, they brought their ways of cooking, and they adapted to the new place they came to call home. And these ways of cooking thus took hold, living and breathing through new generations. Today they still remain.
African American food is a rich culinary tradition fraught with questions of race and the complex legacy of slavery. From there, one can see how Africans in America rely on cooking traditions and ingredients from their homes in West and Central Africa, combined with techniques and ingredients used by Native Americans and European settlers.
Let's embark on a culinary journey to explore the history of African food districts and their profound impact on global cuisines.
The Roots of African Culinary Influence
During the period of the transatlantic slave trade, enslaved people ate African foods aboard slave ships. These included rice, millet, okra, black-eyed peas, yams, and legumes such as kidney beans and lima beans. These crops were brought to North America and became a staple in Southern cuisine. Slave ships were provisioned with African vegetables, fruits, and animals to feed the enslaved people bound in chains below the ships' decks. These items were later planted and used in the New World for food and as cash crops.
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Enslaved Africans in the South continued to prepare their traditional dishes of guinea fowl and plant foods native to West and Central Africa. Soul food recipes have pre-slavery influences, as West African and European foodways were adapted to the environment of the region.
Here's a look at some of the key ingredients and dishes that trace their origins back to Africa:
- Rice: Rice is a staple crop that thrived in West Africa, particularly in the Senegambian region. Enslaved Africans brought their knowledge of rice cultivation to the Americas, where it became a cornerstone of Southern cuisine.
- Okra: This versatile vegetable, also known as "gumbo," is native to West Africa. It was introduced to the Americas during the slave trade and quickly became a popular ingredient in soups, stews, and other dishes.
- Black-Eyed Peas: These legumes were originally cultivated in West Africa and brought to the Americas by enslaved Africans. They are often associated with good luck and prosperity and are a key ingredient in dishes like Hoppin' John.
The introduction of African plants to the Americas that shaped American cuisine was part of what is called the Columbian exchange.
Soul Food: A Culinary Legacy
Soul food originated in the home cooking of the rural Southern United States or the "Deep South" during the time of slavery, using locally gathered or raised foods and other inexpensive ingredients. Soul food recipes have pre-slavery influences, as West African and European foodways were adapted to the environment of the region. Many of the foods integral to the cuisine originated in the limited foodstuffs that poor southern subsistence farmers had at hand. This in turn was reflected in the rations given to enslaved people their enslavers.
Enslaved people were typically given a peck of cornmeal and 3-4 pounds of pork per week, and those rations formed the basis of African American soul food. Most enslaved people needed to consume a high-calorie diet to replenish the calories spent working long days in the fields or performing other physically arduous tasks.
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The leftovers and scraps from meals cooked for the "big houses" (plantation houses) were called "juba" by the enslaved. They were put in troughs on Sundays for the slaves to eat. Archaeological and historical research concerning slave cabins in the Southern United States indicates that enslaved African Americans used bowls more often than flatware and plates, suggesting that they primarily made stews and "gumbo" for meals, using local ingredients gathered in nature, vegetables grown in their gardens, and leftover animal scraps rejected by their enslavers.
The term soul food became popular during the 1960s and 1970s in the midst of the Black Power movement. Those who had participated in the Great Migration found within soul food a reminder of the home and family they had left behind after moving to unfamiliar northern cities. Soul food restaurants were Black-owned businesses that served as neighborhood meeting places where people socialized and ate together.
African Food Districts in New Orleans: A Story of Resilience and Culinary Dexterity
Africans in New Orleans, who often hailed from West African countries like Senegal, Gambia, and Benin, or formerly French-occupied islands like Haiti, have deeply embedded, but painful roots in the city. Enslaved people were forced to work the lands of the French colony in the 18th century, according to the Louisiana Folklife Program. Classic dishes, like gumbo and red beans and rice, can be traced and credited to the tenacity, resilience, and culinary dexterity of Africans.
Bennachin at 1212 Royal Street has made an indelible mark on New Orleans cuisine by specializing in West African cooking - the culinary ancestor of three iconic Louisiana staples: jambalaya, red beans and rice, and gumbo. The bennachin (from which jambalaya is a descendent), sorso wolengho ni mano (a forebearer of red beans and rice), and nsouki lappa (an ancestor of gumbo), beyond being viscerally satisfying to eat, serve to remind diners that their favorite Southern foods can be traced back to African culinary traditions.
Over the last three decades, Bennachin has paved the way for other restaurants centering African diasporic traditions in New Orleans, such as Senegalese restaurant Dakar NOLA at 3814 Magazine Street, Ethiopian restaurant Addis NOLA at 2514 Bayou Road, and Ethiopian restaurant Cafe Abyssinia at 3511 Magazine Street, to reclaim the dishes and culinary approaches descended from African countries.
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Tambajang started serving the cuisines of her homeland at a time when Americans in New Orleans were less familiar with native African dishes, even as those flavors and preparations manifested in familiar forms as Creole-style gumbo, jambalaya, and red beans and rice. But over the years, she’s watched New Orleanians learn to appreciate West African food. “At the beginning, they were hesitant to try it,” Tambajang says. “Now, people are open-minded to try new things.”
Here's a table summarizing the African origins of some iconic New Orleans dishes:
Culinary Historian Michael Twitty on the Roots of American Cuisine in African American Culture
| New Orleans Dish | African Ancestor | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Jambalaya | Bennachin (Jollof Rice) | A rice-based dish cooked in one pot with tomatoes and various meats and vegetables. |
| Red Beans and Rice | Sorso Wolengho ni Mano | Red beans cooked with ginger, onion, garlic, and sausage, served over rice. |
| Gumbo | Nsouki Lappa | A stew made with an okra base and various meats and vegetables. |
African Culinary Traditions Around the World
The influence of African cuisine extends far beyond the borders of the United States. Here are some examples of African-inspired dishes found in other parts of the world:
- Brazil: Acarajé In Brazil, acarajé, in which black-eyed peas are mashed and deep fried in palm oil and often stuffed with shrimp or other meat. Known as akara in English, this street snack is popular throughout Nigeria, Mali, Benin and other African countries.
- Cuba: Quimbombo In Cuba, it’s showcased in quimbombo, or okra stew. Traditionally, braised pork shoulder is cooked in a thick soup of bell peppers, tomatoes and garlic. Quimbombo pairs well with steamed or boiled rice.
- Colombia: Rondón On the Caribbean shores of San Andres, Colombia, there’s one dish you’re sure to find - rondón. Seafood constitutes the base of this dish, typically a combination of crab, shellfish or fish, along with plantain or yucca, coconut milk, garlic, ginger and other aromatics.
- Belize: Hudutu One of their key - and comforting - dishes is hudutu, a fish stew served with pounded plantain. Fish is cooked in thick coconut milk and cilantro broth and plantain pounded with a mortar and pestle in the same fashion as Puerto Rican mofongo.
- Spain: Paella Paella, originating on the southern coast of Spain in Valencia, is cooked in a wide, flat-bottomed pan until the rice cooks to a browned crust on the underside.
- Puerto Rico: Mofongo Fried green plantains mashed into a paste with garlic, salt, broth, olive oil and a topping of pickled red onions comprise mofongo, a Puerto Rican delight.
- Dominican Republic: Mangú The Dominican Republic has a different twist on green plantains that is similar to Puerto Rico’s mofongo - mangú. Something eaten for breakfast, mangú is made of plantains or green bananas that are boiled and then mashed with either margarine, butter or the starchy water they were cooked in.
These dishes are a testament to the enduring legacy of African culinary traditions and their ability to adapt and thrive in new environments.
