List of soul foods and dishes facts for kids
This is a list of soul foods and dishes. Soul food is a special type of cooking from African Americans who lived in the Southern United States. It uses many different ingredients and ways of cooking. Some of these ideas came from Africa, brought by enslaved Africans. Other ideas came from Europe or were learned from Native Americans in the Americas.
Contents
Delicious Meat Dishes
Here are some tasty meat dishes you might find in soul food:
Buffalo Ribs
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This dish is made from the ribs of a fish called the buffalo fish. The ribs are covered in a breading and then deep-fried until crispy.
Fatback
Fatback is a fatty, cured, and salted piece of pork. It's usually from the back of the pig. People often use it to add flavor to dishes that cook slowly, like stews.
Fried Chicken
Fried chicken is a very popular dish! It's made by taking pieces of chicken, covering them in flour or batter, and then frying them. The special seasoning and crispy coating make it super delicious. Chicken and waffles is a special soul food dish often eaten on important days.
Fried Fish
Many kinds of fish can be fried, like catfish, whiting, or porgies. They are often dipped in seasoned cornmeal before frying. This cooking method was inspired by how people fried chicken.
Ham Hocks
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Ham hocks are usually smoked or boiled. They have a lot of skin, tendons, and ligaments. They need to cook for a long time, like in a stew or by braising, to become soft and tasty. You can cook them with greens or other vegetables.
Hog Jowl
Hog jowl is the cured and smoked cheek of a pig. It's not exactly bacon, but it looks similar with its streaks of meat and has a similar flavor. Hog jowl is a key part of soul food.
Hog Maw
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Hog maw is the stomach lining of a pig. It's very muscular and has no fat. In soul food, hog maw is often cooked with chitterlings, which are pig intestines.
Chitlins
Chitlins are the cleaned and prepared intestines of pigs. They are slow-cooked and often eaten with a vinegar-based sauce. Sometimes, they are partly boiled, then dipped in batter and fried.
Oxtail
Oxtail is the tail of a cattle. It's a bony meat that's rich in gelatin. It's usually cooked slowly as a stew or braised dish.
Pickled Pigs' Feet
Pickled pigs' feet are slow-cooked. Sometimes they are pickled or eaten with a vinegar sauce.
Pigs' Feet
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Pigs' feet are the feet of pigs. They are used in many dishes around the world.
Pork
Pork is used in many ways in soul food, like ham and bacon. It's also used to add flavor to vegetables, legumes, gravies, and sauces.
Pork Ribs
Pork ribs are the ribcage of a domestic pig. The meat and bones are cut into pieces and prepared by smoking, grilling, or baking. They are usually served with a sauce, often barbecue sauce. The idea of barbecuing came from Native Americans.
Poultry Giblets
Poultry Giblets, like chicken liver and gizzards, are also part of soul food.
Chipped Beef on Toast
This dish is made with chipped beef and a creamy bechamel sauce, served on toast. You can also add gravy or beef stock.
Turkey Neck Bones
Turkey neck bones are another part of soul food cooking.
Tasty Veggies and Beans
Beans, greens, and other vegetables are often cooked with ham or pork to make them taste even better.
Black-Eyed Peas
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Black-eyed peas are often mixed into a dish called Hoppin' John or served as a side dish.
Collard Greens
Collard greens are a very important vegetable in Southern U.S. cooking. They are often cooked with other leafy greens like kale, turnip greens, spinach, and mustard greens. People usually eat them all year in the South, often with a spicy vinegar sauce. To cook them, people might add smoked and salted meats (like ham hocks or smoked turkey), diced onions, and other seasonings.
Hoppin' John
Hoppin' John is a traditional dish from South Carolina. It's made with black-eyed peas (or field peas) and rice, with chopped onion and sliced bacon. Some people use ham hock, fatback, or country sausage instead of bacon. You might also find green peppers or vinegar and spices in it.
Mustard Greens
Mustard greens are a type of mustard plant. Some kinds look like a headless cabbage but have a strong horseradish-mustard flavor. They are also called green mustard cabbage.
Okra
Okra is a vegetable that comes from West Africa. It can be eaten fried or stewed and is a traditional ingredient in gumbo. Sometimes it's cooked with tomatoes, corn, onions, and hot peppers.
Fried Okra
Okra pods are sliced, coated in cornmeal, and then fried until golden and crispy.
Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes are often partly boiled, sliced, and then baked with butter, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, or other spices. They are commonly called "candied sweets" or "candied yams."
Turnip Greens
Turnip leaves are sometimes eaten as "turnip greens." They taste similar to mustard greens. Turnip greens are a common side dish in the southeastern U.S., especially in late fall and winter. Smaller leaves are usually preferred.
Breads and Grains
Cornbread
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Cornbread is a quick and easy bread often baked in a skillet. It's commonly made with buttermilk and seasoned with bacon fat. Cornbread became popular because corn was easy to find in America. It was first made by Native Americans.
Grits
Grits are a cooked dish made from coarsely ground cornmeal. This food also came from Native American cooking.
Hoecake
Also known as Johnnycake, a Hoecake is a thin type of cornbread fried in cooking oil in a skillet. Its name comes from field workers who would sometimes cook it on a shovel or hoe held over an open flame.
Hushpuppies
Hushpuppies are balls of deep-fried cornmeal, usually with salt and diced onions. They often include cornmeal, wheat flour, eggs, salt, baking soda, milk or buttermilk, and water. Sometimes, onion, scallion, garlic, whole kernel corn, and peppers are added.
Sweet Treats
Sweet Potato Pie
Sweet potato pie is made by partly boiling sweet potatoes, then mashing them, adding spices, and baking them in a pie crust. It's similar in texture to pumpkin pie.
Banana Pudding
Banana pudding is a creamy dessert made with vanilla custard, vanilla wafers, bananas, whipped cream, and vanilla extract.
Red Velvet Cake
Red velvet cake is a red-colored cake made with cocoa powder.
Pecan Pie
Pecan pie is a delicious pie made with pecans.
Soul Food from Different Regions
Some soul food dishes are special to certain areas. This includes foods like Jambalaya, Gumbo, and red rice and beans, which are part of the Creole cooking style of Black Americans. It also includes dishes from the Gullah Geechee people. You can learn more about these at Louisiana Creole cuisine and Gullah Geechee Cuisine.
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