My understanding of American Barbecue Food and soul food was largely shaped by media portrayals until I experienced We Eatin’ Good’s Queer Pop-Up Chef series at Oko Café in Fitzroy. This series introduced me to Trinity Hill, a talented African American make-up artist, creative, and cook. Trinity’s passion lies in sharing her heritage through soul food and barbecue recipes passed down from her nana and grandfather, offering a taste of history and culture.
Like many, I associated soul food and American barbecue with the Southern United States. Intrigued, I delved into their true origins. My research revealed that the story begins with Spanish colonists encountering Indigenous communities – the Taino-Arawak and Caribbean natives – who practiced slow-cooking meats over smoke. This method, known to Native Americans as barbacoa, involved smoking meat on a wooden platform over indirect heat, often using green wood. This lengthy process, sometimes taking up to 12 hours, resulted in incredibly juicy and tender protein. Initially dismissed as ‘barbaric’ by colonists, barbacoa was eventually embraced and evolved into a cornerstone of American culinary tradition. The history of slavery in America then shifted cooking responsibilities onto enslaved African people. Contrary to popular media narratives, both Indigenous and African-American communities are the true architects of modern barbecue food.
Barbecue food gained significant traction in the South around the mid-1700s. By the 1830s, it was widely accepted that authentic barbecue required an African American cook and team, solidifying barbecue as a distinctly Black culinary experience. This historical context highlights the deep cultural roots of barbecue food in America.
Another essential component of the Black experience in the U.S. culinary landscape is soul food. To understand its essence, I turned to Trinity. “I call it soul food,” she explained, “because it’s not just about me cooking; it’s about highlighting my culture and memories. It’s the feeling I get when I’m cooking and eating it. When you taste it, you’re tasting a part of my soul, and that’s what makes it ‘soul food’ for me. These are the meals I yearned for when I was away from my nana’s house, the dishes that made me feel complete.”
Trinity’s family hails from Alabama, a key region in the development of soul food, along with Georgia and Mississippi. These states also historically held the largest populations of enslaved people. Enslaved individuals were given meager, low-quality food rations, primarily pork and cornmeal. From these limited ingredients emerged iconic dishes like cornbread, battered and fried meats, and pork paired with vegetables such as collard greens. Soul food also carries a strong influence from African cooking traditions, particularly from the savanna and tropical regions of West and Central Africa. The richness and heartiness of soul food are deliberate, designed to provide the high-calorie sustenance needed for the intense physical labor endured by enslaved people. The term “soul food” itself gained popularity during the Black Power movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Notably, one of the earliest documented uses of the term appears in “The Autobiography of Malcolm X,” published in 1965.
In conclusion, both barbecue food and soul food are much more than just cuisines; they are powerful expressions of cultural heritage, resilience, and culinary innovation rooted in the experiences of Indigenous and African American communities. Exploring these food traditions offers a deeper understanding of American history and the rich tapestry of flavors that have shaped its culinary identity.
