Before you slice into that sweet-potato pie, douse those greens in hot sauce or cut a corner of macaroni and cheese this holiday season, consider what you may be missing.
African-American food historian Leni Sorensen says the iconic images of soul food during Thanksgiving and Christmas represent a small slice of black American culinary customs.
"There's a wide repertoire of food. Everybody understands the iconic list of greens and pork chops and cornbread and sweet-potato pie. But that is only a minor list of all of the different foods that people eat within their own communities," says Sorensen, a researcher at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello.
In the late 19th century, geography factored in how people celebrated the yuletide season. During this time African Americans lived mostly a rural existence, which translated into a farm-to-table lifestyle.
What Our Black Ancestors Ate for the Holidays
Natalie Y. Moore
Fri, 18 Nov 2011 16:19:00 GMT
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