What is the difference between Soul Food and Southern food? In his “Soul Food Cookbook” (1969), Bob Jeffries summed it up this way: \u201cWhile all soul food is Southern food, not all Southern food is soul. Soul food cooking\u00a0is an example of how really good Southern [African American] cooks cooked with what they had available to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Preparing Pork Maws – hog jowls usually cooked with chitterlings. \u00a9Priscilla Willis<\/p><\/div>\n
Dishes or ingredients commonly found in soul food include:<\/strong><\/p>\nBiscuits<\/strong> (a shortbread similar to scones, commonly served with butter, jam, jelly, sorghum or cane syrup, or gravy; used to wipe up, or “sop,” liquids from a dish).
\nBlack-eyed peas<\/strong> (cooked separately or with rice, as Hoppin’ John).
\nButter beans<\/strong> (immature lima beans, usually cooked in butter).
\nCatfish<\/strong> (dredged in seasoned cornbread and fried).
\nChicken<\/strong> (often fried with cornmeal breading or seasoned flour).
\nChicken livers<\/strong>.
\nChitterlings or chitlins<\/strong>: (the cleaned and prepared intestines of hogs, slow-cooked and often eaten with vinegar and hot sauce; sometimes parboiled, then battered and fried).
\nChow-chow<\/strong> (a spicy, homemade pickle relish sometimes made with okra, corn, cabbage, green tomatoes, and other vegetables; commonly used to top black-eyed peas and otherwise as a condiment and side dish).
\nCollard greens<\/strong> (usually cooked with ham hocks, often combined with other greens).
\nCornbread<\/strong> (often baked in an iron skillet, sometimes seasoned with bacon fat).
\nChicken fried steak<\/strong> (beef deep fried in flour or batter, usually served with gravy).
\nCracklins<\/strong>: (commonly known as pork rinds and sometimes added to cornbread batter).
\nFatback<\/strong> (fatty, cured, salted pork used to season meats and vegetables).
\nFried fish<\/strong>: (any of several varieties of fish: whiting, catfish, porgies, bluegills dredged in seasoned cornmeal and deep-fried).
\nGrits (<\/strong>often served with fish).
\nHam hocks<\/strong> (smoked, used to flavor vegetables and legumes).
\nHog maws<\/strong> (or hog jowls, sliced and usually cooked with chitterlings).
\nHoghead cheese<\/strong>.
\nHot sauce<\/strong> (a condiment of cayenne peppers, vinegar, salt, garlic and other spices often used on chitterlings, fried chicken and fish not the same as “Tabasco sauce”, which has heat, but little flavor).
\nLima beans<\/strong> (see butter beans).
\nMacaroni and cheese<\/strong>.
\nMashed potatoes<\/strong> (usually with butter and condensed milk). Meatloaf (typically with brown gravy).
\nMilk and bread<\/strong> (a “po’ folks’ dessert-in-a-glass” of slightly crumbled cornbread, buttermilk, and sugar). Mustard greens (usually cooked with ham hocks, often combined with other greens).
\nNeckbones<\/strong> (beef neck bones seasoned and slow-cooked).
\nOkra<\/strong>: (African vegetable eaten fried in cornmeal or stewed, often with tomatoes, corn, onion, and hot peppers).
\nPigs’ feet<\/strong>: (slow-cooked like chitterlings, sometimes pickled and, like chitterlings, often eaten with vinegar and hot sauce).
\nRed beans<\/strong>.
\nRibs<\/strong> (usually pork, but can also be beef ribs).
\nRice<\/strong> (usually served with red beans).
\nSorghum syrup<\/strong> (from sorghum, or “Guinea corn,” a sweet grain indigenous to Africa introduced into the U.S. by African slaves in the early 17th century; see biscuits).
\nSuccotash<\/strong> (originally, a Native American dish of yellow corn and butter beans, usually cooked in butter).
\nSweet potatoes<\/strong> (often parboiled, sliced and then baked, using sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and butter or margarine, commonly called “candied yams”; also boiled, then pureed and baked into pies).
\nTurnip greens<\/strong> (usually cooked with ham hocks, often combined with other greens).
\nYams<\/strong>: (not actually yams, but sweet potatoes).\u00a0 {Source: African American Registry<\/a>}<\/p>\nKool-Aid pickles are created by Trina and folks can’t get enough of them! \u00a9Priscilla Willis<\/p><\/div>\n
Pin any of the images above, If you like what you see, fancy Southern food, or hope to travel to the South in the future!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nArkansas Delta restaurants featured in this post:<\/h2>\n
Downtown Bar & Grill<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n520B Walnut Street, Helena, Arkansas 72342<\/p>\n
870-714-2940<\/p>\n
Jones Bar-B-Q Diner<\/strong><\/p>\n219 W. Louisiana Street, Marianna, Arkansas 72360<\/p>\n
Pasquale’s Hot Tamales<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\nWest Helena, Arkansas<\/p>\n
877-572-0500<\/p>\n
Rosie’s Diner<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n303 Valley Drive, Helena, Arkansas 72342<\/p>\n
870-228-5115<\/p>\n