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Soul Food Project Proposal Essay

686 Words3 Pages

Josulyn Brooks
Professor Yingwen Yu
English 20803
21 March 2023
Project Proposal
Introduction
Since I was a child, I was always asked what my favorite food was, and sadly, many people had already formed assumptions about my answer based on my race before I could even answer. Many people assume that I only like chicken, cornbread, sweet potato pie, collard greens, ribs, and so much more and that most of those are dishes coming from black culture, so-called soul food. The roots of soul food can be traced back to the home cooking of the rural South with locally sourced or gathered ingredients (Wolff, 2008). When African American slaves were enslaved, some of them were placed in the kitchen. Slaves learned the recipes that their masters and families …show more content…

Soul food originated from the rural south during the time of american slavery. During slavery, African slaves were only given leftovers and undesirable cuts of meat from their masters, so they had to devise inventive ways to enhance the taste of them. Soul food is heavily based on animal ingredients, cornmeal, pork products, and fried dishes are usually cooked with hydrogenated vegetable oil like shortening or Crisco. Intense flavor is a primary characteristic of soul food, with its rich comfort foods combining spicy, salty, and sweet flavors at the same time. A few common soul food dishes include: chicken, collard greens, peach cobbler, grits, cornbread, banana pudding, black eyed peas, chitlins, ribs, and sweet potato pie. In my family, soul food is cooked on days we deem as important like Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, family reunions, funerals, and at church ceremonies and events. Each of these special events signify importance and help bring people together in the community. These events express a time where people can gather to spread love, memories, knowledge, and overall growing deeper …show more content…

People are able to find their passions and love language, a most common passion or form of love language is food. Throughout black culture soul food is something the community relies on when they are upset, happy, or to express their love. In the black community the love for food runs deep. The love for food in the black community comes from a desire to nourish others, spend time together, maintain traditions, and to spread history and knowledge. Soul food is able to act as an expression of culture. From generation to generation, knowledge is dispersed to help people learn about their history and culture. Food becomes like a source for memory. Growing up as a kid in a black family you learn from a young age on how to cook and prep and as one continues to grow that responsibility increases to them finally preparing the food by themselves. Soul food serves as a connection and helps build a stronger community. Throughout the black community people come together when preparing food, eating food together, and by talking about food and collaborating different ways to prepare a meal. In life, soul food is something that feeds the heart and soul, such as healthy relationships, enjoyable physical activity, a fulfilling career, and meaningful spiritual

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