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African American Holiday Traditions
What our ancestors used to eat. Today's Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners are just a taste of how African Americans used to eat.
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Which, if any, culinary traditions are you upholding? :) |
Besides the ham, none. But that strawberry wine sounded tasty as well as the painted Christmas cookies made with rose water. Maybe I'll try those for Christmas!
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Sorry for lane swerving, but I thought this gawker posting is relevant:
http://gawker.com/5862384/pat-robert...-food?autoplay I would like to state for the record that my white family eats mac & cheese for Thanksgiving. Every year my whole life. I think mac & cheese transcends race. Then again, I have found over the years that the food traditions that I grew up with have more in common with my African American friends' familial food traditions than many of my white friends' familial food traditions. Also, Pat Robertson is dumb. |
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I love me some Pat Robertson (he says some dumb things but still) but LOL @ mac n cheese being "a Black thing." Since when is that a Black thing? My favorite mac n cheese since childhood is a 3-cheese layered and baked mac n cheese done by this white owned restaurant in my home city. Mac n cheese is a year round meal. Home baked mac n cheese with extra cheese OR Kraft Deluxe. Cream cheese, sour cream, or multiple cheeses...whatever's clever. :) |
I was going to post this!
Amazing! From Wikipedia.... He graduated with honors and enrolled at Washington and Lee University, where he majored in history. The claim that he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa is not substantiated by the Phi Beta Kappa membership directory.[5] He also joined Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Robertson has said, "Although I worked hard at my studies, my real major centered around lovely young ladies who attended the nearby girls schools."[6] I think W&L wants the diploma back. :rolleyes: |
Sooo...how about those African American holiday traditions.... ;)
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People confuse 'black/soul" food and southern food all the time. :) Bless his heart.
Anyway, my mom prepares chitterlings every Thanksgiving. I've already told her that tradition will probably pass on when she does since there is NO WAY I'm standing in front of my kitchen sink cleaning those things. lol We still have those along with turkey and dressing (NOT stuffing), butter beans & okra, cornbread with sweet potatoe and pecan pie (with sweet tea to wash it down). |
Any Black/soul food traditions this Thanksgiving? If not, were there any southern food traditions (that span across race and ethnicity)?
My nuclear family has not cooked chittlerlings in decades. My significant other's family has chitterlings for every holiday. My family served stuffing, rice, turkey necks, turkey gizzards, turkey liver, and some other stuff...yum. :) SO's family served greens seasoned with pork, deliciously sweet cooked ham, whole turkey (I did not eat it), baked macaroni, potato salad, 6 desserts...and some other stuff...yum. (:)). I'm leaving lots of stuff out but I'm listing the stuff that I ate more than one serving of. :) |
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1. African culture 2. Slavery (i.e., slaves being given the leftover or less valued parts of foods) 3. The types of foods that Blacks in the south (which has the highest population of Blacks/African Americans in the country) were able to afford because Blacks/African Americans are disproportionately poor. That high correlation between race, cultural practices, and poverty passed down certain traditions across generations of Blacks, including Blacks who were not enslaved and who were not/are not impoverished. I have a Healthy Soul Food cookbook that I have never used. LOL. Where is that thing? |
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I do believe that the similarities in what all Southerners eat is due to Black women doing the cooking for the higher classes, first through slavery and then via employment as domestic help. (i.e., I've never met a southerner who didn't like fried chicken, which I believe has its roots in African food ways.) Healthy soul food cookbook? Really? |
You know, between this thread and the thread started by PM Mama about the new show "All American Muslim" I would love to see a forum set up in chit chat about cultural awareness or something. Because I see myself as far from an expert, I would clearly not start it. I just think it's great to learn about various cultures.
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This was my first Thanksgiving with my parents since 2005. In the interim years, I've been with friends, other family members, and significant others.
My aunt prepared dinner, and the "traditional Southern/Black" foods were in full force. Collard greens, candied yams, ham, and some pork parts were at the table. It, among other things I observed, reminded me of the massive cultural difference between the sides of my family. When it's at my parents' house, there might be a small ham and no collard greens or candied yams--definitely no pig parts. |
Our holidays always consist of the same foods: deviled eggs, collard greens, mac and cheese, ham, turkey, stuffing, yams, cranberry sauce (real cranberries this year thanks to MommyCG), baked corn, and a bajillion desserts. Corn bread and potato salad were absent this year. We save the chitlins and black eyed peas for New Year's.
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Growing up, my mom had to eat chitterlings because her father loved them. She hates them and probably hasn't eaten them in 40 years. My grandmother stopped cooking them after my grandfather died. I don't know anyone in my family who actually still eats them. |
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Lesson that SO remembers every holiday: Pack your own plate so you won't be stealing DrPhil's awesomely good leftovers. SO is more into chitterlings and other dishes that SO's family cooks but my family does not cook. |
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;) In all seriousness, *taking off my subjective hat* every group of people has spices and seasonings. I would never claim one group's spices and seasonings to be superior. *Putting my subjective hat back on* Yeah, some spices and seasonings are better tasting. Too bad traditional "soul" food is very unhealthy (especially for a subpopulation that no longer walks hundreds of miles and works the land all day and everyday) and contributed to diabetes being considered a part of Blackness. |
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Mac and cheese is a vegetable during the holidays. :D
Yeah there is a problem when a large percentage of a subpopulation of people does not change their eating habits to adjust to the change in daily living patterns (i.e., the majority no longer walking and working the land). It became the norm to be overweight, have high blood pressure, and be diabetic. Actually, if you were of a healthy weight and did not have diabetes, depending on where you were, you were called uppity and wannabe white. That still happens in some places. Yep. /end necessary PSA for Black food thread :) |
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But I mostly mean it in the spirit of your "subjective hat" statement, not in any kind of "culture A uses spice 1 and culture B uses spice 2, therefore spice 1 is better." That would be dumb and really poor logic. |
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Speaking of healthy soul food, Patty LaBelle has a cookbook too and I've heard great reviews about it. |
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Please kiss you chitterling-making mama for me, because, like my Aunty Ricky who always makes them for me and my cousin (her son) during the holidays, those who make this delicacy are really special people. :D My family has many of the other traditional items, including fried chicken and ham for those that don't do turkey, but "chess pie" an old southern delicacy is usually the hit of the dessert tray, along with sweet potato, apple pie and assorted cakes. |
I can't remember why, but I always thought chess pie was English. :confused:
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I never heard of it so I had to wikipedia.
It was brought from England: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_pie |
^^^what she said
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I read wikipedia and still don't know what the heck chess pie is supposed to be. What does it taste like. Wikipedia references vinegar pie and says they are similar.
Speaking of vinegar, my family puts vinegar on our cabbage and cornbread dish. Is vinegar pie that tasty? If so, sign me up. :) |
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Chess pie is the bomb-diggity. My mom makes a chocolate chess sometimes which is just a slice of heaven.
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One of my family's Christmas traditions is a brunch. We're Black so I guess that makes it an African-American tradition. :) I think we'd serve shellfish, but my grandmother is seriously allergic to it (ie, can't even be in the same room as someone who's had it and hasn't washed their face/hands). |
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~ Black Folks Referee :) This thread has made me hungry. |
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The vanilla version on Wiki sounds like a mix between a creme brulee and a really eggy custard.
ETA: Oh crap, I just got hungry, too. #sweetpotatopie&icecream |
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I had a slice last night. gooooooooooood eats. |
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