The Plant-Based Food from Africa and Slavery That We Eat Today

Few of us sit down to a plate of food and contemplate the historical significance of it. Yet, many of the plant-based foods in our current diet are reflections of our nation’s history. During the time of slavery, African Americans brought with them the food traditions from their native lands. They adapted these to the harsh living conditions on plantations. In turn, we still enjoy many of the foods they embraced.

The ingredients and recipes of this early African American cuisine include: rice, okra, sweet potatoes, corn, and greens. Each of these plant-based foods impacted the history of our eating traditions. And, they still play a role in our modern diet.

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Rice: An Essential Ingredient from Africa

Rice is not native to the United States. In fact, rice is one of the ingredients slave traders brought with them on their trans-Atlantic voyages from Africa. They intentionally brought it to provide sustenance to slaves during the journey.

Once in the Americas, slaves then planted the rice for their own consumption. The slaves then had to adapt their African rice dishes to fit the limited ingredients they had in America. Jollof rice, a classic staple in Nigeria and Ghana morphed into Jambalaya. West African rice and beans dishes, called waakye in Ghana and thiebou niebe in Senegal, became the South’s Hoppin’ John.

Carolina Gold is one of the heirloom rices receiving a Renaissance. Modern chefs have rediscovered this grain and are now putting it on their menus. My favorite plant-based recipe for Carolina Gold rice is Southern Collard Dolmades. Collard leaves are wrapped around a savory rice filling with toasted pecans. Plus, a sweet potato puree adds creamy richness.

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Okra:

Another ingredient that came from Africa was okra. Okra is found in many African dishes, especially in the stews they serve out of big cauldrons. In the American South, okra is probably most well-known as the ingredient found in gumbo. In fact, okra is what helps thicken gumbo. Yet, this technique draws directly from Africa.

The word gumbo comes from the Bantu word for okra, “ki ngombo”. The Bantu people originated in Central Africa, near Nigeria and the Congo. During the slave trade, they brought with them their appreciation for okra, including it in stews that are signature to Soul food.

Okra is one of those under-appreciated vegetables that I love. The trick to cooking okra is to cook it quickly. Overcooking will often result in a slimy texture. However, grilled and roasted okra make delicious side dishes. My favorite plant-based okra recipe involves a quick saute with garlic, tomato, and herbs. The perfect taste of summer!

Sweet Potatoes and the Potato Hole: A Subtle Act of Rebellion

Sweet potatoes were not part of the African diet. However, they closely resembled the yams harvested in West Africa. Sweet potatoes can easily grow, even in less than ideal soil. Slaves could cook them over fire or wrap in leaves and ash-roast.

Storing the potatoes and other root vegetables over the winter may have been a subtle act of rebellion. In Nigeria, the Igbo people made a practice of burying their root vegetables to store them for long periods of time. On plantations, African American slaves did the same thing. They constructed potato holes, often near the fire, where they would bury their sweet potatoes.

This secret hole was hidden from plantation owners. It became a small way for slaves to create their own personal space. As small as they were, these potato holes allowed a tiny sense of privacy and self control in a life that rarely had boundaries.

Sweet potatoes are one of my favorite foods. I top them with broccoli and red chili paste, make quick Southwest Stuffed potatoes, and roast them in wedges for Buddha Bowls. There are endless plant-based recipes for sweet potatoes…including Ash Roasted Sweet Potatoes.

Corn: The Versatile Food

Corn was one of the most versatile crops eaten by American Slaves. As Booker T. Washington recounts in his Slave Diet Bulletin, a common breakfast was cornbread and pork. On days when that wasn’t available, he’d head to the animal shed. There, he’d steal some of boiled Indian corn kernels used to feed the cows and pigs.

Frederick Douglas describes a similar use of corn:

“Our food was coarse cornmeal boiled. This was called mush. It was put into a large wooden tray or trough, and set down upon the ground. The children were then called, like so many pigs, and like so many pigs they would come and devour the mush; some with oyster-shells, others with pieces of shingle, some with naked hands, and none with spoons.”

These corn mushes and breads became the Soul Food staples of grits and cornbread. The South continues to embrace corn in its many forms. It is often smoked or roasted at Fall Pumpkin festivals. And, ground corn continues to appear on menus in everything from cakes to breading on fish.

My favorite plant-based recipes for corn are Roasted Corn with Garlic Shallot “Buttah” and Peppery Corn Grits with Tomato Jam. I also love making Gluten-Free Cornbread and Southern Corn Pudding for family gatherings.                   

Greens: Stewed Flavor

Most Southern Soul Food dinners will include a big pot of stewed greens. Cooked low and slow, these greens are often flavored with a small piece of ham or bacon. In Slave culture, these big pots of stewed greens drew a direct resemblence to the stews of Western Africa.

Ethiopia’s gomen wat and Ghana’s kontomire stews both resemble the stewed collard greens of the American South. As described by Carol Graham, a former slave from Alabama: “Greens was cooked in a big black washpot jus’ like yo’ boils clothes in now.”

When the pot of greens was eaten, there would still be the flavorful broth, called potlicker. In Ghana and Nigeria, fufu is a starchy mash used to sop up the broth at the bottom of bowl of stew. In Ehtiopia, injera bread serves the same purpose.

The slaves in America didn’t have fufu or injera. However, they did have cornbread. This cornbread was crumbled into the bottom of the bowl to soak up the last bits of savory flavor.

It’s easy to make a plant-based version of Smoky Collard Greens. Rather than ham hock, use the vegan secret weapon of smoked paprika. You can even change up the collards for other greens like Swiss chard, kale, mustard greens, and cabbage. I also love adding greens to stews like my West African Peanut Butter Curry Stew.

Honoring the Legacy of the Darkness of Slavery

While it might be fun to think about boiled sweet potatoes and cornbread, we must also remember the dark truth of slavery. Food was often used as a form of control. Plantation owners would ration food in order to limit the power of slaves. As Frederick Douglas recounts “I have often been so pinched with hunger, that I have fought with the dog”.

Luckily, many slaves were able to survive by hunting, fishing, and gardening. Much more than nutrition, cooking was a way to preserve their culture. The fact that we still eat many of these foods today is a testament to the spirit and strength of these early African Americans.

To honor their legacy, let us remember the role they play in our nations’ food history. The next time you sit down to a piece of cornbread, a stewed gumbo, or a roasted sweet potato, take a moment to reflect on the story of this food. Food not only brings us together in our current communities. It also ties us to the past. Honor that past with gratitude and unity.

Learn More about the Migration of Food During the African American Slave Trade