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Soul Food is Soul Food. And like Spade said, Anywhere with a large Black population has good Soul Food. I'm not saying Soul Food is only a black thing, blacks and whites in the South eat the SAME thing, but a MAJORITY of blacks in OTHER regions of the US have original ancestry in the Southern US, as apposed to MOST Whites in other regions who's US ancestry were originally from those regions. Example: ALOT of older blacks in NYC, LA, CHI, etc have roots or were born in the South, and you can still here there accents and probably moved to these areas in the Great Migration. Whereas ALOT of Whites and older Whites in those same regions were originally from there and can trace there ancestries in those regions since before the 20's or before The Great Migration of blacks. So don't be surprised if you can find GREAT Soul Food joints in NYC, LA, CHI, etc. Los Angeles will most likely have Texas and Louisiana type Soul Food(like Creole joints), while NY will prob have more GA, NC, inspired Soul Food, according to the migration patterns of the blacks to other states(blacks in the Eastern South migrated to NY, while blacks in the Western South, migrated to Cali.)
Preparation does vary quite a bit sometimes between whites and blacks in the south. But it's the same general idea for both parties and there are more similarities than differences. Also, I think soul food and southern cooking are equally valid terms. I think soul food involves a couple of things that white southerners don't usually partake of. Chitlens and pig's feet. I don't think i've ever heard of white person mention chitlens. To be fair though, I live in Austin and while the black population in Austin retains a bunch of its southern characterisics the white population is losing it more and more everyday. So I can't speak for whites in places like Miss, Bama, and Georgia.
As far as the term soul food goes, I'm not entirely sure when or where it originated. My best guess is after the great migration the term probably became popular when whites in these areas that had never before seen many blacks needed something to call it. But then again black people I know have been embracing the term for a very long time, my grandfather is in is 70s and was raised in Texas all his life and he still says it. So who knows?
being black has nothing to do with it. this food is part of both white and black heritage in the south.
This is true and there's even some Native American influence, if you think about it. I think the view of it as being Black comes from the fact that the food comes with a strong Black influence from the South, which is the "Blackest" region in the country. You are right that a lot of the food is something people of various backgrounds in the South grew up with.
Soul Food is Soul Food. And like Spade said, Anywhere with a large Black population has good Soul Food. I'm not saying Soul Food is only a black thing, blacks and whites in the South eat the SAME thing, but a MAJORITY of blacks in OTHER regions of the US have original ancestry in the Southern US, as apposed to MOST Whites in other regions who's US ancestry were originally from those regions. Example: ALOT of older blacks in NYC, LA, CHI, etc have roots or were born in the South, and you can still here there accents and probably moved to these areas in the Great Migration. Whereas ALOT of Whites and older Whites in those same regions were originally from there and can trace there ancestries in those regions since before the 20's or before The Great Migration of blacks. So don't be surprised if you can find GREAT Soul Food joints in NYC, LA, CHI, etc. Los Angeles will most likely have Texas and Louisiana type Soul Food(like Creole joints), while NY will prob have more GA, NC, inspired Soul Food, according to the migration patterns of the blacks to other states(blacks in the Eastern South migrated to NY, while blacks in the Western South, migrated to Cali.)
Great points and some of the best Soul Food I've had was in Auburn NY from a guy who's family moved to that city from SW Georgia back in the early 50's.
People forget about Sylvia's in Harlem, as she is originally from SC. Even here in Syracuse, we have a place called Ruby's which is alright, but you could just go to a family gathering for some good Soul Food here. You can find a soul food restaurant in pretty much any city of a decent size in NY State and sometimes they might also serve Caribbean food too.
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