According to the U.S. Census, there are almost 40 million black Americans living in the United States.  While this information is interesting, such numbers do little to educate writers about the diverse communities of people who are identified as black by the Census.  I think one of the best ways to begin an exploration of a culture, is to start with food.  Black American culture is diverse.  Cultural traditions vary by region, and by family.  That is why food is a great way to examine heritage; food reflects the influences on a region and a culture.  Indeed, it must be stated that black American culture is not some monolithic structure grafted onto the backbone of every infant born with 1/8 drop of African blood.  It is, for non-blacks, a perception, an assumption of truths, which is often based on a lack of knowledge.  In black America, black culture means different things to different people.  For some, it is a connection based on what has been done to us as a people.  For others, it is a deep well, a place to go for refreshment, for renewal, for inspiration.  In truth, it is all of these things and none of these things.  The real reality it that what we call “black culture” is really a conglomerate of many peoples, many cultures, and many societies.  Blackness is the very essence of global. Blackness comes in every shade, every language, every nation.  Therefore, there is no standard system of black behavior–I found this out when I moved to Minnesota from the south. The social understanding of “blackness” that I brought with me was repeatedly challenged.  Black culture was vastly different from what I had known in the south.  I found myself guilty of believing that skin color meant commonality.  It doesn’t.  That is why it is important for writers crafting black characters to give that character more than “blackness.” (You would not believe the number of authors who seem to think black heritage is a character trait).  If you wish to write for a black audience, flesh your characters out as fully as possible, understanding that, to people who are labeled as black by society, the word carries a multitude of different meanings and patterns of behavior.  It is also important to understand that much of the “blackness” that you see on television is not authentic.  It is what a primarily white industry envisions as “black.”

So, we will briefly examine the cuisines of black America; and then I will share one of the recipes from my black heritage.

Black American Cuisines

Black American Cuisines include the following: Caribbean Cuisine,  Southern Cuisine, Low Country Cuisine, Creole Cuisine, various traditional Black African Cuisines, and good old American Soul Food.

Caribbean Cuisine is firmly rooted in traditional black African cookery.  This style of cuisine was brought to the Americas and used in Caribbean style cooking prior to mass settlement.  Modern Caribbean cuisine has mostly been influenced by three groups: Africans, Amerindians, and Asians. However, Caribbean cuisine also reflects the influence of the Spanish, the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the British.  Signature Caribbean dishes include barbecue (an African invention), callaloo soup, coo-coo,  and jerk chicken.

Southern Cuisine was highly influenced by Africans brought to the Americas as slaves.  Displaced from their homeland, African cooks were forced to be creative and to use whatever foods were available to them.  Signature dishes include grits, buttermilk biscuits, banana bread, pecan pie, and black-eyed peas.

The tidal plain of the Atlantic Ocean in South Carolina is called the Low Country by the area’s residents.  Low Country Cuisine (also known as Gullah or Geechee cuisine) is characterized by access to abundant seafood.  Low Country cuisine blends seafood and rice to make a wide variety