Definition of Southern Cuisine

To begin, let’s define Southern Soul food. Southern cuisine has many categories; Cajun, Louisiana Creole, Tex-Mex, Floribbean, Appalachian Mountain, Carolina Lowcountry (also known as Gullah or Geechee), and Soul food. Influences come from Native American, British, Irish, French, Spanish, and African cuisines. The culinary south includes states south of the Mason-Dixon Line easterly to the states of Texas. The definition for soul food is not so concise. The term “soul food” means different things to different people. In her book, Black Hunger, Doris Witt reasons that the “soul of the food loosely refers to the foods origin in Africa”. (Diet of African Americans). It also refers to a “soothing, comfort that brings back warm memories of family dinners”. In America, it usually implies African American cuisine (A History of Soul Food). In the 1960s African American cooks were seeking an identity, and decided that “soul food” was best because “soul” entails a natural expressiveness. We will therefore define soul food as “Southern food with an accent that is spicier, saltier, and sweeter” (Danforth, Feierabend and Chassman). Now that we’ve defined Southern Soul food, let’s take a quick look at African cuisine.

This chart from cultural geographer

Richard Pillsbury depicts the grits line

extending around Gainesville, Florida

west to parts of Texas and north

into Virginia (Harber)