Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

The African diet made a dramatic change once the slaves left home. Though it may be difficult to believe, but the diet of African slaves were more nutritious than the slave masters. The owner’s diets consisted mostly of fatty foods, sweets, and alcohol which made them lethargic. The meals of slaves consisted mostly of vegetables and no alcohol because they needed to be strong in order to work the fields. As the African began to assimilate in to American culture, they made do with what they had. No longer were they privy to the fresh vegetables they had in Africa, but they made good use of the throwaway foods of the plantation kitchens (tops of turnips and beets and dandelions). They began cooking with collards, kale, cress, mustard and pokewee (A History of Soul Food).
Some slaves were allowed to plant their own gardens. They also received rations from the masters. Some accounts say it was weekly, and others say monthly. Nevertheless, they received corn meal, a few pounds of meat and black molasses, not nearly enough to make a filling meal. They used onions, garlic, thyme, peppers, and bay leaf to make each bite tasty and palatable.
The slaves’ diet made another evolution once they began cooking in the big house. With an assortment of ingredients at their fingertips and a “well-tuned African palate”, the slave cooks would prepare delicious meals for their masters. Southern cooking took on a whole new meaning; fried chicken, sweet potatoes (which replaced the African yam), was being served alongside of boiled white potato. “Regional foods like apples, peaches and berries, nuts and grains, soon became puddings and pies.”