ABSTRACT
Soul food dishes and techniques are one of the ways Africans preserved their culture during the transatlantic slave trade to the US. As the cultural production of African Americans, Soul Food demonstrates the manner in which, in the face of reasonably unfavourable social conditions, slaves involved themselves collectively in the creation of a nouveau cuisine which addressed both problems of nutritional adequacy and ethnic/racial identity. Gumbo is a soul food rich and savoury stew made of meats, and okra happens to be its main ingredient. As one of the most recognizable aspects of soul food cuisine, it is very clear that the culinary technique of boiling greens and seasoning them has a specific link to traditional African methods of eating. The difference between soul food and Southern food is rooted more in class than race and what families were able to afford to put on the table. Soul food and Southern food evolved side by side, so influenced each other.
