What the Slaves Ate: Recollections of African American Foods and Foodways from the Slave Narratives

Herbert C. Covey · Dwight Eisnach

May 2009 · ABC-CLIO

About this ebook

Carefully documenting African American slave foods, this book reveals that slaves actively developed their own foodways-their customs involving family and food. The authors connect African foods and food preparation to the development during slavery of Southern cuisines having African influences, including Cajun, Creole, and what later became known as soul food, drawing on the recollections of ex-slaves recorded by Works Progress Administration interviewers. Valuable for its fascinating look into the very core of slave life, this book makes a unique contribution to our knowledge of slave culture and of the complex power relations encoded in both owners' manipulation of food as a method of slave control and slaves' efforts to evade and undermine that control.

While a number of scholars have discussed slaves and their foods, slave foodways remains a relatively unexplored topic. The authors' findings also augment existing knowledge about slave nutrition while documenting new information about slave diets.

Ratings and reviews

I haven't read the whole book, but a cousin of mine pointed out in a college class that they were teaching that slaves were given the "worst" parts of the animal including the tongue, liver, heart, tripe, intestines - etc. I couldn't believe that was taught in a class considering these have been staples of European diet even before they even knew where Africa was. Growing up with German heritage we always considered organ meat to be the premium parts - especially tongue - also pig intestine has been used to make sausage and wouldn't be parted with lightly. The pigs head is used to make scrapple aka hogs headcheese in England. Honestly the book treats these things like a horrible ordeal but that has been part of my culture for countless generations. Paired with the implication that this was somehow something new and introduced by slaves to our country is rather insulting to say the least.

Ur an idiot. Theres a big difference from occasionally eating these non nutritional things and having to eat them every friggin day.

Suck a dick if you don't like this account of civil war era life....

About the author

HERBERT C. COVEY is the author of African American Slave Medicine: Herbal and Non-Herbal Treatments (2007) as well as of numerous books and articles on juvenile gangs and on drug addiction. He has been Vice Chair of the Colorado State Juvenile Parole Board since 1994 and Field Administrator for the Colorado Department of Human Services since 1999. DWIGHT EISNACH is an independent scholar and editor. He began his career as an investigative reporter and later served the Colorado Department of Human Services for some 25 years, successively as Legislative Liaison, Public Information Officer, and Administrator of the Colorado Juvenile Parole Board.