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PROGRAMME 3: NEW ORLEANS

BACKGROUND

The experts

Jodie was mentored by soul food chef Nora Dejoie and by New Orleans restaurateur Jacques Imo.

Origins of soul food

Soul food originated with the African-American slaves of the southern United States, and it has its roots deep in Africa. When the slave trade began in the 1400s, black Africans were transported to the southern States. Some of their native foods like okra and sesame came with them, maybe from seeds caught in slaves' clothing. They were so poor that they quickly learned to cook foods that others would throw away, like turnip-tops, pig's innards and chicken livers. As slaves became cooks, they began to refine these very simple foods, and serve fried chicken and greens to the families of the plantation houses.

The slaves' food was known as 'good times' food, because it was eaten communally after a hard day's labouring. The shared talk and song, just as much as the food, sustained the soul as well as the body, one reason why these dishes are called 'soul food'. During the 1960s, with the rise of the Civil Rights Movement, the word 'soul' was also used to describe this culture.

The slaves who first created soul food needed a high-fat diet to survive through their impoverished lives of arduous physical labour. Most dishes are fried, originally in pork fat, sometimes with added butter. Although soul food today is sometimes cooked in healthier fat, southern fried chicken remains a high-fat choice.

Restaurants specialising in food originating in the southern states, like Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) and Popeye's, are common all over the USA, not just in the south.

Fried chicken in the UK

There are hundreds of fried chicken outlets in the UK, including Southern Fried Chicken, KFC and Lick'n Chick'n.