Five iconic soul food dishes that shaped American cuisine

Over hundreds of years, Black Americans stewed, fried, boiled and braised their way into culinary renown. 

Soul food was carved from the hands, hearts and ingenuity of Black Americans. They took scraps and built a cuisine now celebrated across the American South and all the way to Styr Kurbside Kitchen, a Black-owned eatery in east Springfield carrying on the slow-cooked traditions of soul food.

These dishes journeyed through time, from the brutal Atlantic slave trade and the tobacco plantations of the South to summer cookouts and James Beard-winning restaurants. Their steam rose above underground networks of civil rights activists and the homes of aunties telling hungry neighborhood kids to come grab a plate. As Black Americans were denied economic opportunities, human rights and food, they fought back with flavor and resilience and joy.  

Lookout Eugene-Springfield visited Styr Kurbside on a February afternoon to highlight some of the most iconic soul food dishes:

Collard greens

After enslaved Africans were trafficked to the Americas, they used the cooking techniques and dishes of their homes to turn undesirable scraps of meat and leafy greens into something substantial. By cooking the greens down for hours, enslaved families yielded a pot of silken sustenance that both aided in their survival and elevated collards from a low-status food into an American staple. 

Styr braises its collard greens ($7 for a cup) with smoked ham hock, which tempers the bitterness of the greens, and onion and stewed tomatoes. From double-washing the greens to simmering them down, the process takes about two hours. The “potlikker” — liquid gold from the smoky, slow-cooked collard greens — is slurp-worthy.

Fried catfish

Like stewed greens, catfish was central to the diet of West Africans, who brought their fishing expertise to the American South, especially along the Mississippi River. 

Catfish supplemented meager food rations given by their enslavers. It also was abundant and quick to cook, which meant it could feed lots of people. To this day, catfish remains popular at fish fries, Friday dinners and other large social gatherings among Black Americans.

The Cajun catfish at Styr ($17.50) yields a delicate, flaky fish beneath a shattering cornmeal crust. It’s the kind of dish that begs to be both scarfed down and savored, one that brings you back to Sunday dinners with the family.

Greg Lott, a Walterville resident, sat at the counter of Styr on a chilly February afternoon, dunking the fried catfish into a cup of gumbo. It was his first time at the Springfield establishment. Part of his family is from Mississippi.

“This is the stuff coming out of my grandmother’s kitchen,” said Lott, who remembers reviving just-caught catfish in the sink. “It’s such an overlooked food.”

Gumbo

You can’t talk about gumbo without mentioning okra. The fruit (yes, fruit) is an enduring ingredient of the African diaspora, one that has thickened stews across West Africa and the Americas for centuries. Its name can be traced to Bantu languages, where the pod is called ochingombo or guingombo.

In the United States, gumbo is associated with southern Louisiana cooking, a Creole melting pot of West African, Indigenous and French influences — one with as many variations as people who claim their version is the best.

Styr flavors and thickens its gumbo ($7 for a cup, $13 for a large bowl, $3 to add shrimp) with okra, chicken thighs, andouille sausage, the holy trinity (onion, bell pepper, celery) and the pope (garlic).

Hushpuppies

These deep-fried cornbread balls are a beloved snack at fish fries and other special occasions. Handheld and portable, they also made for easy transport among enslaved African Americans.

As for the name, the story is that people threw pieces of fried cornbread to hungry barking dogs in an effort to “hush” them.

Styr serves its hushpuppies ($7) with cinnamon brown sugar butter, but ripping them open to sop up gumbo, red beans or collard greens broth is also an excellent move.

Mac and cheese

Mac and cheese is the one dish on this list with the fewest direct West African roots, yet it also transcends borders and even social circles, from the kitchens of southern Italy and the royal elite of England to the Black Americans who made this dish soul food. 

It’s gained endless variations over the years (How many cheeses to use, and what kinds? To roux or not to roux? Stovetop or breadcrumb crust? Spices? Egg?) Styr’s southern baked mac ($7 for a cup) has a secret three-cheese blend and a crispy broiled cheese lid. Whatever the preparation, if the mac’s got soul, it was done right. 

If you go

Styr Kurbside Kitchen is at 152 28th St. in Springfield and is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.

Sources for this story include “Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine, One Plate at a Time,” by Adrian Miller and “High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey from Africa to America,” by Jessica B. Harris.