The history and passion behind soul food: An Omaha chef's perspective

Many American foods like chicken and mac-n-cheese have ties to slavery. The African community adopted these foods during the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Chef Duane Moore cooks food in his mobile kitchen, Chef Duane's Soul Creation. He said it's something he has enjoyed doing since his childhood. "So, my passion came from a very young age. When I was around six years old," Moore said. He said what makes his food different is his crucial ingredient, something he calls love. "What it means to me is I always cook everything with love. I love seeing people's expressions when they eat my food," he said. Moore specializes in making soul food. Soul food mainly originated from states like Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama in the deep south. Enslaved African people were given meager food that was low in quality and nutritional value. "It comes from back in the 1960s from our parents. It changed over the years back in the slavery days. You know, it was whatever its owners had leftovers with. They prepare like ham hock and chitlins."Enslaved people preserved African food traditions and adapted a new traditional recipe with the resources available to them, and over time, these recipes became the soul food dishes we are familiar with today. "You get into your collard greens, baked big mac and cheese candy, yams, pinto beans and rice, stir-fry, cabbage, things of that nature," he said. "Fried chicken, fried fish, baked turkeys, stuff like that." Soul food has a significant history that ties black culture to its African roots, and that history is deeply reflected in many of today's recipes. "It's something I grew up on," Moore said. "You know, that's what we're used to, and it is with Black people. That's where our families came up on, and that's what we were raised on." Moore said it's about giving everyone a taste of Black history.