As some of you know I am an avid ‘reader’ of cookbooks. I enjoy reading about the history of food recipes developed on a global basis and the healing properties of different foods. In addition, I have enjoyed cooking my way through small books that fits my meatless lifestyle.
Organically grown foods, food combining, environ foods, locally grown food, foods that are indigenous to a culture, are all mainstays in my repertoire of foods and the culinary arts.
This blog is not about nutrition or foods. It is a blog about wellness, the business of wellness, wellness coaching, wellness promotion and regulations. Since wellness cannot exist without adequate nutrition, I’d like to share with you the book The Oldways Table* (affiliate link). My favorite culinary historian and cookbook author Jessica Harris is affiliated with the Oldways organization. This book addresses food pyramids that are specific for different cultures.
You’ve most likely noticed I cannot talk about wellness without talking about food and the eating of food that has nutritional value for a wellness lifestyle. The supermarket you visit every week is filled with a plethora of food items that can serve as your own personal food pharmacy. There is a relationship between the foods we eat and our degree of wellness.
Although my Alabamian parents died when I was young, I still eat foods that are part of our African heritage. Like other cultures, some foods are cooked differently because I don’t eat meats of any kind and I don’t work in the fields. Yet, some food researchers’ is, we eat the foods that our ancestors ate. For me it is kale, collard, mustard and turnip greens, sweet potatoes, pecans, black walnuts, black eye peas, beans, okra, corn, grits, hominy, ambrosia, corn bread (non-sweet), chicken and dumplings; foods that were eaten in the Birmingham, Alabama area by Americans of African descent.
The foods known as soul food are good for everyone and not just Americans of African descent.
The largest part of soul food is greens. Americans of African descent are disproportionately affected by diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity and heart disease. It seems there can be no better reason for eating the foods ancestors enjoyed eating.
Additionally, the book includes Asian, vegetarian, Latin American and Mediterranean food pyramids. The Oldways organization has an African Heritage Diet Pyramid. A corn and pepper recipe was a favorite side dish my mother prepared-except it did not include cumin and rice wine vinegar. Apple cider vinegar is what she used. If you’ll note, the foods of the African Diaspora are spread far and wide. We also ate poulet yassa/chicken yassa, a Senegalese dish I had during my visit to Africa. My mother simply called it chicken and rice.
To follow a food pyramid that is related to your culture versus the general American pyramid, this book’s resource is a good beginning for your needs.
What are some of your favorite foods your grandparents and your mother served, especially during the holiday season-Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years Eve and Day? How has what you eat affected your health and wellness?
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